Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...
Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...
Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...
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Author’s Introductio<br />
<strong>Al</strong>-Sharif Isma‘il ibn <strong>al</strong>-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn <strong>al</strong>-Husayn Tabari informed us> his grandfather> Abu<br />
Hamid Ahmad ibn <strong>al</strong>-Hasan <strong>al</strong>-Hafiz> ‘Abd <strong>al</strong>-Rahman ibn Bishr> Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah> Muhammad<br />
ibn Ishaq> <strong>al</strong>-Zuhri> ‘Urwa> ‘A’ishah who said: “<strong>The</strong> first of the Qur’an to be reve<strong>al</strong>ed is: (Read: In the<br />
name of thy Lord who createth)”, narrated by <strong>al</strong>-Hakim Abu ‘Abd <strong>Al</strong>lah in his Sahih 5 from Abu Bakr <strong>al</strong>-<br />
Sibghi> Bishr ibn Musa> <strong>al</strong>-Humaydi> Sufyan.<br />
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim <strong>al</strong>-Muqri’ informed us> Abu’l-Husayn ‘<strong>Al</strong>i ibn Muhammad <strong>al</strong>-<br />
Jurjani> Nasr ibn Muhammad <strong>al</strong>-Hafiz> Muhammad ibn Makhlid that Muhammad ibn Ishaq narrated<br />
to them from Ya‘qub <strong>al</strong>-Dawraqi> Ahmad ibn Nasr ibn Ziyad> ‘<strong>Al</strong>i ibn <strong>al</strong>-Husayn ibn Waqid> his father><br />
Yazid <strong>al</strong>-Nahwi> ‘Ikrimah and <strong>al</strong>-Hasan who said: “<strong>The</strong> first of the Qur’an to be reve<strong>al</strong>ed is (In the Name<br />
of <strong>Al</strong>lah, the Beneficent, the Merciful)”. This is therefore the first of the Qur’an to be reve<strong>al</strong>ed in Mecca<br />
while the first Surah reve<strong>al</strong>ed is [the Surah which begins with] (Read: In the name of thy Lord).<br />
<strong>Al</strong>-Hasan ibn Muhammad <strong>al</strong>-Farisi informed us>Muhammad ibn ‘Abd <strong>Al</strong>lah ibn <strong>al</strong>-Fadl <strong>al</strong>-Tajir> Ahmad<br />
ibn Muhammad ibn <strong>al</strong>-Hasan <strong>al</strong>-Hafiz> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Abu S<strong>al</strong>ih> <strong>al</strong>-Layth> ‘Uqayl> Ibn<br />
Shihab> Muhammad ibn ‘Abbad ibn Ja‘far <strong>al</strong>-Makhzumi that he heard one of their men of knowledge<br />
say: “<strong>The</strong> first revelation that <strong>Al</strong>lah reve<strong>al</strong>ed to His Messenger, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, is<br />
(Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth, createth man from a clot. Read: and thy Lord is the Most<br />
Bounteous, Who teacheth by the pen, teacheth man that which he knew not). <strong>The</strong>y said: this is the beginning<br />
of the Surah which was reve<strong>al</strong>ed to <strong>Al</strong>lah’s Messenger, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, on the<br />
day of Hira’. <strong>The</strong> rest of the Surah was reve<strong>al</strong>ed after what <strong>Al</strong>lah willed of time”.<br />
As for the rigorously authentic hadith which related that the first of the Qur’an to be reve<strong>al</strong>ed is Surah<br />
<strong>al</strong>-Muddaththir, this is what has been reported to us from the teacher Abu Ishaq <strong>al</strong>-Tha‘<strong>al</strong>ibi> ‘Abd <strong>Al</strong>lah<br />
ibn Hamid> Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub> Ahmad ibn ‘Isa ibn Zayd <strong>al</strong>-Tinnisi> ‘Amr ibn S<strong>al</strong>amah> <strong>al</strong>-<br />
Awza‘i> Yahya ibn Kuthayr who said: “I asked Abu S<strong>al</strong>amah ibn ‘Abd <strong>al</strong>-Rahman: which of the Qur’an<br />
was reve<strong>al</strong>ed first He said: ‘(O thou enveloped in thy cloak) [Surah 74]’. I said: Or (Read: In the name of<br />
thy Lord). He said: ‘I asked Jabir ibn ‘Abd <strong>Al</strong>lah <strong>al</strong>-Ansar: which of the Qur’an was reve<strong>al</strong>ed first’ He<br />
said: ‘(O thou enveloped in thy cloak)’. I said: ‘or (Read: In the name of thy Lord)’. <strong>The</strong>n Jabir said: ‘I will<br />
relate to you what <strong>Al</strong>lah’s Messenger, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, related to us. <strong>Al</strong>lah’s Messenger,<br />
<strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, said: I stayed at Hira’ for a month. When my stay came to an end,<br />
I came down but when I reached the bottom of the v<strong>al</strong>ley I was c<strong>al</strong>led. I looked in front, behind, on my<br />
right and on my left, and then I looked skyward and there he was — i.e. Gabriel — in mid-air sitting on<br />
a throne. Trembling seized me. I went to Khadijah; I ordered them to cover me and then throw water on<br />
me. <strong>Al</strong>lah, ex<strong>al</strong>ted is He, then reve<strong>al</strong>ed to me: (O thou enveloped in thy cloak, arise and warn!) [74:1-2])’ ”,<br />
narrated by Muslim from Zuhayr ibn Harb> <strong>al</strong>-W<strong>al</strong>id ibn Muslim> <strong>al</strong>-Awza‘i.<br />
This however does not contradict what we have said initi<strong>al</strong>ly, for Jabir heard this last report from the<br />
Prophet, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, but did not hear the first report. For this reason he imagined<br />
that Surah <strong>al</strong>-Muddaththir was the first of the Qur’an to be reve<strong>al</strong>ed when, in fact, this is not the<br />
case. Rather it was the first reve<strong>al</strong>ed after Surah Iqra’ ”.<br />
This is evidenced by what has been reported to us> Abu ‘Abd <strong>al</strong>-Rahman ibn Abi Hamid> Muhammad<br />
ibn ‘Abd <strong>Al</strong>lah ibn Zakariyya> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd <strong>al</strong>-Rahman <strong>al</strong>-Daghuli> Muhammad ibn Yahya><br />
‘Abd <strong>al</strong>-Razzaq> Ma‘mar> <strong>al</strong>-Zuhri that he said: “Abu S<strong>al</strong>amah related to me from Jabir who said: 6 ‘I heard<br />
<strong>Al</strong>lah’s Messenger, <strong>Al</strong>lah bless him and give him peace, upon t<strong>al</strong>king about the period of revelation, saying:<br />
As I was w<strong>al</strong>king, I heard a voice coming from heaven. I looked up and saw the angel who had come<br />
to me in Hira’ sitting on a throne mid-way between heaven and earth. I lied down out of fear of him.<br />
Upon returning home, I said: cover me! Cover me! And they covered me. <strong>Al</strong>lah, ex<strong>al</strong>ted is He, reve<strong>al</strong>ed:<br />
(O thou enveloped in thy cloak)’ ”. This is narrated by Bukhari from ‘Abd <strong>Al</strong>lah ibn Muhammad and <strong>al</strong>so<br />
by Muslim from Muhammad ibn Rafi‘ and both these narrators reported it from ‘Abd <strong>al</strong>-Razzaq.<br />
From these prophetic tradition it emerges that the revelation had stopped for a while after the revelation<br />
5<br />
That is <strong>al</strong>-Mustadrak ‘<strong>al</strong>a <strong>al</strong>-Sahihayn.<br />
6<br />
Narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad.<br />
3
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