How Much of the Quran is the Quran?
- philhoraia
- May 6, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 8, 2024
We are told that the commencement of the 'revelation' was in AD 609.
S 2:185 The month of Ramadan wherein the Quran was sent down, a guidance for people and proofs of the guidance and the Furqan. So he among you who has witnessed the month, let him fast on it, and he who was ill or on a journey, then an ‘iddah of other days. Allah wants ease for you and does not want hardship for you, and that you complete the ‘iddah and magnify Allah for what he has guided you; and perhaps you will thank.
In this 87th surah by order of 'revelation' we read that it was 'sent down' in Ramadan. It doesn't speak of its being sent down but of its having been sent down. What was 'sent down'? 'The' quran. This very verse excludes this surah's being part of that quran.
The first surah to have been 'sent down' is mooted to have been S 96. Now there wouldn't have been many surahs, if more than one, composed on that night (see below). Anything after that may be considered to be 'quran' but it would be a different quran.
Muslims argue that 'the' quran was 'sent down' one night in Ramadan but to a lower sky and delivered piecemeal over a period of 23 years. But none of the qurans state that. Rather, they state what we read in S 2 above: "the quran WAS sent down". From an Answering Islam article:
We sent down (anzalnahu) the (Qur'an) in Truth, and in Truth has it descended (nazala): and We sent thee but to give Glad Tidings and to warn (sinners). (It is) a Qur'an which We have divided (into parts from time to time), in order that thou mightest recite it to men at intervals: We have revealed it (wa-nazzalnahu) by stages. S. 17:105-106 Y. Ali
And those who disbelieve say: "Why is not the Qur'an revealed (nuzzila) to him all at once?" Thus (it is sent down in parts), that We may strengthen your heart thereby. And We have revealed it to you gradually, in stages. (It was revealed to the Prophet in 23 years.). S. 25:32 Hilali-Khan
These conflicting and contradictory statements have caused Muslim scholars to come up with a convenient ad hoc explanation. It is asserted that the entire Quran was sent down from Allah himself to the lowest heaven where it remained. From there Allah sent Jibril/Gabriel to reveal portions of the book to Muhammad over a period of twenty-three years!
As renowned Salafi scholar Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips explains:
According to Allaah’s statements in His Book, there were two distinct revelations of the Qur’aan which took place. It is important that these two revelations be understood in order to clear up the apparent contradictions [sic] in the various terms used in the Qur’aan and Sunnah to describe the Qur’aan’s revelation. On one hand, the Qur’aan is referred to as having been revealed in its totality in Ramadaan or on Laylatul-Qadr, the Night of Decree; while on the other hand, it is referred to as having been continuously revealed in segments up until the death of the Prophet.
The First RevelationAllaah caused the Qur’aan to descend from the Protected Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfooth) on which it was written to the lowest heaven. In this revelation all of the Qur’aan was sent down at one time to a station in the lowest heaven referred to as "Bayt al-‘Izzah" (The House of Honor or Power). The blessed night on which this descent took place is called "Laylatul-Qadr" (The Night of Decree), one of the odd-numbered nights in the last ten days of the month of Ramadaan. Allaah referred to this initial revelation as follows [quotes Q. 44:1-3; 97:1; 2:185]…
These verses have [sic] to refer to the initial revelation because it is a known fact [sic] that the whole Qur’aan was not revealed to Prophet Muhammad on a single night on Ramadaan.
Ibn ‘Abbaas stated that the Qur’aan was first separated from its station in the upper heavens and placed in Bayt al-‘Izzah in the lowest heaven. One version states that this took place on the Night of Decree in Ramadaan. Had it been Allaah’s wish, the Qur’aan could then have been revealed as a whole to the Prophet in a single revelation. This was the method by which all of the earlier books of revelation were sent down. But, Allah chose to divide the revelation into two parts [sic]. The first revelation within the heavens represented an announcement to the inhabitants of the heavens that the final book of revelation was being sent down upon the last of the prophets. (Philips, Usool at-Tafseer, 6. The Revelations of the Qur’aan, pp. 94-96; sources 1, 2; comments within brackets and underline emphasis ours)
Another Islamic source says:
(The month of Ramadan is) the month in (which was revealed the Qur'an) whereupon Gabriel brought down the ENTIRE Qur'an to the first heaven, dictated it to the scribes among the angels (al-safarah) and then took it down to Muhammad (pbuh) day after day, sometimes revealing to him just one, two or three verses and sometimes an entire surah, … (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs; source; capital and underline emphasis ours)
And:
And from his narration on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas that he said regarding the interpretation of Allah's saying (Lo! We revealed it): '(Lo! We revealed it) He says: We sent Gabriel with the entire Qur'an to the scribes of the nether heaven (on the Night of Power) on the night of judgement and decree; it is also said this means: on a night blessed with forgiveness and mercy, and then it was revealed to the Prophet (pbuh) in instalments. (Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs; source)
The reader can immediately spot the problem with the above assertion. The Quran nowhere says that it was revealed in two stages, one in which the entire revelation was sent down at once to the lowest heaven, and the other where only parts of it was conveyed to Muhammad. This is simply a desperate attempt of explaining away the gross error within the Muslim scripture which claims in certain places that Allah sent down the Quran as a whole on a certain night, thereby contradicting those passages that state that Muhammad received the so-called "revelations" in segments.
In fact, one of the verses expressly says that the Quran was sent down in the month of Ramadan as a guide to mankind:
Ramadhan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an, as a guide to mankind, … S. 2:185
Instead of saying that the Quran was given to the angels in the lowest heaven in Ramadan, the passage actually claims that the book was sent down for the guidance of mankind. This certainly sounds like it was sent down to mankind in Ramadan, in seeming contradiction to the theory postulated by the above scholars. Qur'an Contradiction: The descent of the Quran -- piecemeal or all at once?
S 44:3 We sent it down on a blessed night. We were warners.
According to this surah, the 64th by order of 'revelation', 'it', which Muslims would argue refers to quran, was 'sent down' on a blessed night viz: of Ramadan. So the whole quran was 'sent down' on one single night. It doesn't say: 'It is being sent down'. Remember, quran is 'clear' and 'detailed'. This surah too must be excluded from being 'the' quran.
S 97:1 We sent it down on the Night of Qadr.
In this surah, the 25th in order of 'revelation', we read that''we' sent 'it' down on the Night of Qadr.
Allah's boss apparently forgot the date of the Night of Qadr due to a disturbance. It seems odd that he might have had to be told the approximate date that his quran 'came down' by others given a dream regarding the date.
S 17:105 And we sent it down with the truth and it came down with the truth. And we did not send you except as a bearer of good news and as a nadhir.
This, in the 50th surah, is supposed to be a reference to quran.
S 24:34 And we have sent down to you clarifying verses and a similitude of those who passed away before you and an exhortation for the fearers.
S 24:46 We have sent down clarifying verses. And Allah guides whom he wills to a straight path.
These verses from the 102nd surah don't say: 'We are sending down clarifying verses'. Besides, a number of clarifying verses or parts thereof were added later.
S 28:87 And do not let them block you from Allah’s verses after when they have been sent down to you. And call to your lord. And do not be of the mushrikun.
By the time of this 49th surah in order of 'revelation' 'the' quran should have been around for some time. According to a Muslim site:
Period of Revelation
As mentioned in the introduction to Surah An-Naml, according to Ibn Abbas and Jabir bin Zaid, Surahs Ash-Shu'ara, An-Naml and Al-Qasas were revealed one after the other during the middle stage of the Prophet's residence at Makkah. https://www.alim.org/quran/introductions/malik/surah/28/
'During the middle stage of his residence in Mecca'.
S 29:51 Has it not sufficed them that we have sent down upon you the book read to them? In that there is mercy and remembrance for a believing people.
This 'book' has been sent down. Does it in this 85th surah say: 'parts of the book'?
S 42:15 So to that then call and be straight as you have been commanded and do not follow their desires and say: I have believed in what Allah has sent down of a book and I have been commanded to act justly among you. Allah is our lord and your lord. Ours are our deeds and yours are your deeds. There is no argument between us and you. Allah gathers between us and to him is the destiny.
By the time of this 62nd surah 'the' whole quran would have been about.
S 58:5 Those who oppose Allah and his messenger have been suppressed as those before them have been suppressed. And we have sent down clear verses. And for the kafirun there is base torture.
'Sending down clear verses' in this 105th surah? Not what the text says.
S 65:10 Allah has prepared severe torture for them. So fear Allah, possessors of albab, those who have believed. Allah has sent down to you a dhikr.
In this 99th surah we are told that Allah has sent down a dhikr, which Muslims will argue refers to 'the' quran, but one may wonder whether the term 'dhikr' was originally a word used of the Bible.
Further reading:
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