me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read, but again I replied, “I do not know how to read” (or what shall I read?). Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said: “Read, in the name of your Lord, who created, created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the most bountiful”’.16
The narration goes on to tell us that the Prophet went back to his wife Khadīja and recounted to her his dreadful experience. She comforted him and both of them consulted Waraqa, Khadīja’s relative and a learned Christian, about it. Waraqa told Muḥammad that he had encountered the one ‘whom Allah had sent to Moses’ and that he would be driven out by his people.
How Revelation came
Narrated Aisha, the mother of the faithful believers:
Al-Ḥārith bin Hishām asked Allah’s apostle: ‘O Allah’s apostle! How is the divine inspiration revealed to you?’ Allah’s apostle replied, ‘Sometimes it is “revealed” like the ringing of a bell, this form of inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says’.17
The First Revelation 18
The first revelation that the Prophet Muḥammad received is in the first verses from Sūra al-‘alaq (96: 1-3, according to others 1-5):
‘Read in the name of your Lord, who created, created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is most bountiful. (He who taught) the use of the pen taught man which he knew not.’
The remainder of Sūra 96, which now has 19 āyāt, was revealed on some later occasion.
The Pause (fatra)
After the first message thus received, revelation ceased for a certain period (called fatra) and then resumed:
Narrated Jābir bin ‘Abdullāh Al-Anṣārī while talking about the period of pause in revelation reporting the speech of the Prophet, ‘While I was walking, all of a sudden I heard a voice from the heaven. I looked up and saw the same angel who had visited me at the Cave of Ḥirā’ sitting on a chair between the sky and the earth. I got afraid of him and came back home and said “Wrap me (in blankets)” and then Allah revealed the following holy verses (of the Qur’ān): “O you covered in your cloak, arise and warn (the people against Allah’s punishment)…” up to “and all pollution shun”.’
After this revelation came strongly and regularly.19
The Second Revelation
The second portion of the Qur’ān revealed to the Prophet Muḥammad was the beginning of Sūra al-muddaththir (74: 1-5). It now consists of 56 verses, the rest revealed later, and begins as follows: ‘O you, covered in your cloak, arise and warn, thy Lord magnify, thy raiment purify, pollution shun .. .’
Other Early Revelations
Many hold that Sūra al-muzzammil (73) was the next revelation.
According to others, Sūra al-fātiḥa (1) was the third sūra to be revealed.20
Among other early revelations, which the Prophet declared in Makka, are, according to some reports, Sūra 111, Sūra 81, Sūra 87, Sūra 92, Sūra 89, etc. Then revelation continued, ‘mentioning Paradise and Hell, and until mankind turned to Islam, then came revelation about ḥalāl and ḥarām….’21
Revelation came to the Prophet throughout his lifetime, both in Makka and Madina, i.e. over a period of approximately 23 years, until shortly before his death in the year 10 Hijra (632).
The Last Revelation
Many Muslim scholars agree that the last revelation was Sūra 2, verse 281:
‘And fear the day when ye shall be brought back to God. Then shall every soul be paid what it earned and none shall be dealt with unjustly.’
Some also say that it was 2: 282 or 2: 278.22
It has also been suggested that all three verses were revealed on one occasion. The Prophet died nine nights after the last revelation.
Others hold that Sūra 5: 4 was the last to be revealed:
‘This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.’
The opinion that this verse was the last revelation is not sound according to many scholars, since it was revealed during the last pilgrimage of the Prophet. This information is based upon a ḥadīth from ‘Umar. Suyūṭī explains concerning the verse in Sūra 5 that after it nothing concerning aḥkām and ḥalāl and ḥarām was revealed, and in this sense it is the ‘completion’ of religion. However, revelation reminding man of the coming day of judgement continued and the last such revelation is the above verse.23
Reasons why the Qur’ān was sent down in Stages
The Qur’ān was revealed in stages over a period of 23 years, and not as a complete book in one single act of revelation, There are a number of reasons for this; most important are the following:
— To strengthen the heart of the Prophet by addressing him continuously and whenever the need for guidance arose.
— Out of consideration for the Prophet since revelation was a very difficult experience for him.
— To gradually implement the laws of God.
— To make understanding, application and memorisation of the revelation easier for the believers,
Transmission of the Qur’ānic Revelation
The revelation contained in the Qur’ān has been transmitted to us by numerous persons in two ways: orally and in written form.
MEMORISATION AND ORAL TRANSMISSION
Memorisation by the Prophet
Oral transmission of the revelation was based on ḥifẓ or memorisation and the Prophet Muḥammad himself was the first to commit a revelation to memory after the Angel Gabriel had brought it to him:
‘Move not thy tongue concerning the (Qur’ān) to make haste therewith. It is for Us to collect it and promulgate it; but when We have promulgated it, follow thou its recital’ (75: 16-19).
‘ … an apostle from God, rehearsing scriptures, kept pure and holy .. .’ (98: 2).
