Quranic Surahs were not revealed in Chronological Sequence
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salam all.
i attended a lecture by Muhammad Shiekh( www.iipc.tv ) . he came up with some interesting points . one of them was about the sequence of the surahs of Quran . he believes that the Quranic surahs were revealed in the exact same sequence as they are today , and not like ppl say that "iqra bismi rabika allazi khalaq" was the first verse revealed to the nabi .i also had this feeling even before attending the lecture ,but now it is confirmed by the Quranic ayat .
he gave the following ayat to back his claim
one surah after the begining of the Quran ,in the second surah Allah challenges to produce one surah like it .
223 And if ye are in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto Our slave (Muhammad), then produce a sura or the
like thereof, and call your witnesses beside Allah if ye are truthful.Ten surahs later , in the eleventh surah Allah again commands to give challenge to produce ten surahs like the ten previously revealed surahs .
1113 Or they say He hath invented it. Say Then bring ten surahs, the like thereof, invented, and call on
everyone ye can beside Allah, if ye are truthful! -
Salaamun alaikum brother Fahad,
Certainly, this is an intriguing find. There must be something behind the fact that the challenge is one sura in chapter 2 and 10 suwar in chapter 11. However, I have a problem agreeing with Shiekh's deduction because
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10/38 uses the same wording as 2/23 and its 10 chapters ahead. If Shiekh's pattern was right, it would have said 9 suras like it.
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A 'sura' doesn't mean the 114 'suras' of al-quraan. If you see the ayaat below
10/37-38This Qur'an is not such as can be produced by other than God; on the contrary it is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book - wherein there is no doubt - from the Lord of the worlds.Or do they say, "He forged it"? say "Bring then a Sura like it, and call (to your aid) anyone you can besides God, if it be ye speak the truth!"
As you can see, 'al-quraan' the subject of these verses, is called a 'sura'. We are told to bring a suraa like it, not like FROM it.
So Al-Quraan itself is a sura which I interpret to be a coherent discourse.
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salam brother mquran .
it is very good to hear from u again .thanks for pointing that out .
So Al-Quraan itself is a sura which I interpret to be a coherent discourse.
i agree . but i think until the ten surahs were not completely revealed , the challenge was only to produce one surah , but after the ten surahs were completed the challenge was increased to produce ten surahs like the ten already revealed . or do u say that 'ten surahs' mean 'ten Qurans' ?
salam.
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i agree . but i think until the ten surahs were not completely revealed , the challenge was only to produce one surah , but after the ten surahs were completed the challenge was increased to produce ten surahs like the ten already revealed . or do u say that 'ten surahs' mean 'ten Qurans' ?
Certainly, thats very interesting and I've not noticed it before. However, I cannot take the definition of a 'sura' to be 'something starting with a basmala' because that definition is lacking in al-quraan itself. Rather, al-quraan calls itself a sura, that's something I cannot ignore. So when the challenge comes to produce 10 suras like it, to me it means to produce 10 discourses about the human being which can rival al-quraan.
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WakasSiin-Waw-Ra most definitely implies an assembled/enclosed/organised/coherent structure. Simply see its root occurrences.
This fits my perception of the concept. 2/20 starts with the core of humankind, to serve God who keeps him from the elements. No man can escape this. Then God asks if any discourse/sura can exceed this. I think none can.
Fahad btw, there is no basis(except for code19 ) in the Quran for the chronological sequence idea ,right ? i never really believed in it .
One way of confirming this is to see the sunni corpus regarding 'makkan/madani' suras. There's no single consensus, as it typical with them.
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Peace
my only comment that Sura can'r mean the whole Quran because the following verse clearly suggest that it is just one sura from the Quran
Those who believe say, "Why is not a sura sent down (for us)?" But when a sura of basic or categorical meaning is revealed, and fighting is mentioned therein, thou wilt see those in whose hearts is a disease looking at thee with a look of one in swoon at the approach of death. But more fitting for them-
(20)
