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8. REASONS FOR SENDING DOWN THE QUR’ᾹN IN STAGES (3)

Other reasons for sending down the Qur’an in stages are as follows:

4. To adapt to emerging events and issues. The Qur’an was revealed to solve problems emerging from new events. Allah said:

لنا ورحمة وهدى شيء لكل تبيانا الكتاب عليك ونز (88 :النحل) للمسلمين وبشرى

… And We have sent down to you the Book as an exposition of everything, a guidance a mercy, and

glad tidings for those who submitted themselves (to Allah as Muslims) (Q. 16:89)

a. Some un-Islamic Arab’s traditions and practices were abolished, such as adoption and ẓihār. In Islam adoption is merely being a foster parent, and there is no blood relationship with him. The child remains the son or daughter of his or her biological parents. This issue has been dealt with in my khutbah in Selected Khutab Book 4, under the topic “The Institution of Marriage in Jeopardy.”

With regard to ẓihār Khawlah bint Tha‘labah complained to the Prophet that her husband Aws ibn al-Ṣāmit said to her أنت

ي علي كظهرأم (“you are to me like my mother’s back”), a pre-Islamic form of divorce consisting in the words of repudiation called ẓihār. Then revelation came to explain the invalidity of this kind of divorce and the penalty for the offender in the following verses:

سمع قد للا إلى وتشتكي زوجها في تجادلك التي قول للا تحاوركما يسمع وللا إن هاتهم هن ما نسائهم من منكم يظاهرون الذين .بصير سميع للا هاتهم إن أم إل أمئي هم ولدنهم الل وإن وزورا القول من منكرا ليقولون وإن والذين .غفور لعفو للاا أن قبل من رقبة فتحرير قالوا لما يعودون ثم نسائهم من يظاهرون ذلكم يتماس

به توعظون قبل من متتابعين شهرين فصيام يجد لم فمن .خبير تعملون بما وللاا أن ورسوله بالل لتؤمنوا ذلك مسكينا ست ين فإطعام يستطع م ل فمن يتماس

(4-1المجادلة:) أليم عذاب وللكافرين للا حدود وتلك

Indeed, Allah has heard the statement of her that

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disputes with you (O Muhammad) concerning her husband, and complains to Allah. Allah hears the argument between you both. Verily, Allah is All-Hearer, All-Seer. Those among you who make their wives unlawful to them by ẓihār, they cannot be their mother. None can be their mothers except

those who gave them birth. And verily, they utter an ill word and a lie. And verily, Allah is Oft-Pardoning, Oft-Forgiving. And those who make unlawful to them their wives by ẓihār and wish to free themselves from what they uttered, then (the penalty of this case is) the freeing a slave before they touch each other. That is an admonition to you so that you

may not repeat such an ill thing). And Allah is Well-Acquainted with what you do. And he who finds not (the money for freeing

a slave) must fast two successive months before they both touch each other. And he who is unable to do so, should feed

sixty miskīn (needy persons). That is in order that you may have perfect Faith in Allah and His Messenger. These are

the limits set by Allah. And for the disbelievers, is a painful torment. (Q. 58 :1-4).

So, the penalty of it, before they touch each other as husband and wife, is to free a slave, or if he can’t or no more slave to free, then fast two successive months if he can, and if not, feed sixty poor people.

b. Emerging issues such as the distribution of the spoils of war. After the battle Badr that took place on Friday 17 Ramadan 2 AH/17 March, 624 CE, groups Muslim army disputed about the distribution of the spoils of war. Some of them pursued the enemy inflicting utter defeat and casualties; another group came collected the spoils of war; and another group surrounded the Prophet to protect him from any surprise attack against him. They did not know how to distribute them fairly. Sa‘d ibn Mālik who participated in the battlefield came to the Prophet with a sword and said: “O Allah’s Messenger, Allah has brought comfort to me today over the idolaters, so grant me this sword. He said, ‘This sword is neither yours nor mine;

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put it down.’ So I put it down, but said to myself, ‘The Prophet might give this sword to another man who did not fight as fiercely as I did.’ Then the Prophet came to me, and said, ‘O Sa‘d, you have asked me the sword, and it was not mine. Now it has become mine, and it is for you.’ The he cited the following verse:

سول لل النفال قل نفال ال عن يسألونك قوا والر فات وأصلحوا للا وأطيعوا بينكم ذات (1:النفال) مؤمنين كنتم إن ورسوله للا

They asked you (O Muhammad) about the spoils of war. Say: the spoils are for Allah and the Messenger.” So fear

Allah and adjust all matters of difference among you, and obey Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad)

if you are believers.(Q. 8:1) (Reported by Aḥmad. Abū Dā’ūd, al-Tirmidhī,

al-Nasā’ī and al-Bayhaqī)

This means, in the beginning, the whole spoils of war were for Allah who gave them to the Prophet at his disposal.

Then another revelation was revealed as follows:

ما واعلموا سول خمسه لل فأن شيء من غنمتم أن القربى ولذي وللر بيل وابن والمساكين واليتامى يوم عبدنا على أنزلنا وما بالل آمنتم كنتم إن الس

(41:النفال) قدير شيء كل على وللا الجمعان التقى يوم الفرقان And know that whatever of war booty that you may

gain, verily, one-fifth of it is assigned to Allah, and to the the Messenger, and to the near relatives (of the Messenger), the orphans, the poor, and the wayfarer, if you have believed

in Allah and in that which We sent down to Our servant on the Day of Criterion, the Day when the two forces met;

and Allah is able to do all things. (Q. 8.:41)

As everything belongs to Allah, His share in the spoils of war is intended for the Prophet. The four-fifth of the spoils of was divided among the fighters, and the remaining one-fifth was divided among the Muslims: the Prophet’s near relatives (as they were not allowed to receive ṣadaqah. i.e., charity(, the orphans, the poor, and the wayfarer. The ṣaḥābah (companions

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of the Prophet) were very happy, especially ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, who received from the share an old camel mare, when he had nothing, while he was engaged with Fāṭimah, the Prophet’s youngest daughter.

That was in the early period of Islam. Nowadays, as Muslim soldiers receive salaries, military equipment and trainings, even pensions for them and their families from their respective governments, this regulation is no longer applied, dormant and probably forever.

c. People ask the Prophet many questions, and Allah gives the answer. The Prophet s.a.w. kept warning the pagan Quraysh tribe in Makkah about the coming of the Hour, and when they asked when it would happen, Allah revealed to him the following verses:

اعة عن يسألونك ان الس رب ك إلى .ذكراها من أنت فيم .مرساها أي

ما .منتهاها هم .يخشاها من منذر أنت إن إل يلبثوا لم يرونها يوم كأن

ة (44-44النازعات:) ضحاها أو عشي

They ask you (O Muhammad) about the Hour – when will be its appointed time? You have no knowledge to say anything about it. To your Lord belongs (the knowledge

of) the term thereof. You (Muhammad) are only a warner for those who fear it. The Day they see it (it will be as if

they had not tarried (in this world) except an afternoon or a morning. (Q. 79:42),

In the following verse Allah told the Prophet the answer to their question:

اعة عن يسألونك ان الس ما قل مرساها أي لوقتها يجل يها ل رب ي عند علمها إن ماوات في هوثقلت إل حفي كأنك يسألونك بغتة إل تأتيكم ل والرض الس

ما قل عنها (181 :العراف) يعلمون ل الناس أكثر ولكن للا عند علمها إن

They ask you about the Hour (Day of Resurrection)” “When will be its appointed time?” Say: “The knowledge thereof is

with my Lord (Alone). None can reveal its time but He. Heavy is its burden through the heaven and the earth. It shall not

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come upon you except all of a sudden.” They ask you as if you have a good knowledge of it. Say: “The knowledge

there of is with Allah (Alone), but most of mankind know not.” (Q. 7:187)

The famous Qur’an commentator al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/843) said that people asked the Prophet about the crescents, being hidden, then appeared and then change of their condition with increase and decrease in size, unlike the sun which never decreases or increases in size. This question does not need scientific explanation which is beyond their understanding. The Prophet was not an astronomer to teach astronomy, but a Prophet to guide people to the right path. Allah said:

(188:البقرة) والحج للناس مواقيت هي قل الهلة عن يسألونك

They ask you (O Muhammad) about the crescents. Say, “These are signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for the pilgrimage…” (Q. 2:189) So, the change of the crescents is to make them mark

their acts of worship, the ‘iddah (the period of time a divorced woman or a widow is required to wait before remarrying) of their women, time for paying their debt and rent, for fasting and breaking their fast, and the time of their ḥajj (pilgrimage to Makkah).

The expression ... عن يسألونك ... قل (“They ask you about…say …”) is mentioned in five verses, namely, about the crescents (Q. 2:189), about fighting the Sacred months (Q. 2:217), about alcohol (Q. 2:219), about the Day of Resurrection (Q. 7:189), and about the spoils of war (Q. 8:1). One verse, namely, Q. 79:42 about time of the Hour , as mentioned earlier, is without asking the Prophet to give them the answer with قل (“say”), but Allah Himself told the Prophet not to bother, because nobody except Allah knows when it will happen. Four verses use the conjunction و (“and) in عن ويسألونك

...“And they ask you about…), namely: concerning the orphans (Q. 2:220), what they ought to spend (Q. 2:219),

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concerning menstruation (Q. 2:222), concerning the spirit (Q. 17:85), and about Dhu ’l-Qarnayn (Q. 18:83).

One verse starts with قل ... ف ... عن يسألونك و (“And they ask you… then say…) which is concerning the mountains on the Doomsday, as follows:

(101طه:) نسفا رب ي ينسفها فقل الجبال عن ويسألونك

And they ask you about the mountains. (Then) Say: My Lord will carry them from the roots (Q. 20:105).

When the following verse was revealed,

كم وقال (40)غافر: لكم أستجب ادعوني رب

And your Lord says: “Call upon Me, I will answer you …” (Q. 40:60)

people wished to know when they should call upon Him. Others asked the Prophet how they should call upon Him. Then the following verse was revealed:

اع دعوة أجيب قريب فإن ي عن ي عبادي سألك وإذا دعان إذا الد

(184لبقرة:ا) يرشدون لعلهم بي وليؤمنوا لي فليستجيبوا

And when My servant ask you (O Muhammad) concerning Me, then surely I am near; I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he calls on Me. So they

should answer My call and believe in Me, that they may walk in the right way (Q. 2:186)

In this verse when they ask the Prophet about Allah, He Himself answered them directly, without saying قل )(say) to the Prophet, that no matter how and where they pray and call upon Him, He is near and hear their prayers and supplication.

d. Some Qur’anic verses say about the enemy of Islam, especially the hypocrites and their distinctive feature, such as the following verses:

ا يقول من الناس ومن يخادعون .بمؤمنين هم وما الخر وباليوم بالل آمن مرض قلوبهم في .يشعرون وما أنفسهم إل يخدعون وما آمنوا والذين للا

فزادهم تفسدوا ل لهم قيل وإذا .يكذبون كانوا بما أليم عذاب ولهم مرضا للا

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ما قالوا الرض في هم أل .مصلحون نحن إن ل ولكن المفسدون هم إنفهاء آمن كما من أنؤ قالوا الناس آمن كما آمنوا لهم قيل وإذا .يشعرون الس

هم أل فهاء هم إن ا قالوا آمنوا الذين لقوا وإذا .يعلمون ل ولكن الس آمنا قالوا شياطينهم إلى خلوا وإذا ما معكم إن .مستهزئون نحن إن للا

هم بهم يستهزئ الذين أولئك .يعمهون طغيانهم في ويمدللة اشتروا تجارتهم ربحت فما بالهدى الض

(14-8البقرة:) مهتدين كانوا وما

And there are some people who say: We believe in Allah and the last day; and they are not at all

believers. They desire to deceive Allah and those who believe, and they deceive only themselves and they do not perceive. There is a disease in their hearts, so Allah

added to their disease and they shall have a painful chastisement because they used to tell lies. And when

it is said to them, Do not make mischief in the land, they say: We are but peace-makers. Now surely they themselves are the mischief makers, but they do not perceive. And when it is said to them: Believe as the people believe they say: Shall we believe as the fools believe? Now, surely they themselves are the fools, but they do not know. And when they meet those who believe, they say: We believe; and when they

are alone with their Satans, they say: Surely, we are with you, we were only mocking. Allah shall pay them back their mockery,

and He leaves them alone in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on.

(Q. 2:8-16) The hypocrites are the most dangerous enemy of the Muslims, as they have to be treated like Muslims, but Muslims have to be very careful not to be stabbed from behind, as they are enemies in disguise. There is a chapter in the Qur’an called Sūrat al-Munāfiqῡn dealing with the hypocrites of Madinah and its leader, ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy. I have also dealt with this topic in my khutbah, on Selected Khuṭab, vol. 1 under the topic “Abdullah Bin Ubayy”.

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‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy and his followers had slandered

‘Ᾱ’ishah. After waiting for over one month Allah revealed Q. 23:11-13 to clear ‘Ᾱ’ishah of the slander of the hypocrites, and to prove her innocence, as dealt with in the previous khuṭbah dated 13 September 2013.

These are some examples of questions and problems

answered and solved by the Qur’an in due course. (CIVIC 31.01.

140)

:المصادر المكتبة الشاملة تفسير الطبري

تفسير تفسير إبن كثير

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