Download The Qur`an - Religious Education 4 U

The Qur’an
Lesson Objectives
To understand how the Qur’an
was revealed
To understand why the Qur’an is
important to Muslims
What you need to know?
• You need to remind yourself of how the Qur’an was
revealed to Muhammad, good to recap on First
Revelation as well.
• You need to know the difference between Meccan
and Medinan revelations. Meccan revelations
contain lots of warnings in face of severe
opposition. Revelations in Medina focused on the
community aspect of Islam and catered towards a
growing religion. Also revelations on war etc.
• You definitely need to be able to explain how the
Qur’an was collected and compiled; history of
Qur’anic compilation.
• Why is the Qur’an so important?
• How do Muslims use the Qur’an in their everyday
lives?
The Qur’an
• The Qur’an is the heart of Islam.
Muslims believe it to be the literal,
uncreated word of God.
• It is inimitable & untranslatable, an
object of veneration & the basis of
human understanding of the universe
& man’s place in it, says Islam
• Quote from Albert C. Moore on its
SIGNIFICANCE:• “The Qur’an is the one central miracle of
Islam and this miracle of the Divine Word
is actualised again and again, not in
visual & material form but verbally in
recitation……… Its phrases are repeated
in cantillations at the mosque, in
teaching and memorisation at the
mosque school and in the prayers of
believers. The book provides the basis
for the study of Muslim theology & law. “
Not a new message
• The message the Qur'an brings is not
new. Sura4vs163 says that its
message is similar but not identical to
earlier revelations. Sura 7vs59-93
tells of a series of prophets in almost
identical words, all asserting that there
is one God and being rejected.
What happened though?
• Sura 10vs37 states that the Qur'an is a
confirmation (tasdiq) of earlier revelations and a
fuller explanation of God's revelation, repeating the
essentials of earlier messages.
• The message brought by Ibrahim had been
corrupted by the Jews and Christians and now the
Qur'an was restoring it in its pure form.
• This assertion was strengthened by the revelation
that Ibrahim and Ismail (peace be upon them both)
had established the sanctuary at Makkah and
Ibrahim (pbuh) had prayed there for a community
submissive to God and a messenger from among
themselves (2vs125-129). Thus the Jews and
Christians are accused of corrupting the message
brought to them (20vs79-98, 4vs161).
Revelation
• From the first revelation on Mt Hira
passages of the Qur'an were revealed
to Muhammad (pbuh) at frequent
intervals (except for one longer
interval after the first revelation).
Sometimes a revelation would be as
short as 12 words.
• Muhammad (pbuh) began to collect
the passages together in suras but the
final arrangement was made during
the reign of Uthman (644-656 CE).
Revelation
• There were several different manners (kayfiyyat) of
revelation:
1. direct revelation (wahy)
2. from behind a veil (hijab)
3. by a messenger
4. like a bell reverberating in Muhammad's (pbuh)
head after which he understood what had been
said. Qur'an 42vs51 and 26/192-4.
• Whichever manner of revelation was used
Muhammad (pbuh) always felt certain that he
could distinguish between revelation and the
product of his consciousness.
The written word…
• The Qur’an was revealed to the prophet
over a period of 23 years.
• Revelations were memorised off by heart
and then written down on materials such
as dried out palm leaves,
• pieces of broken pottery,
• ribs and shoulder bones of sheep,
• pieces of leather
• and flat stones.
Memorised
• Muslims believe: “The Prophet recited
every Year in the month of Ramadan,
in the presence of the angel Gabriel
(jibrial), the portion of the Quran till
then revealed, and that in the last year
of his life, Gabriel asked him to recite
the whole of it twice. The Prophet
concluded thereupon that he was
going soon to depart this life.”
Arrangement
• It is arranged in chapters (suras) and verses
(ayyas).
• The suras are arranged in roughly descending
order of length and are usually named after some
word of importance within the sura.
• A sura may discuss a number of different topics
and any one topic may recur in several different
suras.
• The Qur'an is written in two very different styles:
short inspired passages (these are the older
revelations) and longer more prosaic passages
Why Arabic?
• Muslims believe that Arabic is the sacred language
of Islam and is the language that God chose to
reveal his words to the people.
• Therefore Muslims memorize and recite the Qur’an
in arabic whether they fully understand it or not.
• The text itself is viewed as perfect, eternal and
unchangeable.
• The Qur’an is regarded as the only miracle brought
by the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh)
• if all men and jinns were to collaborate they
could not produce its like (Sura 17.90)
Read Watton and answer the
following questions:
• How was the Qur’an revealed to
Muhammad?
• Describe the first revelation
• Why do Muslims insist that only
someone who can read the Qur’an in
Arabic can understand it?
• Why was Muhammed (pbuh) so
overwhelmed by the first revelation?
Homework
• Using the internet research the
difference between the Meccan and
Medinan suras.
• Find a list of the two different suras
• Identify the key different features