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Qur'an Surah Revelation - Location Which Surah was revealed in Madinah/Makkah(Mecca) ?
2009-07-17 15:34:56I think this is very important when reading the Qur'an, it gives you an idea of the context and situation it was written other. Especially because anti-Islamists try and take a few select verses from the Qur'an out of context in order to convince others that Islam is violent and intolerant to non-Muslims.
We must remember the conditions each verse was made under, and also take into consideration other supporting verses when reading and interpreting the Qur'an. If one verse talks about Peace and Ceasing Violence, while another says to attack, one must consider the rules, context and situation for those verses.
This is where knowing where each Sur'ah was revealed helps, you will find the quotes anti-Islamic choose to use against Islam the most, are typically from Sur'ahs revealed in Madinah. The reason for this is because Muslims were not only oppressed for their religion, but they were being systemically attacked and killed for their beliefs.
The call to take up arms is a response for Muslims to defend themselves in Madinah while they were being attacked and killed one by one.
The Makkan Phase
The Makkan phase of the revelation lasted about 13 years, from the first revelation up to the Hijrah.
This phase is determined by the prime task of the Prophet to call people to Islam. The main themes of this call, based on the Qur'anic revelation are
- Allah and His unity (tawheed)
- The coming resurrection and judgment
- Righteous conduct
The role of the Prophet in this phase is in particular that of an announcer and warner.
The Madinan Phase
The Madinan phase lasted about 10 years, from the Hijrah to the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). While the basic themes of the Makkan phase remain, the factor of the Muslims' growing together into a community and the formation of the Ummah, now makes its presence clearly felt.
In Madinah, there are four groups of people to be met:
The Muhajirun (immigrants), who migrated from Makkah to Madinah
- The Ansar (helpers), who originated from Madinah and helped the Muhajirun
- The munafiqun (hypocrites), who are from Madinah and pretended to support the Muslims
- The Ahl Al-Kitab (People of the Book), that is, Jews and Christians, with their respective scriptures
In addition to these the Qur'an also continued to address an-nas (mankind), that is, all people, and referred to the disbelievers and ignorant ones.
Makkan and Madinah Surahs
Surahs of the Qur'an have also been classified, according to their origin, into Makkan and Madinan surahs.
A surah is said to be of Makkan origin when its beginning was revealed in the Makkan phase, even if it contains verses from Madinah.
A surah is said to be of Madinan origin when its beginning was revealed in the Madinan phase, even if it has verses from the Makkan period in its text.
The following 85 surahs are, according to Az-Zarkashi, of Makkan origin:
96, 68, 73, 74, 111, 81, 87, 92, 89, 93, 94, 103, 100, 108, 102, 107, 109, 105, 113, 114, 112, 53, 80, 97, 91, 85, 95, 106, 101, 75, 104, 77, 50, 90, 86, 54, 38, 7, 72, 36, 25, 35, 19, 20, 56, 26, 27, 28, 17, 10, 11, 12, 15, 6, 37, 31, 34, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 51, 88, 18, 16, 71, 14, 21, 23, 32, 52, 67, 69, 70, 78, 79, 82, 84. (Az-Zarkashi 1:193)
There is a difference of opinion as to what was last revealed in Makkah. Some say, following Ibn `Abbas, that it was Surah 29 (Al-`Ankabut); others say Surah 23 (Al-Mu'minun); still others say Surah 83 (Al-Mutaffifun). Some believe that Surah 83 is actually Madinan.
The following 29 Surahs are, according to Az-Zarkashi, of Madinan origin:
2, 8, 3, 33, 60, 4, 99, 57, 47, 13, 55, 76, 65, 98, 59, 110, 24, 22, 63, 58, 49, 66, 61, 62, 64, 48, 9, 5. (Az-Zarkashi 1:194)
Some hold that Surah 1 (Al-Fatihah) is of Makkan, others that it is of Madinan, origin.
The Makkan surahs constitute about 11, and the Madinan about 19 juz' (parts) of the text.
From the above division it is obvious that the Madinan surahs are the longer ones and comprise a much larger part of the Qur'an.
Chronology
According to a list based upon Nu`man ibn Bashir and given in Ibn An-Nadim's Fihrist, the chronological order of the revelation of the surahs is as follows:
96, 68, 73, 74, 111, 81, 94, 103, 89, 93, 92, 100, 108, 102, 107, 109, 105, 112, 113, 114, 53, 80, 97, 91, 85, 95, 106, 101, 75, 104, 77, 50, 90, 55, 72, 36, 7, 25, 35, 19, 20, 56, 26, 27, 28, 17, 11, 12, 10, 15, 37, 31, 23, 34, 21, 37, 40, 41, 47, 43, 44, 45, 46, 51, 88, 18, 6, 16, 71, 14, 32, 52, 67, 69, 70, 78, 79, 82, 84, 30, 29, 83, 54, 86. (Ibn An-Nadim 1:49-52)
Source:
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1158658454509&pagename=Zone-English-Living_Shariah%2FLSELayout
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