WEBVTT

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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

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A summary of the book:

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*Ramadan: Events and Lessons*

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The Revelation of the Noble Qur'an

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The time: Ramadan,

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in the first year of the Prophetic call,

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corresponding to 610 CE.

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In the month of Ramadan,

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toward the turn of the seventh century CE,

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a momentous event took place in human history,

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and a great matter transpired in the life of humanity.

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Through it, the course of history was transformed,

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the path of life was set right,

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and the spiritual leadership of the world was transferred

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from one nation to another,

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and from one lineage to another—

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from the progeny of Isaac

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to the progeny of Ishmael,

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the two sons of the Intimate Friend, Abraham,

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peace be upon them.

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That single event

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restored life's luster after it had withered,

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its happiness after its misery,

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and its guidance after its wandering

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in the ravines of misguidance and confusion.

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That radiant nocturnal event

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offered the bewildered world a illuminating lamp

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to guide it along the varied paths of life,

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directing it out of the perilous depths of darkness.

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Indeed, that noble time was

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a new birth for time itself,

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and a day unmatched by any day of this world.

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With its occurrence,

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the spirit reconnected with the lost earthly realm,

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which for centuries had lived as a body without a soul.

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With its taking place,

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life surged into that body,

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so that it became among the living

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after having been among the dead.

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“And thus have We inspired in thee (Muhammad) a Spirit of Our command. Thou knewest not what the Scripture was, nor what the Faith. But We have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of Our bondmen. And lo! thou verily dost guide unto a right path,” (42:52)

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“And thus have We inspired in thee (Muhammad) a Spirit of Our command. Thou knewest not what the Scripture was, nor what the Faith. But We have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of Our bondmen. And lo! thou verily dost guide unto a right path,” (42:52)

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“And thus have We inspired in thee (Muhammad) a Spirit of Our command. Thou knewest not what the Scripture was, nor what the Faith. But We have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of Our bondmen. And lo! thou verily dost guide unto a right path,” (42:52)

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“And thus have We inspired in thee (Muhammad) a Spirit of Our command. Thou knewest not what the Scripture was, nor what the Faith. But We have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of Our bondmen. And lo! thou verily dost guide unto a right path,” (42:52)

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“And thus have We inspired in thee (Muhammad) a Spirit of Our command. Thou knewest not what the Scripture was, nor what the Faith. But We have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of Our bondmen. And lo! thou verily dost guide unto a right path,” (42:52)

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In the month of Ramadan,

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the Noble Qur'an descended upon the master of the children of Adam—

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an everlasting Book,

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an enduring constitution,

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a guiding light,

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a profound wisdom,

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a decisive proof,

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an unshakable demonstration,

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and a faithful guardian.

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It is related in the two Sahihs

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on the authority of 'A'ishah, wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),

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who said:

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"The first form in which the revelation began to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

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was true dreams in sleep.

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He would not see a dream

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except that it came to pass like the breaking of the dawn.

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Then solitude was made beloved to him,

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so he used to go to the cave of Hira'

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and engage in *tahannuth* there."

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The narrator said:

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"And *tahannuth*

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means worshiping for a number of nights,

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before returning to his family and provisioning himself for that.

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Then he would return to Khadijah and provision himself similarly,

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until the Truth came to him unexpectedly while he was in the cave of Hira'.

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The angel came to him and said,

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'Read!'

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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,

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'I cannot read.'

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He said:

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'So he took me and squeezed me until I was exhausted;

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then he released me and said,

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"Read!"

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I replied,

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"I cannot read."

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So he took me and squeezed me a second time

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until I was exhausted;

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then he released me and said,

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"Read!"

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I replied,

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"I cannot read."

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So he took me and squeezed me a third time

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until I was exhausted;

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then he released me and said:

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“Read: In the name of thy Lord Who createth,” (96:1)

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“Createth man from a clot.” (96:2)

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"Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous,

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who taught by the pen."'"

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“Teacheth man that which he knew not.” (96:5)

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The Date of the Greatest Event

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Indeed, the blessed month of Ramadan

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embraced the revelation of the Noble Qur'an,

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as indicated by the words of the Exalted:

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“The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the Criterion (of right and wrong). And whosoever of you is present, let him fast the month, and whosoever of you is sick or on a journey, (let him fast the same) number of other days. Allah desireth for you ease; He desireth not hardship for you; and (He desireth) that ye should complete the period, and that ye should magnify Allah for having guided you, and that peradventure ye may be thankful.” (2:185)

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and the words of the Exalted:

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"Ha, Meem. By the clear Book,"

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“Lo! We revealed it on a blessed night - Lo! We are ever warning -” (44:3)

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"Indeed, We were warning,"

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and the words of the Exalted:

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“Lo! We revealed it on the Night of Predestination.” (97:1)

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However, it is well known that the Qur'an has two descent stages:

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the general descent

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and the specific descent.

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As for the general descent,

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it was from the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz)

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to the House of Might (Bayt al-'Izzah) in the lowest heaven,

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and to that location, the Qur'an descended all at once.

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As for the specific descent,

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it was from the lowest heaven

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to the ears of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad

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(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

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in the cave of Hira'

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as the beginning of revelation.

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And the descent of the Magnificent Qur'an

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all at once to the lowest heaven

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occurred in Ramadan,

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on the Night of Decree (Laylat al-Qadr).

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This is the view held by the majority of scholars.

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Ibn Hajar said:

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"What has preceded—that it

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descended all at once

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from the Preserved Tablet to the lowest heaven,

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and then was revealed gradually after that—

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is the authentic and relied-upon view."

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This is indicated by

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the statement of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both),

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which has reached us through multiple chains,

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among them what al-Nasa'i cited

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in *Fada'il al-Qur'an*

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and al-Hakim in his *Mustadrak*,

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both with their chains of transmission

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from 'Ikrimah, from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:

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"Allah sent down the Qur'an

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to the lowest heaven

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on the Night of Decree.

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Then, whenever Allah

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willed to reveal anything from it, He revealed it,

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or whenever He willed to cause an event on earth,

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He decreed it."

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As for its descent from the lowest heaven

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to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),

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there is consensus on specifying the day

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of the week on which it was revealed,

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which is Monday.

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In the hadith of Abu Qatadah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:

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"The Prophet was asked about fasting on Mondays,

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and he said:

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'That is the day on which I was born,

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and the day on which I was commissioned as a Prophet—

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or on which revelation was sent down to me.'"

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Ibn Sa'd reported

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on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas, who said:

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"Your Prophet (peace be upon him) was commissioned with prophethood on a Monday."

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However, scholars differed

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in determining the exact month of the initial revelation

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and specifying the night on which it descended.

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As for the month of revelation,

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the strongest opinion is that it was the month of Ramadan.

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As for the night,

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those who hold that the month of the initial revelation was Ramadan have differed

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in pinpointing the night on which it descended.

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It was said:

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On the seventh night of Ramadan;

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and it was said:

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On the seventeenth;

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and it was said:

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On the eighteenth.

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These opinions can be reconciled

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if we say that the revelation of the Qur'an on the blessed night—

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the Night of Decree—

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was to the lowest heaven,

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as well as upon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).

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That is because it was narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him)

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that the Night of Decree is in the last ten nights of Ramadan,

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specifically on its odd-numbered nights.

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On the authority of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her),

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the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

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"Seek the Night of Decree on the odd nights

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of the last ten nights of Ramadan."

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For this reason, the erudite scholar al-Mubarakfuri selected the view

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that the night of revelation was the 21st night of Ramadan.

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Yet there are scholars

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who hold that it is simply within the last ten nights of Ramadan,

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and some of them restrict it to the odd-numbered nights,

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but without specifying one particular night.

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Among those who held this view

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were Ibn Hajar and Ibn 'Ashur.

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Ramadan and the Qur'an

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There is a close connection between Ramadan and the Qur'an,

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and common bridges that unite them.

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In fact, there is a natural harmony between the Qur'an and fasting,

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both in Ramadan and outside of it.

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Fasting provides an ideal state for reciting the Qur'an

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with deep contemplation, comprehension, reflection, and intellect.

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For when the stomach is free from full satiety,

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the mirror of the mind becomes clear,

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and the heart softens from its hardness—

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a hardness caused by indulging in excesses.

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At that point,

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the purity of the soul—

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which has refined through minimal intake of food

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and soared into the realm of virtues

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by subduing the bodily inclinations—combines with clarity of mind.

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Together, they form an unrivaled path

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toward finding guidance through the Noble Qur'an.

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For this reason, we find them mentioned together

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across the texts of the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

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In the context of discussing Ramadan and the obligation of fasting therein,

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Allah stated amidst those verses:

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"The month of Ramadan in which

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was revealed the Qur'an,

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a guidance for the people

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and clear proofs

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of guidance and criterion."

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The month of Ramadan was specially chosen

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from among all months

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because it was honored by the revelation of the Qur'an within it.

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For since the revelation of the Qur'an

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was intended for the purification

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and guidance of the Ummah,

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it was only fitting that the means of purifying souls

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and drawing near to the angelic state

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should take place within it.

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Praising the month for having the Qur'an revealed in it

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is also a praise of the Qur'an through it,

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indicating that one of the greatest objectives

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of prescribing fasting

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is to clear the mind so as to understand the Qur'an,

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thereby grasping the reality of the descriptions that followed it,

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which reaffirm

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what the surah opened with:

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that it is a book free of all doubt,

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and that it is a guidance in a broader sense

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than that initial mention.

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Thus, He—Glorified and Exalted be He—said:

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"A guidance for the people."

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This carries an intimation that the masses of mankind

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are elevated by fasting—

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through preparation for reflection,

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understanding, and humbling the soul—

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to the rank of those who believe

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and are true believers,

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elevating them further to the rank of the people of Ihsan.

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It is a guidance wherein the deprivation of food nourishes the heart,

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just as the presence of food nourishes the body.

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It also indicates that the descent of revelation within it

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was the reason it was singled out for the obligation of fasting.

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In this very same manner,

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the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

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used to review the Qur'an with Gabriel

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during Ramadan every year.

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Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) narrated:

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"The Prophet (peace be upon him) was the most generous of people in doing good,

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and he was at his most generous during Ramadan

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when Gabriel met him.

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Gabriel (peace be upon him)

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used to meet him every night of Ramadan

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until it came to an end,

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and the Prophet (peace be upon him) would recite the Qur'an to him.

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When Gabriel met him,

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he was more generous in doing good than the blowing wind."

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The Prophet (peace be upon him) also paired fasting and the Qur'an in interceding for their companion on the Day of Resurrection,

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saying: "Fasting and the Qur'an will intercede for the servant on the Day of Resurrection.

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Fasting will say: 'O Lord, I deprived him of food and desires, so let me intercede for him.'

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And the Qur'an will say: 'I deprived him of sleep by night, so let me intercede for him.'

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He said: 'So they will both intercede.'"

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Among the lessons of this event: first, an illustration of Allah Almighty's care for His servants,

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as He sent down the Qur'an to them as guidance and light, directing them to all good and warning them against all evil;

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second, the supreme importance of knowledge, as the word of knowledge—

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"Read!"—was the very first word of revelation to knock upon the ears of existence;

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third, the honor of Ramadan, manifested in its being the month of the Qur'an's revelation;

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fourth, the evident superiority of the Night of Decree over all other nights;

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fifth, noble times ought to be dedicated to noble deeds as well.

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Ramadan: Events and Lessons.