The nice comment on the book of cards identifying the surahs of the Holy Qur’an | D. Muhammad Nassif

0:00 In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

0:02 The concise commentary

0:32 on the book *Identification Cards*

0:35 *for the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an*

0:37 by Dr. Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Umar Nassif,

0:42 may Allah preserve him.

0:43 Surah Al 'Imran.

0:46 In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.

0:50 We are in the concise commentary on Surah Al 'Imran,

0:54 and I have three points to make regarding it.

0:56 The first point

0:58 concerns the chronological order of the Surah's revelation.

1:00 Here the same mistake occurred,

1:02 but I will elaborate in commenting on it.

1:05 If you look at the page containing the diagram,

1:09 which is also attached to the lesson,

1:12 you will find that its order of revelation according to what is written

1:15 is numbered eighty-seventh, revealed after Al-Baqarah and before Al-Anfal.

1:19 This is called the order of revelation.

1:22 However, the order of revelation is not among the headings present

1:25 in the pages preceding the diagram,

1:29 as you will notice.

1:31 Then he wrote its date;

1:34 after the thematic sections, he wrote its date:

1:36 "Medinan by consensus,"

1:38 and he did not intend to make an exception of any part of it at all.

1:40 And we have noted that the correct heading for this

1:43 is its period/era, not its date.

1:45 The matter will become clearer

1:47 by reading what comes before that

1:49 on page twenty-seven.

1:51 What he wrote regarding the order of the Surah's revelation,

1:53 he said: "Numbered eighty-seventh,

1:55 after Al-Baqarah and before Al-Anfal."

1:57 Up to this point,

1:59 this is the order of revelation.

2:01 Then the discussion begins

2:03 about the dating.

2:05 What is mentioned here is the dating,

2:07 and it is not present in the diagram

2:09 because the diagram is built upon brevity,

2:11 so there is no harm in omitting it from the diagram.

2:14 However, the word "date" should not be placed there,

2:16 because its dating

2:18 pertains to what I am about to read now,

2:21 and it contains an error that must be highlighted.

2:23 He said: "It is linked to two events in the Seerah:

2:25 the arrival of the delegation of the Christians of Najran,"

2:27 then he wrote: "in the ninth

2:29 or tenth year of the Hijrah." And this is an error;

2:31 it is not correct.

2:33 The arrival of the delegation of Najran occurred

2:35 early, close to the Battle of Uhud,

2:37 as clarified by al-Tahir Ibn 'Ashur,

2:39 and as is evident in *Sirat Ibn Hisham*.

2:41 That is, dating it to the ninth

2:43 or tenth year of the Hijrah is an error.

2:45 Then he said: "and that was before the Year of Delegations."

2:47 Yes, it was before the Year of Delegations;

2:49 the delegation of Najran arrived years before it.

2:51 Therefore, it would have been more accurate to write:

2:53 "and that was years before the Year of Delegations."

2:55 This Year of Delegations

2:57 was in the ninth year,

2:59 as stated in *Sirat Ibn Hisham*.

3:02 So this was the cause of the error.

3:04 The arrival of the delegation of Najran was not during the Year of Delegations;

3:06 rather, it was before that

3:08 by a number of years.

3:10 Thus, the Year of Delegations was in the ninth year,

3:12 whereas the delegation of Najran

3:14 arrived years prior to that,

3:16 and it is connected to the Battle of Uhud—

3:18 I mean, to Surah Al 'Imran.

3:20 For there is no mention in Surah Al 'Imran

3:22 of the delegations in general;

3:24 rather, it contains mention of the dialogue with

3:26 the Christians of Najran.

3:28 As for the Year of Delegations, it is connected to certain other Surahs,

3:30 such as Surah Al-Hujurat, which comes to mind now.

3:32 Then he said: "and the Battle of Uhud, which took place in Shawwal,"

3:34 meaning the arrival of the delegation of Najran

3:36 and the Battle of Uhud, which took place in Shawwal

3:38 of the third year of the Hijrah.

3:40 This supports—

3:42 that is, its connection to the delegation of Najran

3:44 and the Battle of Uhud—

3:46 it supports that it was revealed relatively early,

3:50 because it is linked to early events.

3:55 Had the delegation of Najran been in the ninth year,

3:57 it would not be correct to say that its revelation was relatively early,

3:59 but rather that only some of its verses were.

4:01 Indeed, consensus has been reported

4:04 that it is among the earliest Medinan Surahs.

4:06 This is an addition from me, quoting al-Tahir Ibn 'Ashur:

4:08 a consensus was reported that it is among the earliest Medinan Surahs.

4:10 As a further point of verification,

4:12 he then said: "which supports

4:15 that its revelation was relatively early,

4:17 and that in the well-known narration mentioned at the beginning of the discussion,"

4:21 which places its revelation as eighty-seventh,

4:23 "which places it before Al-Anfal, there is room for reconsideration."

4:26 And the well-known narration that is transmitted—

4:29 we said it is the narration of Jabir ibn Zayd—

4:31 which places Surah Al 'Imran before Al-Anfal,

4:35 stating that it was revealed after Al-Baqarah

4:38 and before Al-Anfal,

4:40 according to the narration of Jabir ibn Zayd,

4:42 placing it before Al-Anfal is debatable.

4:45 Where does this doubt come from?

4:48 It comes from the fact that Al-Anfal was in the second year,

4:51 linked to the Battle of Badr, as will follow,

4:54 whereas Surah Al 'Imran is linked to the Battle of Uhud

4:57 in a large portion of it.

4:59 Therefore, there is question regarding it being earlier;

5:02 even the verses at the beginning of the Surah have occasions of revelation

5:05 indicating that they occurred after the Battle of Badr.

5:09 So the most accurate view, and Allah knows best, is that Surah Al 'Imran was revealed early,

5:13 but it does not precede Surah Al-Anfal.

5:17 This concludes the first point,

5:20 on which I have dwelt for a bit.

5:22 As for the second point,

5:23 it is connected to the first point.

5:25 For I mentioned in the first point that

5:27 two events are connected to the Surah:

5:29 the delegation of the Christians of Najran

5:31 and the Battle of Uhud.

5:33 Does this help in understanding the Surah? Yes.

5:35 Knowing the events connected to a Surah—

5:39 and this applies to every Surah—

5:40 whichever Surah it is, if you can identify any event connected to it,

5:43 it will aid you in understanding the Surah.

5:45 This varies from one Surah to another;

5:47 Surah Al-Anfal, which will follow,

5:50 is entirely connected to the Battle of Badr,

5:52 and this helps you understand the entire Surah.

5:54 Therefore, dating the revelation is very important,

5:57 as are the events associated with that date.

5:59 A research paper available in al-Maktaba al-Shamila has been written,

6:03 entitled *The Prophetic Biography (Seerah) Through the Most Important Books of Tafsir*,

6:07 by Dr. 'Isam al-Humaydan,

6:09 and it is extremely beneficial.

6:12 This is what I mentioned earlier at the beginning of the lessons:

6:16 when you read the Tafsir of a single verse, you understand it,

6:19 but when you know the events associated

6:23 with the Surah, you do not merely understand one verse;

6:26 it aids you in understanding all of its verses.

6:29 Dating the revelation is important for the Surah,

6:32 and books of Tafsir vary in their attention to it.

6:35 Among the works of Tafsir that pay the greatest attention to it

6:37 is the Tafsir of al-Tahir Ibn 'Ashur;

6:39 in the introduction to each Surah,

6:41 he attempts to determine the date of revelation,

6:42 and then draws upon that during his discussion of the Surah.

6:46 The third and final point

6:48 concerns the placement of the Surah.

6:51 Here is a note

6:54 that applies throughout the entire book:

6:56 the "placement of the Surah"

6:59 is the very same as its order in the Mus-haf.

7:03 In the diagrams, he always writes "its order in the Mus-haf,"

7:08 whereas within the text of the book,

7:10 in the non-diagram pages, he writes

7:12 "the placement of the Surah," though the meaning is one and the same.

7:15 Unifying the terminology would have been clearer and more appropriate.

7:19 If we look at the placement of the Surah

7:22 and its order in the Mus-haf,

7:24 we find that it comes after Al-Baqarah.

7:26 The thematic correspondences between the two Surahs are numerous;

7:29 among the most significant of these is

7:31 that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)

7:33 paired them together when he said:

7:35 "Recite the two radiant ones: Al-Baqarah and Al 'Imran,"

7:40 or as he (peace be upon him) said.

7:43 A man among the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him),

7:47 whenever he recited these two Surahs—

7:49 and I do not say merely "memorized,"

7:51 for recitation (*qira'ah*) is broader than mere memorization,

7:55 nor is it simply reciting them once;

7:59 rather, recitation according to them encompassed comprehension and practice—

8:03 whenever a man recited Al-Baqarah and Al 'Imran,

8:08 he was held in great esteem among them.

8:10 Among the relationships between the two Surahs is also

8:13 that they share the exact same opening:

8:16 both begin with *Alif-Lam-Mim*.

8:19 It is noticeable that the Surahs opening with *Alif-Lam-Mim*

8:24 are scattered and do not appear consecutively,

8:26 unlike the Surahs beginning with *Ha-Mim*

8:29 or the Surahs beginning with *Alif-Lam-Ra*,

8:32 which appear consecutively, with one Surah beginning with *Alif-Lam-Mim-Ra* among them.

8:36 The *Alif-Lam-Mim* Surahs we are speaking of are

8:39 Al-Baqarah and Al 'Imran,

8:41 along with Al-'Ankabut, Al-Rum, Luqman, and Al-Sajdah;

8:46 these are called the *Lawamim*.

8:48 Few scholars have given detailed attention to them,

8:51 and the scholarly remarks

8:55 that have been made regarding the *Lawamim*

8:58 truly deserve and require compilation and study.

9:00 I have not seen anyone address this

9:03 except al-Biqa'i in his Tafsir

9:06 and Shaykh Mustafa al-Bahyaoui—

9:09 may Allah preserve him and grant benefit through him—

9:10 for he has subtle insights concerning the *Alif-Lam-Mim* surahs.

9:14 A concise study could indeed be conducted on these surahs:

9:18 why they appear separated throughout the Qur'an,

9:21 and likewise the dispersion in their revelation.

9:23 For al-Baqarah and Al 'Imran

9:25 are both Madinan, unlike the remaining surahs,

9:28 whereas generally, surahs opening with disjointed letters

9:31 are Meccan.

9:34 This inquiry is by no means an intellectual luxury;

9:39 rather, it has a basis in the Sunnah,

9:41 as in the hadith cited in the book

9:44 regarding Surah Yunus,

9:46 wherein the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) drew attention

9:48 to studying surahs that share similar openings.

9:53 Here, another thematic correlation is also mentioned,

9:56 which al-Suyuti pointed out in his book

9:59 *Tanasuq al-Durar*,

10:00 namely that Surah Al 'Imran elaborates upon some of

10:05 what was mentioned concisely in Surah al-Baqarah.

10:09 For instance, I note here

10:11 the words of Allah the Exalted;

10:12 “Lo! Allah disdaineth not to coin the similitude even of a gnat. Those who believe know that it is the truth from their Lord; but those who disbelieve say: What doth Allah wish (to teach) by such a similitude? He misleadeth many thereby, and He guideth many thereby; and He misleadeth thereby only miscreants;” (2:26)

10:16 compare them with His saying:

10:18 “He it is Who hath revealed unto thee (Muhammad) the Scripture wherein are clear revelations - they are the substance of the Book - and others (which are) allegorical. But those in whose hearts is doubt pursue, forsooth, that which is allegorical seeking (to cause) dissension by seeking to explain it. None knoweth its explanation save Allah. And those who are of sound instruction say: We believe therein; the whole is from our Lord; but only men of understanding really heed.” (3:7)

10:22 These two verses complement one another,

10:25 along with a third verse in a later surah with a different opening,

10:30 which is Surah al-Muddaththir:

10:33 the verse, "And We have not made the keepers of the Fire except angels..."

10:36 The varying stances toward divine revelation

10:38 can be observed across these surahs,

10:39 each fitting perfectly within its specific context,

10:42 which truly warrants deep reflection.

10:44 “Lo! Allah disdaineth not to coin the similitude even of a gnat. Those who believe know that it is the truth from their Lord; but those who disbelieve say: What doth Allah wish (to teach) by such a similitude? He misleadeth many thereby, and He guideth many thereby; and He misleadeth thereby only miscreants;” (2:26)

10:48 It was reported to be concerning the Jews,

10:51 whereas the verse in Al 'Imran occurs in close proximity to the mention of the Christians,

10:56 and the verse in Surah al-Muddaththir addresses the polytheists of Mecca.

11:00 Does this context influence the composition of each verse

11:03 and the description of how different people responded to it?

11:07 That may very well be the case, and it warrants further research.

11:11 I will conclude with this much for this reflection.

11:14 May Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon all his family and Companions,

11:17 and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.

The nice comment on the book of cards identifying the surahs of the Holy Qur’an | D. Muhammad Nassif | Surah Al Imran (1)

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