1. Lecture 1 January 20 2013 DIVINE REVELATION: A STUDY OF THE QUR’ANIC SCIENCES Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 1

2.  Covering from:  Ulum al-Qur’an - An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’an by Ahmad Von Denffer  Topics to be covered:  Importance of Revelation  Nature of Revelation and its various forms  Details revelation of Qur’an  Conservation and compilation of Qur’an  Details regarding content of Qur’an  Various modes of Qu’ranic recitation  8-week course with exam (see syllabus) Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 2 COURSE OVERVIEW

3.  “To seek sacred knowledge is an obligation on every Muslim.” (Ibn Maja)  “Whoever travels a path seeking sacred knowledge, Allah will place him on (make easy for him) a path leading to Paradise. The angels lower their wings for the student of sacred knowledge, pleased with what he is doing.” (Abu Dawud)  Correct intention is necessary  “Actions are only according to their intentions...” (Bukhari, Muslim) Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 3 IMPORTANCE OF SACRED KNOWLEDGE

4.  Respect for:  Books  Teachers  Classmates  Classroom/prayer area  Patience, humility, and perseverance  Come to class prepared  Know previous lesson  Review forthcoming lesson  Come on time  State of wudu’  Etiquette of asking questions Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 4 ETIQUETTE OF SEEKING KNOWLEDGE

5.  The Qur’an is the Book of Allah, and a message from Allah to mankind  Important for us to understand this message  Proper approach to Qu’ran:  1. Receive the Message  By hearing or reading  2. Understand the Message  Through study and reflection  3. Apply the Message  Personally and as a society  The branch of knowledge known as ‘ulum al-Qur’an aims to help accomplish the 2 nd stage – understanding the Message Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 5 INTRODUCTION

6.  ‘Ulum al-Qur’an: the studies concerning the final Book of revelation sent down upon the Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu ‘alayhi wa salam), including:  Its revelation  Its collection  Its order and arrangement  Its writing down and conservation  Information about the reasons and occasions of revelation  The ‘Makki’ and ‘Madani’ revelations  The abrogating (nasikh) and abrogated (mansukh) verses  The ‘clear’ (muhkamat) and ‘unclear’ (mutashabihat) verses  Tafsir (exegesis)  Methods, scholars, and books of Tafsir Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 6 INTRODUCTION

7. Chapter 1 7 Qur'anic Sciences - DKI EARLIER SCRIPTURES THE QUR’AN AND REVELATION

8.  Allah created man  The human forgets his purpose and denies Allah  Despite signs throughout creation  Allah guides man back to his purpose through Revelation  We said, “Go down from here, all of you. Then, should some guidance come to you from Me, those who follow My guidance shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (al-Baqarah:38)  “O children of Adam, if messengers from among you come to you conveying My verses to you, then, those who fear Allah and correct themselves will have no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (al-Araf:35) Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 8 ALLAH’S COMMUNICATION WITH MAN

9.  Guidance from Allah comes through the Prophets and the Messengers, who bring with them Scripture and Revelation  “We have indeed sent Our messengers with clear proofs, and sent down with them the Book and the Balance, so that people may uphold equity.” (al-Hadid:25)  The basic message of all the Prophets sent by Allah and all the Scriptures revealed by Allah is the same  We did raise a messenger among every people, with the message: “Worship Allah and stay away from the false gods.” (an-Nahl:36) Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 9 PURPOSE OF MESSENGERS

10.  The Qur’an mentions the following Prophets by name:  Adam, Nuh, Ibrahim, Isma’il, Ishaq, Lut, Ya’qub, Yusuf, Musa, Harun, Dawud, Sulaiman, Ilyas, Al-Yasa’, Yunus, Ayyub, Zakariya, ‘Isa, Yahya, Idris, Hud, Dhul Kifl, Shu’aib, Salih, ‘Uzair, Muhammad (‘alayhim as- salatu was-salam).  However, this does not limit the numbers of Allah’s Prophets to those mentioned by name  “We had sent messengers before you. Among them there are those whose history We have narrated to you, and of them there are those whose history We did not narrate to you.” (Ghafir:78)  The following Scriptures are mentioned in the Qur’an:  Suhuf of Ibrahim & Musa; the Taurat of Musa; the Zabur of Dawud; the Injil of Isa; the Qur’an of Muhammad Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 10 PROPHETS AND SCRIPTURES MENTIONED IN THE QUR’AN

11.  Suhuf of Ibrahim & Musa  “Success is surely achieved by him who purifies himself, And pronounces the name of his Lord, then offers prayer. But you prefer the worldly life, While the Hereafter is much better and much more durable. Indeed this is (written) in the earlier divine scripts, the scripts of Ibrahim and Musa.” (al-’Ala:14-19)  Taurat of Musa  “Surely We have sent down the Torah, in which there was guidance and light by which the prophets, who submitted themselves to Allah, used to judge for the Jews, and (so did) the Men of Allah and the Men of knowledge, because they were ordained to protect the Book of Allah, and they stood guard over it.” (al-Maidah:44) Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 11 CONTENT OF FORMER SCRIPTURES

12.  Zabur of Dawud  “We have sent you inspiration, as We sent it to Nuh and the Messengers after him: we sent inspiration to Ibrahim, Isma’il, Ishaq, Yaqub and the Tribes, to ‘Isa, Ayub, Yunus, Harun, and Sulaiman, and to Dawud We gave the Zabur.” (an-Nisa:163)  “Before this We wrote in the Zabur, after the Message (given to Musa): My servants the righteous, shall inherit the earth.“ (al- Anbiya:105)  Injil of Isa  "And We sent in their footsteps ‘Isa, son of Maryam, authenticating what was present with him of the Taurat. And We gave him the Injil, in it was a guidance and a light, and authenticating what was present with him of the Taurat, and a guidance and a lesson for the righteous.“ (al-Maidah:46) Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 12 CONTENT OF FORMER SCRIPTURES

13.  The final revelation and scripture, revealed to the final Prophet and Messenger of Allah, Sayyidina Muhammad (salAllahu ‘alayhi wa salam).  “He has revealed to you (O Muhammad) the Book with in truth, confirming what has been before it, and has sent down the Taurah and the Injil earlier to give guidance to mankind, and has sent down the Furqan (the Criterion of right and wrong). (Ale Imran:3-4)  Definition: The speech of Allah, sent down upon the last Prophet Muhammad, through the Angel Jibrael, in its precise meaning and precise wording, transmitted to us by numerous persons (tawatur), both verbally and in writing. Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 13 THE QUR’AN

14.  Derived from root “qa ra ‘a” – has various meanings, such as “to read” or “to recite”.  “Qur’an” is a verbal noun, hence meaning the “reading” or “recitation”  Other names of the Qur’an  Furqaan – Criterion (25:1)  Tanzil – Sent Down (26:192)  Dhikr – Reminder (15:9)  Kitab – Book (21:10)  Other references to the Qur’an are by such words as Nur (light), Huda (guidance), Rahma (mercy), Majid (glorious), Mubarak (blessed), etc. Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 14 THE WORD “QUR’AN” & OTHER NAMES

15.  The word “hadith” generally means news, report or narration.  Definition: The reports (verbal and written) about the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad:  What he said (qawl)  What he did (fi’l)  What he approved (taqrir) in others’ actions  What he was like (sifa) Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 15 HADITH

16.  The contents of the Sunnah (hadith) are also from Allah, and are the result of inspiration by Allah to the Prophet Muhammad  They are expressed, however, through the Prophet’s own words or actions.  In the case of the Qur’an, the Angel Jibrael brought the exact wording and contents to the Prophet, who received this as revelation, then announced it in the very same manner that he received it Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 16 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QU’RAN AND HADITH

17.  Qudsi – holy or pure  Definition: Some reports from the Prophet Muhammad where he relates to the people what Allah said/says or did/does, but this information is not part of the Qur’an.  In the Qur’an the precise wording is from Allah, while Hadith Qudsi is wording given by the Prophet  Qur’an has been brought to the Prophet only by Angel Jibrael, while Hadith Qudsi may have also been inspired otherwise, such as in a dream. Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 17 HADITH QUDSI

18.  Read Chapter 1, sections 1 & 2  Read ahead to Chapter 1, sections 3 & 4  Questions? Qur'anic Sciences - DKI 18 ASSIGNMENTS & QUESTIONS