CHAPTER THREE
Dr. Mohammed Mokhtar Ould Bah

MOHAMMED (PBBUH) AND THE CONCLUDING MESSAGE

Section One : Mohammed (PBBUH and the Revelation)

Section Two : The compilation of the Qur’an

Section Three : The Sciences of the Qur’an

Section Four : The Prophetic Message

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Section I
Mohammed (PBBUH) and the Revelation

When Mohammed (PBBUH) approached the age of forty(1), he felt a desire for retirement and solitude. This was due to his previous meditations, which caused a great mental gap between him and his people, and between his thinking and theirs.

He then used to take his food, (fine flour), and water and leave towards the cave of Hîra in the Mount of Light (Jabal An-Nour), two miles away from Mecca. The cave was four cubits long and less than two wide. Yet, it was suitable enough for Mohammed to spend whole months of Ramadan in it. He stayed there for hours meditating on the greatness of the universe and considering the hidden Power lying behind it. He also would feed the needy people who came to pay him a visit.

But in spite of this, he still felt uneasy because of his people’s flimsy creeds and their ridiculous polytheist belief. Unfortunately, he could do nothing as things were still not clear to him, and as he did not yet have anything certain to rely on or to take refuge in.

Mohammed’s decision to retire, from time to time,  in the cave of Hira was part of Allah’s guidance and arrangement, for the purpose of preparing him to assume the heavy task awaiting him. Any human being that is destined to guide Humanity and to influence it to the extent of changing its behavior radically  and guiding it on a new path, requires a certain period of privacy and seclusion so as to rid himself of earthly interests and to forget about ordinary occupations which take up our life.

It was Allah then, preparing Mohammed (PBBUH) for the divine mission that would shake Humanity and change the direction of history, who arranged for this retirement three years before He entrusted him with the Divine Message. In his cave, he stayed up to a month in the company of the Free Spirit of Existence, considering the Universe and the unseen worlds behind it, and looking forward to the moment when Allah would allow him to deal with this unseen World(2).

The Language of Mohammed (PBBUH)

Mohammed was born in -and grew up in- the Arab Meccan community, a place where Arabic was spoken at its best and which was famous for its eloquent poets and orators. However, Mohammed was no poet, nor did he like to attend the forum of poets. Instead, his people called him “Al-Amîn” (the trustworthy and honest man).

The Meccan society had a culture that was mainly oral. The people who could read or write were very few, and Mohammed was not among them. He never left Mecca before he became Prophet, except for two short trips: once with his uncle at the age of thirteen, and the second time when Khadija asked him to manage her trading business destined to Syria. His age, then, was about twenty-five. But neither of the trips exceeded a month. Therefore, Mohammed had no chance to learn a language other than Arabic during such short trips.

The Archangel Gabriel Comes Down with Revelation :

When Mohammed (BPBUH) was forty - the age of wisdom and of Prophetic missions, as it is believed -, he began to perceive the signs of Prophecy in the horizons of life. The first signs he experienced were visions. All his visions came (as true as the break of dawn). Such visions are said to be one forty-sixth of Prophethood(3), and Mohammed had them for six months. In Ramadan of the third year, the Prophet left, as usual, for the cave. But this time, everything changed as Allah sent Gabriel with Revelation.(4)

Historians do not agree on the month when the Revelation came down from the heavens, but according to common record, it was in  Ramadan, as is stated in the Holy Qur’an:

“The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for mankind  and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and wrong)". (Surah Al Baqara (The Cow); v. 185).

“Verily, We have sent it (this Qur’ an) down In the night of Al-qadr (Decree)" (Surah Al-Qadr (The night of Decree); v. 1).

It is obvious that this night is in Ramadan. Relying on this, we can determine the date at which revelation started to come down: Mohammed (PBBUH) first had revelation 39 lunar years, six months and twelve days after his birth, the equivalent, in solar years, of 39 years, three month and 12 days.(5)

The Period of Revelation:

The Qur’an was sent down to Mohammed (PBBUH) for over twenty years. He used to set out for “the Hira cave” where he stayed for many nights and where he spent long hours meditating, worshipping and praying. Then one day, Gabriel came while Mohammed was fully awake and said to him:

“Read!”

Mohammed (PB BUH) replied:

“I cannot read”.

Gabriel insisted, and Mohammed still replied:

“I cannot read”.

Then Gabriel held him so hard and taught him the first Surah that was sent down from Heaven, “Al-‘Alaq” (The blood clot). The first verse of this Holy book had come, to lead to goodness, to give glad tidings to people doing good and warnings to the wicked, was:

 “Read! in the name of your Lord who has created (all that exists)” (Surah Al-‘Alaq (The Clot); v. 1)

The Koran descended gradually and it was intended to be taught to people and chanted to them in the best way. Its verses, the clearest and the nicest ever seen, owe their greatness to Allah (PEBH), the Source of wisdom and knowledge, and Whose will chose to reveal them in the best and clearest of Arabic tongues. In this regard He said: -“Alif-Lâm-Râ", (These letters are one of  the miracles of the Qur’an, and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings). “These are the verses of the Clear Book,-(The Qur’ân that makes clear the legal And illegal things, laws, a guidance And a blessing). (Surah Yûsuf (Prophet Joseph); v. 1-3)

The aim was to warn the people of Mecca and those living nearby. For Allah said , in the Holy Koran:

“And we sent not a messenger except with the language of his people, In order that he might make (the message) clear for them.” (Surah Ibrâhîm (Abraham); v. 4)

Later on, Mohammed (PBBUH) was ordered to warn all Mankind. Supported by his Companions, (As-Sahâba), and armed with the divine and universal Message he had received, he struggled to spread Allah’s warnings as far as he could.

The knowledge of this new faith is a real human right, but the belief in it should come out of conviction. No one is forced to adopt it, as it is a faith, the adherence to which should be voluntary and spontaneous. Man is free: he can either believe and enjoy the fruitful rewards, or disbelieve and hence suffer its consequences (Allah’s punishment). On account of this,  Moslems had to do their best to make this universal message (i.e. Islam) known to people and nations. Moreover, though they often had to fight rulers who stood in the way of its spread, they were never asked to force people to embrace it. Belief in a faith must not be accomplished under compulsion. Consider the following verses from the Holy Qur’an:

“And we have not sent you (O Mohammad) except as a giver of glad tidings and a warner to all mankind, but most of men know not” (Surah Saba (Sheba); v. 28))

“And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together. so, will you (O Mohammad) then compel mankind? until they become believers.” (Surah Yûnus (Jonah) ; v. 99)

The Qur’an came down following circumstances and according to experiences that the Prophet (PBBUH) lived through during his mission. Thus, the first Surahs aimed to ease his anxious mind and to tell him that he was Allah’s Messenger to his people, with the intention to guide them, to give them glad tidings and to warn them. In other words, his task was to invite them to worship Allah, the only God that exists, the one who created the heavens, the earth, the moon and stars, the one who arranged the succession of nights and days and facilitated sailing in the seas, and the one who created beings and will later resurrect them.

Unfortunately, the notables of Quraysh refused to abandon the practice of worshipping the idols, which they inherited from their ancestors. They rejected Mohammed’s Message and accused him of being a mad man, retelling false legends of the past. This was so outrageous that he developed some resentfulness and felt lonely and weary. Moreover, they took him for no more than a pretender who was to be fought. They besieged him and offended him during his prayers and banished his clan.

When he went to seek the help of Non-Qurayshi Arabs, they refused to support him and left him to face Quraysh on his own. Besides, they mocked him and hinted to their children to throw stones at him. The worst case, in this regard, must have been that of “Tâif”, when he tried to seek its people’s help. The children threw stones at him until blood ran of his feet and he was forced to sit down out of pain and exhaustion.  That was so terrible and hurting that he felt weary and unhappy. But thanks to the Qur’an, he never despaired. His Lord (Allah) was always on his side, and like all Prophets, his faith was profound and his will was strong.

During the first years, the purpose of revelation was to urge the Prophet to go on preaching through warning people and calling upon them to worship Allah, the Merciful, rather than those stone statues (idols), which could neither avail nor harm. He also had to warn them of the punishment that awaited them in the Hereafter unless they submitted to the will of Allah. But Quraysh went on disbelieving and denying the existence of the Hereafter. They could not imagine how they could resurrect after their bodies had been decomposed and become mere remains and dried bones.

The Qur’an went on warning and reminding them of the peoples who had perished before them. Allah (the Exalted) who created the universe and themselves before, is able to recreate them just as He can bring back to life a dead land. And so it is with resurrection.

Allah did not give examples to Quraysh only. He did the same with the Prophet (PBBUH), to him he told about the Messengers before him who suffered - and were even tortured - during the course of their missions. But they endured because they were sure of their cause and because they were certain that their Lord would grant them victory and defeat their enemies.

Quraysh, then, asked Mohammed (PBBUH) if he could show a sign to prove what he said. Some of them found it strange that angels did not accompany him and that he had no treasures. Others were surprised at his being an ordinary man who ate food and went to markets. All this is well illustrated by the Holy Qur’an. Consider the following verses:

“And they say: We shall not believe in you (O Mohammad) until you cause a spring to gush from the earth to us;

Or you have a garden of date palms and grapes, or cause rivers to gush forth in their midst abundantly;

Or you cause the heaven to fall upon us in pieces, as you have pretended, or you bring Allah and the angels before (us) face to face.

 Or you have a house of Zukhruf (like silver and pure gold),

or you ascend up into the sky, and even then we will put no faith in your ascension until you bring down for us a book that we would read […]" (Surah Al-Isrâ’ (The Journey by Night); v.  90 – 93)

Upon hearing these vexing statements, he felt deeply grieved. But Allah said to him, and to them, in the Qur’an that Mohammed is simply a human being entrusted with a Divine Message. Consider the following verse:

“Say O Mohammad! Glorified (and Exalted) be my lord (Allah) above all that evil (polytheists) associate with Him! Am I anything but a man, Sent as a messenger?”(Surah Al-Isrâ’ (The Journey by Night); v. 93).

Allah, alone is expected to provide miracles which are beyond man’s capacity, no matter how hard he tries: whether he sought to dig a tunnel in the earth or to set up a ladder in the sky. All Mankind could have been led to the right way, but Allah’s will dealt with things otherwise. He does what He wishes.

As for Mohammed, he was ordered to keep to his mission and to pursue it diligently, and never to have any doubts about it. In this respect, he had to go on resisting his opponents and bear their offences and conspiracies. Surely, endurance and patience pay off, in the end. And as the Holy Qur’an says: “[…] the good end is for the Muttaqûn (the pious)”.

This is how things were during the Meccan period in Mohammed’s life. However, when he emigrated to the Medina, the koranic verses were quite different: they addressed now the business of clarifying the “Shari‘a” (i.e. the establishment of laws), and of organizing the Moslems’ affairs (religious and civil ones).

The Language of the Qur’anic Message

This message reached us by one single means, and in one single language. The means is Mohammed Ibn ‘Abdallah, the Prophet and Messenger, and the language is Arabic. This Prophet (PBBUH) conveyed the Qur’an, the MESSAGE of Allah, to us, as it was given to him, by the means of Gabriel, as a revelation inspired in both its words and their meanings. In this regard, Allah, (Praised and Exalted Be He) says: “Verily, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’ân in order that you may understand”  (Surah Yûsuf (Joseph); v. 2). And He also says:  “And We sent not a messenger except in the language of his people in order that he might make (the Message) clear for them” (Surah Ibrâhîm (Prophet Abraham); v. 4).

As a divine book, beyond any doubts, the Koran leads God-fearing people to the right path.  And when Allah sent it down to Mohammed, he provided him, at the same time, with wisdom: the “Sunna” (the Tradition, or sayings and deeds of the Prophet). But this latter was left to the Prophet to express  in his own words and to teach to his followers so as to elucidate their affairs of their faith, to purify their souls, and to make them learn that which they did not know before.

The Holy book was then inspired from heaven in the best and clearest of the Arabs’ tongues, while the “Sunna” was uttered by Mohammed, whom Allah endowed with such rhetorical skills as made him the most eloquent of Arabs.

Rhetorical Challenge:

It has always been admitted, by past and contemporary Arabs, and so will it be forever, that the rhetoric of the Holy Qur’an is unique and that its linguistic register is a highly refined one within the Arabic language. No one has ever been, nor will anyone ever be, able to imitate it, even its smallest verse or Surah,  no matter how eloquent and convincing a debater one may be.

Mohammed was an illiterate who could neither read nor write. He was known as the “Trustworthy and Honest Man”, as his people used to call him. The Qur’an was from Allah, the most High, both in its words and its meaning. It is inimitable. Allah said: “Say: “If the mankind and the jinn were together to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another .”  (Surah Al-Isrâ’ (The Journey by night); v. 88).

Section II
The compilation of the Qur’an  and the arrangement of its verses and surahs

The Memorizing and recording of the Koran during Mohammed’s life:

The Qur’an was revealed gradually according to circumstances and according to people’s queries about the events which occurred in the community. How was the Koran then assembled and how were its verses and Surahs put in the order we have them in today?

Oral Memorizing:

Mohammed’s Companions first learnt the verses of the Qur’an directly from him, as is related by Muslim in his “Sahîh”, on whose authority Ibn Omar said: “I heard Allah’s Messenger (PBPUH) say: ‘ take the Qur’an from four people: Abdallah Ibn Mas’ûd (he mentioned him first) Salem, (the moulla)  (servant) of Abu Hudhayfa), Mu‘ad Ibn Jabal and Ubay Ibn Ka‘b”.(7) This Hadith describes how perfectly and accurately these people learned the Qur’an.

As for the order of verses and Surahs, Mohammed learned it from the Archangel, Gabriel, and made it known, in his turn, to people who learned and wrote the Qur’an, under his close guidance. On the authority of Aisha, Fatima (MABPWH) said:

The Prophet (PBBUH) told me: “ Gabriel used to review the Koran with me once a year, but this year he did it twice. It don’t see this but as a sign that my death is approaching”  (8)

The Recording of the Qur’an: 

On the authority of Shu‘ba, Qatâda reported that Anas Ibn Mâlik (May Allah be pleased with him) said: “Four people collected the Qur’an when the Prophet was still alive, all of whom were “supporters” (Ansâr): Ubay Ibn Ka‘b, Mu‘ad Ibn Jabal, Abû Zayd, and Zayd Ibn Thâbit”. I asked Anas (Qatâda speaking): “Who was Abû Zayd?” and, he replied: “an uncle of mine”.(9)

This states that the Prophet dictated the Qur’an to these people who, later on, undertook its recording in writing. But it is known that others were able to write it themselves from their own memory, as they had learned it by heart. The number of Companions who compiled the Qur’an during the era of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) thus adds up to seven, all of whom have been cited by Ibn-Nadim.(10)

The Order of Verses and Surahs:

In his “Al Jâmi‘ ”(11) Ibn Wahb reports having heard Sulaymân Ibn Bilâl say: “ Rabi‘a was asked why more than 80 surahs were placed after “the Cow” and “ Al  ‘Imrân” (The Family of Imran), since the latter weren’t revealed until the Prophet had gone to the Medina, and he replied: “ So should they be, just as the Qur’an was knowingly composed in Heaven. There we should stop and ask no further questions”.

In the same context, it is related by Qatâda that Ibn Mas‘ûd once said: “ the Prophet’s Companions are the perfect model to be ever sought. Their hearts are the most righteous. Their knowledge is the most perfect and their behavior is the most upright, without any trace of affectation. Allah chose them to provide company to His Prophet and to establish His religion. Do then recognize their favors and do follow their way, the right and safe one.”

Another point of view is that the order of Surahs, as we have had them up to now, was the Prophet’s work. As to the differences between the ways Ubay and Abdallah arranged the Surahs of the Qur’an, it is known that it was before the Prophet (PBBUH) showed them the last and final version of it.

On the authority of Yûnus, Ibn Wahb  said :

“I heard Mâlek say: “ the Qur’an was written in the order the  “Sahaba”(the Companions) heard it from the Prophet”.

According to “Al Anbârî”’s book “The reply”, the Qur’an as a whole descended to the lowest heaven; then it was taught to the Prophet bit by bit throughout the twenty years of revelation. The Surahs used to come down according to a specific event. And the verse would come in reply to a query. In the end, the Archangel Gabriel showed Mohammed where a verse or a Surah should be placed.

The concordance of Surahs, of verses, and of letters was made by the Prophet (PBBUH), in the same way Allah had inspired in him. Because of this, any interference that spoils the order of Surahs in the Qur’an, by putting an earlier one before a later one or vice versa, is of no less harm than spoiling the order of words in a phrase, or that of letters in a word.

In no way can we blame the placing of Surah Al-Baqarah (the Cow) before Surah Al an‘am (Cattle), though we know that the latter was revealed earlier. The Prophet set the known order and used to say: “Put this Surah here and put that one there”, and “Gabriel undertook the arrangement of verses.”(12)

A weak reference sees that the order of Surahs, but not that of verses, may have been done by the “Prophet’s Companions”, and that this would, in no way, affect the holiness of the Qur’an, as long as each Surah had its unity and its independence. As for the order of verses within the Surahs, all Moslems agree that the Divine Revelation supervised it, as it is stated in many reports(13).

Ibn Tayeb said, “If anyone inquires About the differences in the early recordings of the Qur’an, since some arranged the Surahs according to their chronological order, and thus, put the Meccan Qur’an before the Medinan, some started with “Al Hamdu” (The Opening), and some started with “ones the clot”, as the case is with “Ali’s Mushaf”. In Ibn Mas’ûd’s Mushaf, we find “Mâlikî yawmiddîn” (The Opening), then (The Cow), and then (The Women), in a different order, while, in that of Ubay, the order is: “Al Hamdu LiLLâhi”,“ the Opening”, (The Women), (Al  ‘Imrân), (The Cattle), then (The Heights),“Al A‘râf”, and then “Al Mâ’idah” (The Table Served). The question arises as to who was responsible for this. The answer, said Abû Baker At-Tayeb, may be that the Companions of the Prophet devised the ordering of Surahs. This is Al-Mekkî’s opinion in his interpretation of the Surah of “Barâ’a”.

He also said that the arrangement of verses within Surahs and the beginning of them by the “Basmala”, (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful), was the Prophet’s work. And when he left the Surah of “Barâ’a” without (this “ Basmala”), Moslems followed him(14). And according to what is reported by most relations, he says the same thing about the order of Surahs. (15)

It is related on the authority of Aisha (MABPWH) that an Irakian once asked: “What shroud is best?” and she replied: “Woe unto you! Why should you bother?” Then he said: “ Let me see your Mushaf (her copy of the Holy Qur’an)!” “What for?” she inquired “I’d like to arrange the Qur’an because it is read without being arranged”, he said.

“No matter what you read first”, she replied, “The first of it to have been sent down was a Surah of the “Mufassal” (i.e. the developed), telling About Paradise and Hell. Then when people adopted Islam, the rules were set and laws were established. Had the first Surahs tried to prohibit drinking wine or adultery, people would have never obeyed. I was still a young child, when the verse (there will come an hour…) was revealed.  But when the Surahs of the “Cow” and “Women” descended, the Prophet had already married me”.

Aisha then took out her Book, “the Mushaf”, and dictated to him verses of the Qur’an.(16)

The Evolution of the Fixing of the Qur’an after the Death of The Prophet

The Epoch of Abû Bakr (the first Caliph):

Revelation stopped after the Prophet (PBBUH) had died (632 AD / year 11 of Hegira), but there was left a complete Book that would not let anyone go astray, as long as one followed it and cared about it in the best of cares. Therefore, Moslems took great care of the Holy Koran. They first learned it diligently from the very beginnings of Revelation till its end. They recorded it on leather, on bones and on stones. And among the Companions (May Allah Be Pleased with Them), some learned it by heart, some chanted it, and some recorded it.

The true Tradition indicates that the Prophet (PBBUH) left, after his death, a “Mushaf”( a Qur’an in Book form). It is probable that it belonged to one of his Companions who wrote it as it was revealed, like Zayd Ibn Thâbit. It is also known that Aisha, (May Allah Be Pleased with Her), had a ”Mushaf”, (a copy of the Qur’an)(17).

When during “Ar-Ridda”, (apostasy) wars, struggle became very intense and many of the Qur’an Learners were killed, the Companions agreed that the Koran should be written, on good paper, in a Book that would belong to the State and that would be taken as a reference. That was because the copies that people had were written on leather and palm leaves. Even though these materials served as a support to coherent Qur’anic texts, they could be lost or deteriorate easily.

That was the view of Omar Ibn Al-Khattâb. And on his insisting, Abu Bakr called Zayd Ibn Thâbit and charged him of this mission. That was how the “Umma”, (the Moslem community) had an orderly compiled Book. Abu Bakr kept it until he died and it was passed on to Omar, who left it, in his turn, to Hafsa, the Mother of believers (a name given to the wives of the Prophet)(18). She kept it until Othman Ibn ‘Affân asked for it to deliver it to the Companions whom he charged with the writing of “ the Master Book”, as we shall see later.

The Epoch of Othman: the third Caliph (23-35 Hegira / 644-656 A D)

When Islam became widespread, the Qur’an Learners were in many countries, and people wrote copies of the Qur’an according to what they heard from those Learners. However, these copies contained regional variants. That caused many differences, both on the graphic and the semantic level. Hudhayfa Ibn Al-Yamân said to the Caliph: “Save this Nation (Moslems), before they disagree upon the book as Jews and Christians did” (19). He meant: before those differences got bigger and the Qur’an would be read and recorded in different ways.

As the realm of Islam became wide, (from Khorâsân to Barqa, and from Yemen to Adherbijân), the number of copies that Moslems had already exceeded a hundred thousand, and the Holy Qur’an, was being taught everywhere. No village, encampment, town was devoid of Qur’anic teachers(20).

The Caliph accepted Hudhayfa Ibn Al-Yamân’s advice and ordered the writing of one Book, on which would agree all Arabs’ tongues and pens. Many copies of it were made available and sent to the provinces. After that, orders were given to burn all the other copies of the Qur’an that were different from the canonical version. That did not mean that the copies people had were false rather it was high time for Moslems to gather around one unique Book, a Book that was to be the “Chief Qur’an”, which would guarantee the correctness of reading throughout the Arab provinces, and which would be a safeguarding authority for further copies of the Holy Qur’an.

As for trustworthiness, this “Chief Koran” surpassed all other existing books of the Qur’an at that time. While these were individual efforts based on oral transmission, the “Chief Qur’an” was carefully checked against original copies and to what the Companions and famous learners had agreed upon. Among these were Zayd Ibn Thâbit, Abdallah Ibn Az-Zubayr, Sa‘îd Ibn Al-As and Abd-Allah Ibn Al-Hârith Ibn Hishâm(21).

The Arabic script available at that time, did not contain any dots or vowels. These were invented later on  by Abil-Aswad Ad-Duali, the founder of Arabic Grammar, and Nasr Ibn ‘Asim Al-Laythi. There was simply a dot over the consonant to stand for (Al fatiha), the sound “a”, and one under it to give the sound “i”, (Al Kasra). These were in a color different from that assigned to the letters(22).

As to the present form of the Qur’an we have nowadays, which features and shows all vowels and no difference in color, it is something we owe to the famous linguist Al-Khalîl Ibn Ahmed Al-Farahîdî  (who died in 789 AD / 170 Hegira)(23)

The Indexing of Qur’anic Verses for Study

There are indexes of the verses of the Qur’an and of its precepts that are published in order to make things easier for researchers. Of these we have:

Classification according to the chronological order of Descent:

The classification of the Qur’anic Surahs according to the chronology of their descent is of great importance to religious scholars and to researchers. This is because it helps them distinguish the abrogating from the abrogated precepts throughout the gradual evolution of Islamic legislation. Mohammed 'Ezzar Drwaza has a famous classification of the Qur’anic Surahs, based on the chronological order in which they were revealed(24). Similarly, there are compact discs on the subject that are very useful and that offer a chronological indexation of the Qur’anic Surahs(25).

Classification by themes:

The importance of such a classification is evident. It allows the selection of all verses dealing with a certain theme, and the gleaning to it. The most famous work published in this domain is certainly Gilles Labum’s. It is an objective thematic classification of the meanings of the Qur’anic verses, translated into French. The same work was adopted by Mohammed Fu’âd ‘Abd-Al Bâqi in 1924, and was published in Arabic in 1935 (26).

This worthy achievement aroused the interest of researchers in the thematic (or topical) classification of the verses of the Holy Qur’an. Henri Mercier prepared a translation of the meanings of the Qur’an in a thematic classification. This was published both in Arabic and in French(27). Another author, Mohammed Mustapha Mohammed, completed a similar work in Arabic (28).

Most of these works are published and are now quite popular, and new editions of them appear regularly. They are Qur’anic works, but none of them can be named a “Mushaf”. This is because the order of verses and Surahs in the Qur’an was based on the guidance of Revelation, as we have shown previously(29). 

Section III
The Sciences of The Qur’an

The Muslims dealt with the Qur’anic verses which either resemble one another or present some difficulty. Thus the Prophet’s Companions and, after them, the highly learned Moslems undertook the task of solving such problems. This is how the “Sciences of the Qur’an” have seen the light of day. Az-Zarkashî summed up these sciences in his book “Al Burhân”, and so did Jalâl Ad-Dîn As-Sayûtî in his book “ Perfection in the sciences of the Qur’an”(30).

Scholars named some of the Qur’anic Surahs “Meccan” (of Mecca), and some “Medinan” (of the Medina). But they had different points of view as regards the significance of this naming. Some called Meccan all the Qur’an that was sent down before the migration to the Medina, and “Medinan” the rest. Some said that every verse should be named according to the place it descended in, because the Qur’anic verses have not been revealed only in Mecca or in the Medina. Thus they attributed to “Minan” verses such as the following:

“And be afraid of the Day When you shall be brought back to Allah…" (Surah Al-Baqarah” (The Cow); v.281)).

To “Arafât” (i.e. Mount ‘Arafât), they attributed verses like the following: “This day I have perfected your religion for you completed My favour upon you […]” - (Surah Al-Mâ’ida (The Table spread with food), v 3).

And so on.

A third group of scholars said that the Qur’an concerning Mecca is Meccan, and the one concerning the Medina is Medinan. In this respect some of it is neither Meccan nor Medinan, as it is the case with “Al-Qasas” (The Narration) and “Al Ahqâf”, (The Curved Sand-hills).

The majority agreed on the first classification. And what counts in this respect is that the Meccan verses of the Qur’an has its special characteristics as regards meaning and purposes. In most cases, it is an invitation to monotheism, and its MESSAGE is addressed to all mankind promising and warning, expressing faith and reviling disbelief. It also contains stories from which one can draw lessons and which can be used for remembrance.

As for the Medinan Koran, its MESSAGE is addressed to all believers, in order to show them how to worship their God (Allah) and how to deal with one another. It also urges them to participate in the Holy war, reviles hypocrites, and debates the people of the Book (Jews and Christians). The task of promising and warning is also pursued in it .

The Birth of  the Science of recitals of the Qur’an

One of the challenging miracles of the Qur’an is the fact that Allah, (The Most High), took upon Himself its safekeeping. This is stated in the following verse: “Verily, We, it is We who have sent down the Dhikr (the Qur’ân) And surely We will guard it (from corruption).  (Sûrat Al-Hijr (The Rocky Tract); v. 9).

This safekeeping is perceived in the transmission of Qur’anic verses throughout generations, in the same renderings as those that the Prophet (PBBUH) taught his Companions. Gabriel used to teach Mohammed verses and Surahs of the Qur’an - according to the will of Allah, of course - and every year in Ramadan, he reviewed them with him once. This has been his habit until during the last year in the Prophet’s life, when he did it twice. And the Prophet understood from this that it was the last recital(31).

Then a group of Companions and knowledgeable people  learned the Qur’an from Mohammed. Among these were the four Caliphs and the famous readers of the Qur’an, such as Abdallah Ibn Mas’ûd, Ubay Ibn Ka’b, Zaid Ibn Thâbit, Abû Moussa Al Ash’ary, Abû Addardâ’, Abû Hurayra, Abdallah Ibn ‘Abbâs and Abdallah Ibn Assâib Al Makhzûmî.

After these came those who devoted their lives to the learning of Qur’an and to making it learned. These were Abdallah Ibn ‘Ayyâsh Al-Makhzûmi, Al Mughîra Ibn Abî Shihâb, Abdallah Ibn Habîb As-Salmî, Abû  Al ‘lia ArRiyâhî, Yazîd Ibn Al-Qa‘qâ‘ Al-Madanî, Shayba Ibn Nassâh, and those top ranking religious scholars in different regions. Their recitals came in succession and were recorded by Ibn Mujâhid Al-Baghdâdi in his book “The Seven”.

The great attention that the “Qurrâ’” (Reciters of the Qur’an) accorded to its learning and the control of its transmission and relation was such that it led to the creation of a special and independent science: the “Science of Recitals”. Hundreds of books were written in order to show the rules of Reciting and to set the conditions that would guarantee three principal things:

- The exactness of the Qur’anic text as regards the linguistic aspect.

- The authenticity of its oral transmission through the determination of its “Isnâd” (ascription).

- The absence of any spelling mistakes in the written book of the Koran(35).

The authenticator, Ibn Al Jazarî expressed the above three principles saying in a poem the following :

No Qur’an is but what respects grammar,

And follows the original diction,

And proves the authenticity of ascription,

These are three principles for checking. (Our translation: J.S.)

The First Principle: Flawlessness of Language:

The Qur’an was sent down in a good and clear Arabic, as a great challenge to the Arab unbelievers. Though they were known to be the most eloquent, the Qur’an defied their ability to come up with one single Surah resembling one of its Surahs. They failed to do so. It is small wonder when we consider the following Qur’anic verse!

Say: “If the mankind and the jinn were together to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another” (Surah Al-Isrâ’ (The Journey by night); v.  88).

This was why any recital violating Arabic Grammar was put aside and considered to be abnormal. The reading of “Al Hamdi Lillâhi” in the second verse of  “the Opening”, instead of “Alhamdu Lillahi” was rejected by the Reciters. However, all that was grammatically correct was accepted, as far as the succession of reporters was reliable and trustworthy. An example of acceptable reciting is  Hamza Ibn Habîb Az-Zayyât’s reading of the first verse of the Surah of  “The Women”, where we find:  “al-arhâmi” (with the genitive case), instead of al-arhâma (with the accusative case). In the English translation, the verse is rendered as follows:

[…] And fear Allah from whom you demand (your mutual rights)

and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). (Surah An-Nisâ’ (The Women); v. 1).

In this respect, are also accepted Recitals that are different due to tribal variation in pronunciation. This is based on the authentic Hadith saying that “the Qur’an was revealed so that it would be read in seven different ways”. Among the relations concerning this Hadith, is the report that Mâlek said, according to Ibn Shihâb, according to ‘Urwa Ibn Az-Zubayr, that Abdarrahman Ibn Abd-Alqâri’ said: “I heard Omar Ibn Al Khattab say: “I heard Hishâm Ibn Hakîm read the Surah of “Al Furqân” in a different way from that I had learned from the Prophet (PBBUH). I felt like stopping him, but I waited until we went to the Prophet and I said to him, “ O Messenger of Allah, I heard this man read “the Furqân" in a different way from that you taught me. The Prophet said, “So was it sent down”, then he listened to me and said, and “So was it sent down." This Qurân was revealed to me on seven (Ahruf),“letters” (i.e.:  in seven possible ways of reading). Read of it what you can”(32).

This Hadith is authentic, but there are so many points of view as to what its exegesis is. According to Ibn  ‘Abbâs, as related by Al-Bukhârî and Muslim, the Prophet (PBBUH) said: “Gabriel made me read the Qur’an in a certain way. But as I couldn’t imitate him, he tried another way, then another until he reached seven” (37). There are other relations of this Hadith that are not very different from each other, in both content and meaning(34).

Religious scholars agree that the purpose of this was to spare the Islamic community any difficulties or any problems as to how to read the Qur’an. On the other hand, there are many points of view about the significance of the word “Ahruf”(Literally:“letters”). Abû Shâma wrote a whole book in this regard. Indeed, each group of scholars interpreted it according to their specialization. Men of jurisprudence said it meant the common and the restricted, the general and the specific, the abrogating and the abrogated, the text and the interpretation, the implicit and the explicit, the report and the exception and its sub-units. For theologians, it meant the licit and the illicit, the authentic and the apocryphal, injunctions and interdicts, reports and prayers, inquiry, reprimand and promise and threat. For rhetoricians, it meant omission and linking, advancing and postponing, metaphor and repetition, proper sense and figurative speech, the limited and the non-limited, and the explicit and the implicit. Linguists saw that the significance of the word “Ahruf”, (letters), in the Hadith stood for the Arab main tribal idioms. Among these they mentioned Quraysh, Hudhayl, Thaqîf, Hawâzin, Kinâna, Tamîm and Yemen. This view is attributed to Ibn ‘Abbâs. Of such idiomatic differences, linguists mentioned the following: the word  “al-lahw”   (leisure) for “al-mar’a”, (woman) in the Yemen, and “yay’asu” means “ya‘lamu” in Hawâzin; that is, “to despair” for “to know”.

Recitals’ scholars have slightly similar views concerning the accepted “variants”. These views were developed by Abû ‘Ubaydillâh Ibn Sellâm, Abû Hakîm As-Sijistânî, Ibn Qutayba, Abû Al-Fadl Ar-Râzî and Ibn Al Jazarî. This latter says, “I spent more than thirty years guessing and thinking about this Hadith until Allah led me to what I hope will be right. I followed all readings, right ones and exceptional ones as well as weak ones and even rejected ones”(35). He added: “Then I found out that their differences were exactly in seven respects”:

First : A difference in vowels that alters neither the meaning nor the form     (Al Bukhl / Al Bakhl: (stinginess) 

(Yahsibu /Yahsabu):   (to think / believe)

Second :  A difference in vowels changing the meaning but not the form as in: “ damu and dama”, (Adam) in the 37th verse of the “Al Baqarah ” (The Cow): “Then Adam received from His Lord Words […]”

Third :  A difference in consonants affecting the meaning, but not the form; e.g.: tablû and tatlû; wa nunajjîka and nunjîka.

Fourth : A difference in consonants affecting the form but not the meaning; e.g.: basTa and baSTa; AS-SirâTu and As-srâTu; (where a capitalized consonant (T, S) is an emphatic)

Fifth : A change in both meaning and form e.g. Ashamma minhum; Ashadda minkum; and Yata’alla / Ya’tali; Was‘aw ilâ dhikri llâh / FamDû ilâ dhikri llâh.

Sixth : Change in the order of words: (pre-posing and post-posing)

As in:    fa |yaqtulûna wa yuqtalûna

fa| yuqtalûna wa|yaqtulûna

(Cf. the English translation: “They fight in Allah’s cause, so they kill (others) and are killed / So they are killed and kill (others)" (Surah  At-Tauba (The Repentance); v. 111))

Or in:   Wa jâ’at sakratu al-mawti bi al-haqqi

(And the stupor of death will come in truth)

 Wa jâ’at sakratu al- haqqi bi al-mawti  

(And the stupor of truth will come in death) (Surah  Qâf  (Q) ; v. 19)

Seventh : Addition and omission : as in (wa ‘awSâ / wa wassa), and the 3rd verse of the “night” when the word ( ãÇ ), “mâ” is  omitted.

[wa mâ khalaka adh- dhakara wa lunthâ]

(Cf. the English translation :  On the night when it falls, …etc.

(Surah “Al-layl” (The Night); v. 1-3; (omission of “what”)

It may be one of its mysteries (i.e.,  the Hadith about the seven letters) that it is, itself, related on seven letters, hence its interpretations have been so many. Yet, they don’t seem to have ever exhausted its meanings and aims.

In this way the Prophet (PBBUH) showed us how it is allowed to read the Qur’an in different ways and, he freed the nation (Moslems) from any constriction it cannot bear. This Hadith is one of the miracles of the safekeeping of the Qur’an, as well as an aspect of Allah’s clemency announced through the seal of Prophets and Messengers: Mohammed. The variants of this Hadith and the variety of the scholars’ interpretations underscore the range of its meaningful content.

The Second Principle : Concordance between the text (preserved in Moslems’ memories) and the pronunciation of the Othmani Mushaf’s letters.

It is not known exactly how many copies of  Othman’s Mushaf were made, but what is generally known is that they were five. Some said seven. These copies were sent to Mecca, to the Shâm region (Syria), Yemen, Bahrein, to Basora and to Kûfa. One was left in the Medina. Of these books, were famous the Madanî (Medina), the Kûfî, the Shâmi, the Meccî (Mecca) and the Basri (Basora). These were considered as “master copies”, mother books”, to which reference was made to check the correctness of any Reading(40).

There was some difference between these books, as regards spelling. But this remained a limited difference which contained neither opposition nor contradiction. Rather, they offer a leeway for patricians as the Othmani spelling was void of vowels and dots. This made it possible for people to read differently, as was shown by the Hadith dealt with above (41).

Scholars took so much care to preserve the Othmani spelling that they forbade any change of it by adding to it or omitting from it, or even by applying on it any of the new spelling rules. They kept words exactly as they were, even when they were different from the way they were pronounced. An example of this is in the 47th verse of “Adh-Dhâriyât”: “(With power did We construct the heaven).

“bi ayydin” (ÈÃííÏ) is written with two “y’s”.  Another example is noticed in the writing of “nashâu”, in either of two ways: äÔçA or äÔÄ Similarly, “Ayyuhâ” is written either with A or without A.

They also kept all that was unlinked, or linked, in order to prevent any change of the Othmani spelling, which was known for its black color.

In the beginning, scholars hesitated about adding points and vowels. But by the end of the first century (of the Hegira), they found it necessary to do that under the threat of another danger, namely, the risk of mistaken readings. For this reason, Abû Al Aswad Ad-Du’ali invented a sort of points to incorporate the vowels of a word, based on its occurrence in a syntactic structure and a grammatical (morphological) context. Therefore, a dot before a letter was taken for the sound “u”, a dot over it, for the sound “a” and a dot under it for the sound “i”.

After him came Nasr Ibn 'Assim Ad-Dîn,  who invented dotted letters, in order to distinguish similar consonants; e.g.: “_”, “_” and “_”, the equivalents of “B”, “T” and “Th”, (as in thin), respectively; or  “_”, “_” and “_”, the equivalents of “J”; “H “ and “kh”, and so on. These additions were called “Çá___Ç_”, (letter dotting); that is supplying them with diacritical points.

In order to distinguish vowels and points, specialists took the decision to use ink of different color, since original words were always written with black ink. In that way, they avoided the risk of considering them parts of those words. Later, this work was further developed during the second century. Al Khalîl Ibn Ahmed Al-Farâhîdî, (died in 789 A.D/170 of the Hegira) added other signs to make it easier to read correctly.  The spelling was then easier even without those different colors. 

Many books were written about the calligraphy of the Holy Book. Among these were those authored by Abû ‘Amr Ad-Dânî, Al Kharrâz Al-Maghribî and Abdallah Ash-Shanqîtî. Moreover, Moslems took very much care of this calligraphy, which they, artistically, adjusted and decorated. Famous artists like Ibn Al-Bawwâb, Ibn Muqla and Ar-Rifâ‘i  Al-Maghribî left us wonderful pieces of caligraphic art befitting the Heavenly Revealed Text.

The Third Principle: The authenticity of Ascription

This is the most important pillar that guarantees the true relation of the Qur’an This is because all that raises no doubts, as regards ascription, is Arabic, and is therefore consigned in the Holy Mushaf.

The Qur’an reciters among the Prophet’s Companions and those after them gave priority to the authenticity of ascription. During the two periods of the Qur’an assembling, which were mentioned above, they accepted only verses on which had agreed the most of reliable authorities and whose relation was repeated many times, which is the safest way to guarantee a chain of authentic relations. In this way, the relation of all the assembled Qur’anic verses, through a chain of reliable authorities, becomes confirmed and definitely established in the “Mushafs”. Their precautions were so stringent that they rejected all sentences that were found only in personal “Mushafs”, even if these belonged to famous reciters like Abdallah Ibn Mas‘ûd or Ubay Ibn Ka‘b. Accurate examination and comparisons showed that those sentences were clarifying and explanatory addenda. They were added by their authors at a time when writing had not yet been developed enough to enable people to devise ways for distinguishing the Divine Message from their explanatory additions.

Then there was a general consensus of the Islamic Umma on the seven Recitals, by seven great reciters mentioned in a book authored by Ibn Mujâhid. They are: Nâfi‘ Ibn Abd-Ar-Rahman Al Madanî (from the Medina), Abdallah Ibn Kathîr Al Mekkî (from Mecca), Abdallah Ibn ‘Amir Ad-Dimashkî (from Damascus), Abû ‘Amr Ibn Al ‘Alâ’ Al Basri (from Basora), ‘Asim Ibn Bahdala, Hamza Az-Zayyât and Al Kisâ’i. In addition, the reciters agreed on another three who are: Abû Ja‘far Al Madanî, Khalaf Al-Bazzâr and Ya‘kûb Al-Hadramî.

These Recitals, taken from the Prophet himself (PBBUH), and learned by heart, were transmitted from generation to generation, and recorded by specialists, as well as by ordinary literate people. Many works were devoted to the analysis of these Recitals, such as the books of Ibn Mujâhid and Al-Qâsim Ash-Shâtibî, as well as the poem “Hirz Al Amânî” (Amulet of Wishes). In this long poem was put into verses the content of  ‘Amr Ad-Dânî’s book “At-Taysir”, which was later completed through Ibn Al Jazarî's poem “Ad Durra” (the pearl). Both poems became principal references in the teaching of Recitals .

Afterwards, the Reciters set very careful criteria for the acceptance or rejection of the Recitals. The qualitative degrees (very good, good,  or very strong, strong, weak, etc.) of ascription were shown, and whatever did not conform to the three pillars, discussed above, was rejected. In this respect Ibn Al Jazarî said in a poem: 

“Whatever runs contrary to these principles

Is rejected by the seven Recitals” (Our translation)

Exegesis And its Methods

The Qur’anic discourse consists of three types of verses:

- Verses which are so explicit and semantically clear that even ordinary people can understand them.

- Verses of which meaning is quite challenging, and that only Allah and the highly learned people understand.

- Hermetic verses, whose meaning was kept for Allah Himself.

Because of this, Moslems needed to have recourse to the Prophet’s Tradition (his sayings and his deeds), and to the relations of his Companions and their disciples so as to obtain an exegesis of the Qur’anic verses. They were, therefore, very much interested in the sciences of exegesis, and each group dealt with the subject that fitted their specialization. For instance, linguists tackled the problems of semantics and grammatical analysis; indeed, this what Abû Ubayda, Al-Farrâ' and As-Sarrâj did. Others were interested in rhetorical matters and stylistic features, as can be seen in Az-Zamakhsharî’s “Al Kashshâf” and in Al Baydâwî’s “Tafsîr". As for Sharî‘a (i.e. religious law) jurists, their focus was on finding evidence for religious precepts and laws and their origin. Among these jurists we have Ibn Al ‘Arabî Al Ma‘âfirî Al Mâlikî and Abû Bakr Al Jassâs Al Hanafî.

And there were some who wanted their exegesis to include all that was produced by members of the aforementioned groups of scholars, and to offer more details. For this purpose, they relied on the Prophet’s sayings, on his Companions’ opinions and on the deductions made by linguists and Shraî‘a jurists. The most famous exegesis works of this kind are the “Tafsîr” of Mohammed Ibn Jarîr At Tabarî, in the early times, and the recent one authored by Mohammed At-Tâher Ibn ‘Ashûr.

Among the most well-known works of exegesis, we have that of Abd Al-Haq Ibn ‘Atiya, that of Mohammad Ibn Ahmed Al-Qortobî, that of Abû Ali Ibn Al Hasan At-Tabarsî, that of Shihâb Ad-Din Al Alûsî, and other such works.

The Dictionary of Qur’anic Exegesis

It is useful to point out that the Islamic Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) published an index of famous “Tafsîrs” (exegesis), containing about ninety titles. It contains very important data on the methods adopted in these exegesis books, their importance, as well as biographies of their authors, and a preface about the birth of the Science of Exegesis, its development and its success(36).

A Brief Survey About the Understanding of the Qur’an, its Meanings and Precepts:

The Qur’anic discourse (and hence verses) can be divided into four types as concerns its clarity(37):

- Explicit verses : These are characterized by the clarity of their precepts and meaning (i.e. they exhibit ambiguity).

Example : “ […] So whoever of you sights  (the crescent on the first night of) the month  (of Ramadan i.e. is present at his home), he must observe saum (fasts) that month.” (Surah  Al-Baqarah (The Cow); v. 185)

The majority of the Qur’anic verses belong to this type.

- Ambiguous verses : The meaning of this type of verses is known only to Allah: e.g. letters used in the opening of a number of Surahs.

Examples :

“Alif Lâ’m Mî’m”:  (Surah Al-Baqarah (The Cow); v.1)

“Alif Lâ’m Mî’m”: (Surah l  ‘Imrân” (The Family of Imran); v.1)

“Alif Lâm Mîm”: (Surah Al-‘Ankabout (The spider); v.1)

“Hâ Mim”, The first verse of Ad-Dukhân, Az-Zukhruf, Ash Shûrâ.

 Many other Surahs have similar openings.

- Explicit verses : These have two meanings, but one of them is the most preponderant according to the context.

Example :  Wa  Aqîmû  AS-Salâta  “Establish prayer!”

Prayer also means invocation, but here, the context shows that what is meant is the ritual practiced by Moslems five times a day.

This type of verses also has to do with generality and prevalence.

- Synoptic verses : These are in need of an explanation because the terms they contain are polysemic.

Example :  Wa Al-MuTallaqâtu yatarabbaSna bi Anfusihinna thalâthata qurû’  “ And divorced women …” (Surah  Al-Baqarah (The Cow); v. 227)

By the term (qar’; pl. qurû’) it may be meant: ‘chastity’(in this case: three chaste months) as well as ‘menstruation’ (in this case: three menstruation periods).

Who is the Qur’anic Message Addressed to?

The Qur’anic message is addressed to Mohammed (PBBUH), being the concluding Prophet and Messenger. Then, through him, it is addressed to believers, then to the people of the book (Jews and Christians), and finally to the whole of mankind.

Allah said, addressing Prophet Mohammed:

“O messenger (Muhammad (PBBUH))! Proclaim (the message) which has been sent down to you from your Lord. And if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message.” (Surah Al-Mâida (The Table spread with Food); v. 67).

The transmission of this MESSAGE to people is an obligation on the Messenger, so that he will have the quality of “glad tidings bearer and shining lamp.”

“[...] bearer of glad tidings, and a warner,  and as one who invites to Allah by His Leave, and as a lamp spreading light.” (Surah Al-Ahzâb (The Confederates); v, 6).

According to the message conveyed by this discourse, the Prophet has to incite people to obey Allah through believing in his oneness and through believing his Messengers. It is a responsibility about which Allah says the following: “Verily, We shall send down to you a weighty Word.”(Surah Al-Muzzamil (The One wrapped in Garments); v. 5).

In this discourse, Allah ordered His Messenger to show people what true religion is, and how Allah made lawful for them all good things and prohibited for them the foul. He also relieved them of their burden and the fetters that they used to bear during the pre-Islamic period, after they strayed from Abraham’s faith. He then presented to them the concluding religion which contains no constraints and involves no hardships. In this regard, the Most High says:

[…] and has not laid upon you in religion any hardship. It is the religion of your father Ibrâhîm (Abraham) (Islamic monotheism). It is He (Allah) Who has named you Muslims both before… (Surah  Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage); v. 78).

And: “There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the right path has become distinct from the wrong path.” (Surah  Al-Baqarah (The Cow); v. 256)

As for the MESSAGE addressed to Moslems (believers), it incites them to obey (hence execute) all the Prophet’s orders and to abstain from (hence avoid) everything that he prohibits. In this respect, Allah, The Most High, says: 

“And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad) gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it).” (Surah Al Hashr (The Gathering); v. 7).

Allah has also commanded caring about the unity of the “Umma” (the Moslem community), and about preserving its entity, its pride and the fraternity among Moslems. Consider the following verses:

“Truly! This, your Ummah is one religion (Sharî’ah or religion (Islâmic monotheism)), and I am your Lord, Therefore worship Me (alone)". (Surah Al-Aanbiyyâ’ (The Prophets); v. 92).

“The believers are nothing else than brothers (in Islâmic religion). So make reconciliation between your brothers, and fear Allah, that you may receive mercy”. (Surah Al-Hujurât (The Dwellings); v. 10).

“And hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah (i.e. this Qurân) and be not divided among yourselves” (Surah Al ‘Imrân (The Family of ‘Imrân); v. 103).

“And be not as those who divided and differed among themselves after the clear proofs had come to them. It they for whom there is an awful torment.” (Surah Al‘Imrân (The Family of Imran); v. 105).

“And do not dispute (with one another) lest you lose courage and your strength departs, and be patient. Surely, Allah is with those who are As-Sâbirûn (the patient).” (Surah Al Anfâl (The Spoils of War); v. 46).

Allah made it compulsory for believers to enjoin right conduct and to forbid indecency. This is clear in the following verse:

“You [true believers in Islâmic Monotheism, and real followers of Prophet Muhammad and his Sunnah] are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma‘rûf (i.e. Islâmic Monotheism and all that Islâm has ordained] and forbid Al-Munkar [polytheism, disbelief and all that Islâm has forbidden], and you believe in Allah”  (Surah Al  ‘Imrân (The Family of Imran); v. 110).

He also showed them that they should be a middle nation (i.e. a moderate one), carrying the concluding message that brought goodness to all mankind. In this regard, Allah said:

“Thus We have made you [true Muslims – real believers of Islamic Monotheism, and real followers of Prophet Muhammad and his Sunnah (legal ways)], just (and the best) nation, that you be witnesses over mankind and the messenger (Muhammad) be a witness over you.” (Surah  Al-Baqarah (The Cow); v. 143).

We also find in the Qur’an another MESSAGE (or message). It is addressed to the people of the book: Jews and Christians. In the Islamic Umma, these have a special status that distinguishes them from all other non-Moslems. The Qur’an invited them to revise their attitude as regards the oneness of Allah, and hence to rectify their religion. It drew their attention to the fact that a believer is somebody who believes in all Prophets, without any distinction, and that they had to correct all that had been changed or distorted in their faith. Consider the following verse:

Say (O Muhammad): “O people of the scripture (Jews and Christians): Come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but Allah, (Alone), and that we associate no partners with him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides Allah. (Surah Al  ‘Imrân (The Family of Imran); v. 64)

If the Prophets’ religions are different as regards practical precepts, they are one, (hence the same), as far as faith is concerned. Allah forbade making any distinction in this respect:

He (Allah) has ordained for you the same religion (Islamic Monotheism) which He ordained for Nûh (Noah), and that which We have revealed to you (O Muhammad), and that which We ordained for Ibrâhîm (Abraham), Mûsâ (Moses) and ‘Isâ (Jesus) saying you should establish religion (i.e. to do what it orders you to do practically), and make no division in it (religion) (i.e. various sects in religion). (Surah  Ash Shûra (The Consultation); v. 13)

In addition to this, people have to adopt the latest religion to be sent down from heaven. The story of Moses, the interlocutor of Allah, was so frequently mentioned in the Qur’an, that the latter (the Qur’an) was said to be Mosaic. Allah said in His Holy Qur’an:

“And mention in the book (this Qur’ân Mûsâ (Moses). Verily he was chosen and he was a messenger (and) a Prophet.

And We called him from the right side of the mount, and made him draw near to Us for a talk with him [Mûsa (Moses)].” (Surah Miryam (Mary); v. 52-51).

Also, the Qur’an declares that Jesus was Allah’s Word that he sent to Mary, and a breath of His spirit. He was, then, no more than a servant and a Messenger of Allah, who made of him and of his mother a challenging miracle to mankind. Consider the following verse:

“O people of the scripture (Christians)! Do not exceed the limits in your religion, nor say of Allah aught but the truth. The Messiah ‘Isâ (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), was (no more than) a messenger of Allah and his word (“Be!” – and he was), which he bestowed on Maryam (Mary) and a spirit (Rûh) created by Him; so believe in Allah and his messengers. Say not: “three (trinity)!” Cease! (it is) better for you. For Allah is (the only) one Ilâh (God), glory be to Him (Far Exalted is He) above having a son. To him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allah is All Sufficient as a Disposer of affairs.” (Surah  An-Nisâ’ (The Women); v. 171).

As to the Qur’anic MESSAGE addressed to the whole mankind, the aim of it is to invite people to admit the oneness of Allah, to worship him only, and never to think Him having a father or a spouse or a son. Allah says:

“And ( remember) when your Lord brought from the children of Adam, from their loins, their seed (or from Adam’s loin his offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying): “Am I not your Lord?” They said: “Yes! We testify,” lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: “Verily, we have been unaware of this. Or lest you should say: “It was only our fathers aforetime who took others as partners in worship along with Allah [...]" (Surah  “Al A‘râf” (The Heights); v. 173-172)).

He also commanded that they seek his clemency and avoid his punishment. But he never asked them to do anything beyond their ability. In this regard, Allah says:

“Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets rewards for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned.” (Surah  “Al Baqarah”, (The Cow); v. 286)).

“Whoever goes right, then he goes right only for the benefit of his own self. And whoever goes astray, and then he goes astray to his own loss. No one laden with burden can bear another’s burden. And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning).”  (Surah  “Al Isrâ' ” (The Journey by Night); v.15).

Moreover, He orders them to respect human rights, to establish their mutual relationship on a basis of goodness and to avoid injustice and lewdness. In this regard Allah says:

“Verily, Allah enjoins Al-Adl (i.e. justice and worshipping none but Allah Alone - (Islamic Monotheism) and Al-Ihsân (i.e. to be patient in performing your duties for Allah, totally for Allah’s sake and in accordance with the Sunnah (legal ways) of the Prophet (PBBUH) in a perfect manner], and giving (help) to kith and kin (i.e. all that Allah ordered you to give them e.g., wealth, visiting, looking after them, or any other kind of help), and forbids Al-Fahshâ (all evil deeds i.e. illegal sexual acts, disobedience of parents, polytheism, to tell lies, to give false witness, to kill a life without right), and Al-Munkar (i.e. all that is prohibited by Islamic law: polytheism of every kind, disbelief and every kind of evil deeds), and Al-Baghy (i.e. all kinds of oppression). He admonishes you, that you may take heed.  (Surah  An-Nahl (The Bees); v. 90).

“O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa [i.e. he is one of the Muttaqûn (the pious)]. Verily, Allah is All Knowing, All Aware.” (Surah Al Hujurât, (The Dwellings); v. 13).

This was a summary of the Divine MESSAGE (or Message) addressed to mankind in general. Polytheists are enjoined to believe and to put their faith in the one and unique God: Allah. Believers are enjoined to spread goodness around them.

The MESSAGE (or message) seeks to guarantee three types of rights:

- The rights of Allah the Almighty, by means of monotheism, worship and obedience.

- The rights of Prophets, by means of believing them and following their precepts.

- Human rights, through fostering people’s acquaintance with each other, their mutual compassion and cooperation.

The Translation of the Meanings of the Qur’an:

It is known that the Qur’an was revealed in the Arabic tongue, but it was destined to the whole mankind. When non-Arab people adopted Islam, they endeavored to learn it for the purpose of worship and of knowing its meanings. They did so also for the purpose of organizing their lives in accordance with Islamic precepts and of obeying Allah’s commands. This being so, many of them learned Arabic and excelled in it, to such an extent that one can observe that many famous linguists were of non-Arab origin. Some examples are Sibawayh, Abû‘Alî Al-fârisî and Az-Zamakhsharî. Others had recourse to the first translations of the Qur’an’s meanings that were made at an early period. Salmân Al Fârissî is said to have translated the Surah of Al-Fatiha (“the opening”) into Persian. It is reported that Abû Hanîfa authorized the reciting of such a translation in prayers for people who did not speak Arabic. It is also reported that the meanings of the Holy Qur’an were translated into Syriac during the time of Al Hajjâj Ibn Yûssuf.

In reality, with the expansion of Islam, translations of the meanings of the Holy Qur’an were so numerous that they were in thousands, and in more than sixty languages. The most predominant of these are Persian and Turkish, which were intermingled with Arabic, both in the way of writing and in vocabulary. This was due to the affinity between the learned people - among Arabs, Persians and Turks -, who shared the unity of faith and that of culture. Translations were also made into Urdu, the mother tongue of many scholars in Islam, and into Chinese and Japanese. There were also translations into African languages, such as Swahli and Pular.

As for Europe, translations started in Latin in the middle of the twelfth century A.D. Then, there succeeded translations in living languages, like English, French, Spanish, Italian and German.

The printing of these European translations began in the sixteenth century, but it is to be noted that these publications were unreliable. The Qur’anic message was, either on purpose or by mistake, completely distorted. It was not until the recent times that learned Arab Moslems and  linguistics specialists worked in cooperation with each other and managed to correct the large number of errors that filled the early translations.

The Publication of “Mushafs” and of Qur’anic Translations through Modern Printing Technologies

Printing was invented in Europe in the fifteenth century, and the first edition of the Holy Qur’an, outside the Islamic world, appeared in Venice, Italy, in the early sixteenth century.

The lateness of the printing of the Qur’an, in regard to the date of the invention of printing machines, was due to two factors: First, printing was not known in the Islamic world until a later date than that of its invention. Secondly, Moslem scholars hesitated, in the beginning, over whether to allow this printing or not. They were afraid that the rules of calligraphy and of exactness would be broken. They also feared the fact that this printing would take place in conditions that would not guarantee the full respect of the holiness of the Qur’an, which only the purified people (through the ritual of Islamic ablution) are allowed to touch. But their hesitating attitude was justified. The first edition, published in Venice, by Alessandro Paganino, was full of serious mistakes, even in the Surah of the “Opening”. Then came the edition of Hamburg, which was no better. In fact, it was even worse since it related the Qur’an to Mohammed without any mention of his Prophecy and his Divine Message. It was tantamount to asserting that Prophet Mohammed (PBBUH) was its author.

But, thanks to technological progress, and to the participation of Moslems in developing printing for the purpose of spreading knowledge, adequate solutions were found for providing printed editions of the Qur’an that respected all its spelling and pronunciation. They also respected its special calligraphy, its diacritic marks, as well as the special provisions required by its holiness. This took place in the early nineteenth century, after the printing of religious texts was allowed.

Publications of the Qur’an then increased, and reached a high level with respect to efficiency and perfection. They included the reading of Nâfi‘ in the relation of Warsh and Qâlûn, the reading of ‘Assim in the relation of Hafs and the relation of Ad-Dawri, according to Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Al ’As , etc.

It is to be noted that, among the modern Islamic institutions that specialized in the printing of the Qur’an and the translation of its meanings, there is the “King Fahd Academy” in the Medina. It publishes millions of copies which are carefully revised by eminent specialists in the studies of recitals and the art of declamation. Besides, the Ministries of Religious Affairs in Islamic countries, “Al Azhar University” in Egypt and other public and private organizations, contribute to the publication of Qur’anic books after revising and proof-reading them carefully.

Nowadays, the Qur’an, its exegesis and translations are recorded on compact discs and can be consulted on the Internet. However, sites that are not under Moslems’ and specialists’ control are not reliable, as their presentations contain printing mistakes.

Section IV
The Prophetic Message

The Prophetic tradition, consists of all that the Prophet, (PBBUH), said, did or sanctioned. It is considered to be the second part of the religious message in Islam. It is the wisdom that Allah inspired in His Prophet while He revealed the Holy Qur’an to him. In this regard, Allah says:

“[...] Allah has sent down to you the book (the Qur’ân), and Al-Hikmah (Islamic laws, knowledge of legal and illegal things i.e. the Prophet’s Sunnah – legal ways), and taught you that you knew not. And Ever Great is the grace of Allah unto you (O Muhammad!).” (Surah An-Nissa) (The Women); v. 113).

All that Mohammed said and conveyed to people is the pure truth. Allah supports this by saying: “Nor does he speak of (his own) desire. It is only a Revelation revealed.”  (Surah  An-Najm (The Star); v. 3 - 4).

The principal part of the Prophetic tradition consists of Hadiths (the Prophet’s sayings), which are divided into two types:

The Hadîth Qudsî (Divine Hadith)

It is the Hadith that the Prophet (PBBUH) reports from Allah as if Allah himself is speaking. An example of such a Hadith is: “ I am as my servant thinks I am. I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And he draws near to Me a hand’s span, I draw near to him an arm’s length; and if he draws near to me an arm’s length, I draw near to him a fathom’s length. And if he comes to me walking, I go to him at speed.(38) [Translation : Ibrâhîim and Johnson-Davies (Abdul Wadûd): Forty Hadith Qodsî (1980)].

This sort of Hadith is not a Koran to be recited, as is the case with the known Holy Koran, of which both words and meanings emanate from Allah, and which is learned by heart and recorded in “Mushafs”. Its wondrous nature is unanimously agreed on.

The second type of Hadith consists of the Prophet’s sayings. Here the context shows that the Prophet himself (PBBUH) is speaking now.

The Assembling of the Prophetic Tradition and its Recording

During the Prophet’s life, the Tradition was not recorded; this is unlike what happened for the Qur’an. It was even forbidden to do so, out of fear that its texts would be confused with those of the Holy Qur’an. Abû Sa‘id Al Khudrî reported that the Prophet (PBBUH) said: “Do not write what I say. Whoever has written anything other than the Koran is asked to destroy it. Discuss my sayings orally. There is no harm in it. And whoever makes me say what I did not say, (Hammâm said: the Prophet may have said: intentionally); can be sure to have a place in hell”(39).

But there are narrations indicating that the Prophet gave permission to Abdallah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Al ‘As to record the Hadith. Al Bukharî reported, that Abu Hurayra did not write the Hadith, but he learned it by heart, unlike Abdallah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Al ‘As who used to write it(40).

It is also reported that Anas Ibn Mâlik used to record the Hadith, that Jâbir Ibn Abdallah had written Hadiths about pilgrimage and that the Imam Ali Ibn Abî Tâlib had a paper with Hadiths on it that he kept in the scabbard of his sword (41). In the same context, Al Walîd Ibn Shujâ’ informs us that Al Mubârak Ibn Sa‘ïd said:  “Sufiân used to write the Hadith on the wall by night, then in the morning he used to record it and clean the wall(42).

These reports, in spite of their validity, only show that a part of the Hadith was recorded. They are not meant to prove that there was a complete recording of them during the Prophet’s life, as was done with the Qur’an. Nor does this mean that the Prophetic tradition had been lost from the memories of people because it had not been wholly recorded. On the contrary, the Prophet’s Companions endeavored to learn the Hadiths orally, and to memorize them both in words and in meaning. They reported them and taught them to generations. Among these Companions were Abû Hurayra, Aisha, Jâbir Ibn ‘Abdallah, Ibû Sa‘îd Al Khudrî, Abdallah Ibn ‘Abbâs, and others.

The transcription of the Prophetic tradition was not started until the late years of the first century of the Hegira. That was when the Omeyyad Caliph Omar Ibn Abd Al ‘Aziz gave his order to Abû Bakr Ibn Hazm to supervise the recording of the Tradition and of the Companions’ judgements. Mohamed Ibn Shihâb Az-Zuhrî and Sâlih Ibn Kîsân played a leading role in this transcription, which was started by gathering Hadiths and writing them in a sort of general Collections.

During the second half of the second century, there appeared classifications of the Hadiths. Ibn Hajar(43), relates the first works, in this respect, to Ar-Rabî‘ Ibn Subayh and to Sa‘îd Ibn Abî ‘Urwa Al-Basrî. After that came the Imâm Mâlik, who composed his “Muwatta'” in the Medina. In this book, he reported, in addition to the Prophet’s Tradition, the sayings of the Companions and the “Fatwas” (legal opinions) of their disciples.

Later on, there were the works of the following authors : ‘Abd Al Malik Ibn Jarîh (in Mecca), Al-Awzâ‘î (in Syria), Sufyân Ath-Tharwî (in Al Kûfah), Hammâd Ibn Salmah (in Basora), Hayshem Ibn Bashyû (in Wâsit), Mu‘amar Ibn Râshid As-San‘ânî (in Yemen), Abdallah Ibn Al Mubârak (in Khorâsân) and Jarîr Ibn Abd Al Hamîd (in Ar-Ray). They all belonged to the same period,  but it is not known who was first to have undertaken his compilation.

Then the process of recording progressed quickly thanks to eminent scholars and Hadith learners, like Shu‘ba Ibn Al-Hajjâj, Sufyân Ibn ’Uyayna, Abdallah Ibn Wahb and Abderrahman Ibn Mahdî, who contributed to laying the foundations of the “Sciences of Hadith” in terms of the validity of the Hadiths and their authentication.

Primary References in the Tradition

The process of recording was continued until those comprehensive voluminous books (“Al Masânid Al Jâmi‘ah”) appeared in the third century, thanks to the endeavors of the Imâm Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Abî Shaybah. It is at that time that the Imams in the Hadith composed their famous books like “Sahîh” (“Book of the true and authenicated Hadiths”) of Mohammed Ibn Isamâ‘il Al-Bukhârî, the “Sahîh” of Muslim Ibn Al-Hajjâj. The same obtains for the “Great Collections” of Abû Dâwûd, At-Tirmidhî, Ibnu Mâjah and An-Nisâ’î, known as “Ahl As-Sunan”, (the people of the traditions).

It is to be noted that none of these eminent authors ever pretended to have exhausted all the Tradition, or that their books contained all authentic Hadiths. The “Sahîh” of Al-Bukhârî, for instance, only included about seven thousand Hadiths, some of which occurred more than once. As for At-Tabarânî, he gathered a large number of Hadiths, in the same way as did As Sayyûtî (in his Al-Jâmi’ Al-Kabîr). Also Al-Albânî is famous for his series of Authentic Hadiths and that of low credibility ones (Al-Ahâdîth Ad-Da‘îfa).

The classification adopted in all these works is one based on the themes of the Hadiths, like, for example, worship, legal purification, prayer, fasting, charity, human relations, crimes, and so on …

Authenticity Degrees of Hadiths :

There are three sorts of Hadiths : the authentic ones, the sound (good) ones, and the weak (unreliable) ones. The religious scholars  set up rules and devised methods for the purpose of distinguishing between these three types, and a number of terms and of distinctions are agreed on in this respect .

The authentic Hadith

A Hadith is said to be authentic when the chain of relaters (or reporters) is well known and valid, and its content presents no problems or doubts at all. Relation (or Ascription) is the attribution of the Hadith to the people who reported it taking a regression through time until its original source is reached, this source being the Prophet (PBBUH). Here is an example of authentic Hadiths of which the relation is not interrupted : “These things are forbidden : to offer to buy something someone else is buying, wickedness, and illicit trade”(44).

This Hadith has a reliable unbroken chain of relations, but still, it is considered to be irregular. That is the case when a truthful person relates a Hadith of which the chain of transmission is truthful,  but the information in it is not agreed upon by the rest of truthful reporters. An example of this is the Hadith that Humâm reported, based on the relationof Yahyâ, on the authority of Ibn Jurayh,  Ziyad Ibn Sa‘d, and Az-Zuhri, according to this Hadith Anas said, : “ The Prophet wore a ring of silver, but, later, he took it off”(45). The people who reported this Hadith are all trustworthy and the chain of relations is not interrupted, but the information itself is irregular, as  it is commonly known that the ring which the Prophet left was one of gold and not of silver(46).

Irregularity weakens the Hadith, and so does defamatory imputation. An example of this is the Hadith concerning the beginning of prayers by the “Basmala” (the saying of : In the name of Allah... ). This Hadith was considered to be weak, due to the differences noticed in the relations of it and in the words used in these relations.

Experts point out that an authentic Hadith is one that proves to meet what is called external conditions. This is expressed by Zin Ad-Dîn Al ‘Irâqî in the following verse of his “Alfiyya”:

“By authentic and weak they meant

The outer form of it,

But not affirmation […]” (Our translation).

In other words, the presence of conditions of authenticity regarding ascription is not enough to convey the authenticity of the content of the Hadith. That is because  even a truthful reporter may forget or be mistaken. And it goes without saying that forgetting a word or changing it may result in a  different meaning of the MESSAGE.

The Sound Hadith : (good Hadith)

The second  kind of Hadiths is called “sound” or, “good”, as the term “Sahîh” can be translated from Arabic. It is the Hadith that is known for the validity of its transmission, and that exhibits no aspect of irregularity or absurdity. Yet, it does not reach the level of authenticity, by not meeting all the conditions that make a Hadith authentic.

However, such Hadiths are accepted and referred to, as long as there are other authentic Hadiths supporting the meaning that they convey, or because  the idea that  they express is in conformity with the essence of Islam.

In this respect, with the exception of Al-Bukhari and Muslim -who cared very much about the authenticity of the Hadiths that they gathered-, most of the other “collections” are considered to consist of sound or good Hadiths. It is because their authors, unlike Al-Bukhari and Muslim, were, to some extent, tolerant as regards the conditions of transmission.

The weak Hadith

There are many sorts of this type of Hadith, which are said to be over forty. The common thinking is that any Hadith, lacking one or more of the conditions mentioned above, is classified within this category. Of the common weak Hadiths are those of which the chain of transmission is incomplete. It can also be problematic if two of its relaters are not mentioned or if it is restricted to one specific  reporter. But if the “ Tâbi‘ ”  ( a disciple of the Prophet’s Companions) attributes the Hadith to the Prophet (PBBUH), it is called “Mursal” and has a special status. Some of the scholars consider it to be authentic.

Another kind of weak Hadith is one that is reported through the “ ‘ân ‘âna” (the use of the preposition “ ‘ân ” (according to)), but one or more of its reporters are known for their falsehoods. Falsehood here means the pretension of the authenticity of transmission by omitting some of the relations or by mentioning the name of a reporter that nobody knows.

A third kind of weak Hadiths is the “apocryphal” or “forged” ones. It is a Hadith that is fabricated and wickedly attributed to the Prophet (PBBUH). Hadith forgers were so many, and many books were written to expose and warn against their invented lies and their forgeries.

The purposes for the fabrication of these false Hadiths are known and Tradition specialists mention them as follows :

- The labors of heretics and hypocrites, resulting from their enmity to Islam.

- The endeavor of some people to insert false innovations and their attempts to support their (false) creeds.

- The desire of some people to give importance to, and attribute a certain virtue to, certain provinces.

The specialists in the science of Hadith assert that the most dangerous of these forged Hadiths are those made up by some naïve scholars on the virtue of some Qur’anic verses and “Surahs”, in order to urge people to read the Holy Qur’an extensively. People were deceived into believing in their authenticity. Examples of these forged Hadiths are those composed by ‘Ismat Ibn Nûh.

Another kind of weak Hadiths which found their way into Islamic writings were those called “Israelites”, a sort of tales told by people who were either ignorant or unknown.

The Hadith specialists and critics endeavored to set up rules that were to be followed in checking Hadiths so as to detect any possible falsification or fabrication in them. In this respect, they established the rules of Hadith transmission, in the absence of which anybody could say anything he wished. They wrote biographies of people who were specialized in Hadith relation (Hadith relaters) and they carefully studied their lives, and classified them according to their  degree of trustworthiness or untrustworthiness.

Among the relaters (or transmitters) of Hadiths, there are those who are characterized as “Al Hujjah”, (the Proof), “Ath-Thiqah”, (Trustworthiness), “As-Sadûq”, (the Truthful), or “laysa bihi ba’s” (Lit.: “no problem with him), that is “irreproachable.” Others can be considered “Al Wâdi‘”, (the forger), “Al Kâdhib”, (the liar), and “Layyin Al Hadith”, (the pliant).

Some Hadiths’ relations are accepted when the relaters report from a certain source, but not from another. This is the case of Ismâ‘il Ibn ‘Ayâsh whose Hadiths are accepted when he reports from Syrians, but not when he reports from the inhabitants of Hijaz, (a region in present-day Saudi Arabia).

Other relaters are said to have suffered from confusion in their late age. The date  is given when they started to confuse things. Therefore, their Hadiths are accepted or rejected according to the time when they reported them. That is to say only the Hadiths which they reported during their sane age are accepted.

Then the Tradition scholars and critics decided to set up the rules for the Hadiths’ narration so as to be able to confirm or disconfirm any information they received. They paid close attention to expressions, used in the presentation of Hadiths, related to the semantic field of audition and transmission. For this purpose, they made a distinction between introductory verbal expressions such as :

“Anba’anâ”, (X informed us), “Akhbaranâ” (X informed us), “Haddathanâ”, (X told us), “qâla”, (X said), “fulân ‘an fulân”, (on the authority of X, on the authority of Y, etc.).

Moreover, they clarified and made explicit the conditions and the criteria of acceptance  regarding  the Hadith relation.

All these efforts made for the authentication of Hadiths, either with respects to their assembling and classification or that of their criticism and evaluation, were behind the birth of a specific science which Moslem scholars used to clean up the Prophetic Sunna message and accord it its fitting status.

The Hadith specialists were helped in their endeavor by the linguists’ exegeses on the books written on the Prophetic Tradition and their ability to indicate those aspects that are linguistically bizarre and problematic. Likewise, the Hadith specialists benefited from the criticism of the religious scholars who concerned themselves with the meaning of the Shar‘a discourse contained in the Hadiths. They criticized the corpus and studied the differences existing between two or more relations of the same Hadith. They also showed which precepts of the Hadiths were applied and which were not. In the same vein, they indicated the Hadiths that were abrogated by the Qur’an or by other Hadiths and those which were not.

All these conjoined endeavors have given people nowadays a clear idea about the religious message of the Prophetic tradition. What should be noted, however, is that the expansion of this “traditions” discourse remained very limited, because it was mainly dealt with by learned specialists. Besides, it was linguistically restricted to Arabic and very little of it was translated. The exception is represented by those big works like Al-Bukhâri’s “Sahîh”, and Muslim’s “Sahîh”: they were translated into European languages such as English and French.

As for the publication of the Prophetic Hadith through printing and contemporary technological means, it has progressed considerably. The leading works of Hadith are printed in books and recorded on compact discs. The most famous of these are the “Sahih” of Al-Boukhari, the “Sahih” of Muslim, the “Muwatta” of Mâlik, the “Musnad” of Ahmad, the “Sunan” of Ibn Mâjah, the “Sunan” of At-Tirmidhi, the “Sunan” of Ad-Dârimî, etc. Have also been published the best commentary on Al Bukhari’s “Sahih”- “Fath Al Bari” by Ibn Hajar Al ‘Asqalânî - and other commentaries. Modern encyclopedias of Hadith recorded on CDs have recently been propagated, and there are specific Internet sites for the Hadith, the most famous of which is “Al-Muhadith” (the Hadith relater).

The content of the Hadiths’ Message:

The content of the Prophetic Hadiths’ message is as follows :

The Prophet’s discourse, addressed to his Lord (Allah), in which he implored Allah to help him  do good, avoid turpitude and  love the poor. In this discourse he also invokes Allah, asking His pardon, seeking comfort in Him, through addressing to Him his praise and glorifying Him.

The message he addressed to his Umma, (his followers) in order to do the following:                                           

a- explain in detail laconic precepts of the Qur’an to them.

b- teach them the five pillars of Islam, the numerous branches of faith and charity and its degrees.

c- guide them towards the path of piety and Allah fearing by saying to them, for example :

“That which is lawful is plain and that which is unlawful is plain and between the two of them are doubtful matters About which not many people know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regards to his religion and his honour, but he who falls in doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful , like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein…”(47). (T.N: Translation by Ibrahim and Johnson Davies. See Ref. above).

tell his followers about the duty of their union and brotherhood. This is mentioned in many a Hadith, e.g.:

“Believers, in their brotherly union, the love and affection that bound them are like the one body. If an organ of it suffers from anything, all the rest of the body shows solidarity through sleeplessness and fever”(48).

“The Moslem is the brother of the Moslem. He must not wrong him nor betray him” (49).

Moslems must avoid causing any harm to each other(50). All their actions must come from good intentions. “Actions are by intentions and every man shall have but that which he intended”(51).

e- order his followers to spread peace throughout the whole of mankind. Abdallah Ibn ‘Amr reported that a man asked the Prophet (PBBUH) : “What is best in Islam?” the Prophet replied: “to help  needy people, and to greet (by saying : “Peace be upon you”) all people, whether you know them or don’t”(52).

Moslems’ duty is do good and be just in their judgments. They have to keep away from treason, betrayal, slandering, perfidy and defamation.

Conclusion

The Religious message in Islam subdivides into two parts: the Qur’anic and the Prophetic. It is an expression of that covenant between Allah, the Creator, and His human creatures. It is the continuity of the everlasting Prophetic mission which gives expression to that honor that Allah bestowed on Man when He endowed him with reason and entrusted him with that heavy trust portrayed in the holy Qur’an:

“Truly, We did offer Al-Amânah (the trust or moral responsibility or honesty and all duties which Allah has ordained) to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains, but they declined to bear it and were afraid of it (i.e. afraid of Allah’s torment). But man bore it. Verily, he was unjust (to himself) and ignorant (of its results)". (Surah  Al Ahzâb (The Confederates 72).

Whoever fulfills the responsibility required by Allah’s Trust will be very well rewarded, and whoever fails to do so will be badly punished for being unjust towards himself. Allah says:

“And if your Lord had so willed, He could surely have made mankind one Ummah [nation or community (following one religion i.e. Islam)], but they will not cease to disagree.

Except him on whom your Lord has bestowed His Mercy (the follower of truth – Islamic Monotheism) and for that did He create them.” (Surah Hûd, (Hud) ; v. 118-119).

Man, whom Allah graced with the faculty of reasoning and entrusted him with carrying His Trust, must keep his word and follow faithfully the precepts conveyed to him in the religious message. This requires of him to understand it and carry out its commandments and avoid its interdicts. All this must be done in accordance with clear principles that specialists sum up as follows :

The preservation of life

Life is the breath that Allah breathed into  man and made its taking away tantamount to taking the lives of the whole mankind:

“… if anyone killed a person not in retaliation of murder, or (and) to spread mischief in the land – it would be as if he killed all mankind”, (Surah  Al-Mâ’ida, (The Table spread with Food) v. 32)).

The preservation of reason

Reason is the pivot of responsibility. Therefore, Allah forbade all that will impair its capabilities like drinking and drug-taking.

The preservation of religion

This guarantees godliness in the lowly life. It requires adhering to pious manners and religious values. The correct fulfillment of religious duties guarantees happiness in the Hereafter. Religion saves believers from punishment and leads them to the bliss of paradise.

The preservation of wealth

This is necessary for the preservation of human life. Without it, no charity is done. It is the means by which man can populate the earth and represent Allah on it.

The preservation of family relations and of honor

These represent the pillars of man’s dignity, the safeguard of his social values and all that ensures the necessary equilibrium at the individual, family and national levels. This being so, whoever allows himself to be extravagant and commits sins, let him be reminded of the following verses of the Qur’an:

“Know they not that Allah accepts repentance from His slaves and takes the Sadaqât (alms, charity), and that Allah Alone is the One Who forgives and accepts repentance, Most Merciful?” (Surah  At-Tawba, (The Repentance), v. 104).

And :

“And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces them and he says: “Now I repent;” nor of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful torment” (Surah An-Nisâ’ (The Women); v. 18).

Notes

1. See Herein the article of Abdel Aziz Ben Abdellah.

2. Rahmatun lil’âlmîn (a clemency for beings) 1/47, Ibn  Hishâm 1/ 235-236 and “fî dhilâli al-Qur’ân” (in the shades of the Koran) part 29, p. 166.

3. - Sahih al-Bukhari, the Book of Expression, Hadith N°6472

- Sahih Muslim, the Book of Vision, Hadith N° 4201.

- Sunan Abi Daoud, the Book of Morals, Hadith N° 4364.

4. Ibn Hajar said: “Al Bayhaqî reported that the visions lasted for six months. Thus, the beginning of the prophetic mission, through visions, was in the month he was born in, namely Rabi’ I, when he was forty. As to the revelation, while awake, it started in the Ramadan” (Fathu al Bârî – 1 / 27).

5. For more detailed information, see “Summary of the Prophet’s biography”, by Sheikh  Abdallah Ibn Mohammed Ibn Abd Al Wahhâb An-Najdî, (p. 75). It is known that the Holy Night (of the Decree) is in Ramadan, and is the one meant in Allah’s saying : “We sent it down during a blessed night : For We (ever) wish to warn (against Evil)”, Surah Ad-Dukhân ; v. 3. Besides, Mohammed’s stays in the Hira cave was in the months of Ramadan, and Gabriel’s descent was made , as is commonly known.

Then there were controversies as to on which day of Ramadan was the beginning of revelation. Some said the seventh, and some said the seventeenth, while still others said the eighteenth. (see “The Summary of the Prophet’s biography”, mentioned above, p. 75, and “Rahmatun lil‘âlamîn, 1/49”.

In his “Conferences on the History of Islamic Nations”,(1/69), Al Khudarî said it was on the seventeenth.

As for us, we are inclined to say it was on the twenty first, though no one said so, because most, if not all biographers agree that it was a Monday. This finds support in the Hadîth that specialists reported, according to Qatâda, that the Prophet (PBBUH) said, when he was asked about fasting on the day of Monday: “On that day I was born, and on it I did first receive the Message”, (Sahîh Muslim), 1/368, Ahmad, 5/297, Al Bayhakî, 4/286-300, and Al Hâkim,2/602. And Mondays of Ramadan in that year only coincided with the seventh, the fourteenth, the twenty-first, and the twenty-eighth.

6. See books on the Prophet’s traditions and sayings, most famous of which “the Prophet’s Tradition of Ibn Hisham. Among the summaries of the Prophet’s biography : “Ar-Rahiq al-Makhtum” by Safiu Al-Rahman al-Mubarak fauri, and “the Summary of the Prophet’s Traditions” by Abdelwahab An-Najar. CDs : the Encyclopedia of the Prophet’s Traditions”, issued by the Applied Researches Centre in Cairo ; and “the Library of the Prophet’s Traditions”, issued by the Heritage Centre for Computer Research in Amman, Jordan.

7. Al Bukhârî : “Al Manâqibu” 3524 ; and Muslim :“Fdâ’ilu As-Sahâba”, 4506.

8. Al Bukhârî : “Al Manaqibu”, 3353 ; and Muslim : “Fdâilu As-Sahâba”, 4487.

9. Al Bukhârî : “Al Manâqibu” 3526, and Muslim :“Fdâ’ilu As- Sahâba”, 4507.

10. Ibn An-Nadîm  “Al Fihrist”, Ed. Dâru Al Maarifati,  Beiruth 1398 H / 1978 A.D, Vol. 1, p. 41.

11. Al-Qortobî  “The exegesis” , the chapter on the order of the Quran’s surats, Ed. Daru Ashaab, Cairo, 1372 H/1962 A.D., p. 59.

12. Al-Qortobî : Op. cit., Vol. I,  p. 60

13.  - At-Tirmidhî : “The exegesis of the Koran”, 3011.

- Abû Dâwûd : “Prayers”, 668.

- Ahmad : “Musnadu al ‘Asharati”, 376.

14.  Ahmad : “Musnadu al‘Asharati”, 468.

- At-Tirmidhî : “The exegesis of the Koran”,  3011.

- Abû Dâwûd : “Prayers”, 668.

15. Al-Qortobî : “The exegesis”,  Op. cit., pp. 59-60.

16. Al-Bukhârî : “Fadâilu Al Qur’âni”, 4609.

17.  Al-Bukhârî : “Fadâilu Al Qur’âni”, 4631.

18. Al-Bukhârî : “Fadâilu Al Qur’âni”, 4603.

19. - Al-Bukhârî : “Fadâilu Al Qur’âni”, 4604.

- At-Tirmidhî : “The exegesis of the Koran”, 3029.

20. Ibn Hazm : “Al Ihkâmu”. Ed. Darû Al-Hadîthi. Cairo, 1404 AH. Vol. 4,  p. 552.

21. Al-Bukhârî : “Al Manâqibu”, 3244.

- Al-Bukhârî : “ Fadâilu Al Qur’âni”, 4601-4604.

- Ahmad : “Musnadu Al ansâri”, 20657.

22. Abû Bakr As-Sijistâni : “Kitâbu Al Masâhifi”. Ed. Dâru Al-Kutubi Al ‘ilmiyyati, Beyruth (1405AH/1985AD). p. 162.

23. Abû ‘Amr : “Al Muhkamu fî Nuqati Al Masâhifi”. Authentication of ‘Izzat Hassan. Ed. Dâru Al Fikri. Damascus 1407 AH/1986 AD. See, specifically ‘The Introduction’. pp. 28-31.

24. It falls in 12 medium-page volumes. The first edition appeared in Damascus in 1365 AH/1946 AD. The second edition appeared in Cairo in 1367 AH/1948 AD by the publishing house Aissa al-Babi al-Halabi and the third in Cairo by the same house in 1376 AH/1956 AD.

25.   C.D ROM. : Holy  Koran 6.31, Ed. Sakhr. 1991-1996.

26. Printed in 1924 and 1935. This classification is  often  re-edited. The most famous edition in Arabic is that of Dâru Al Kitâbi Al ‘Aarabiyyi Al-Lubnânîyyi, Beiruth. It includes the index of Edouard Montanier, entitled : “Al Mustadraku”.

27. Le Koran : Traduction et présentation nouvelles. Copy number 741. Rabat, 1956.

28. One of the contemporary classification is “the Unabridged Thematic Dictionary of the Revealed Quran”, by Mohamed Khalid Aitani, Ed. Dar al-Maarifa, Beirut, 2000.

29. “Tartîbu AsSuwari wa Al yâti”, p. 164 and therafter.

30. Those are titles of famous works of Islamic heritage that are republished continuously.

31. Al-Bukhari : “al-Manaqib”, 3353, Muslim : “Fadailu Assahaba”, 4487.

32. Al-Bukhâri : “Fadaili Al Qur’âni”, 4607 ; Muslim : “Salatu al-Musafirin wa Qasruha”, 1354 ; Malik : Annidau li Salah, 423.

33. Al-Bukhâri : “Fadaili Al Qur’âni”, 4607 ; Muslim : “Salatu al-Musafirin wa Qasruha”, 1355.

34. An-Nisai : “Al-Iftitahu”, 932 ; Abu Daoud : “Al-Salat”, 1262 ; Ahmed : “Musnad al-Ansar”, 20234-20238.

35. For more details, see Ibn Hajar al-Asqilani in “Fathu al-Bari fi sharhi Sahih Al-Bukhari”, Ed. Dar al-Ma’rifa, Beirut, in 1379 AH. Volume 9, p. 28 and thereafter ; Al-Munnawir, Faid al-Qadir, Cairo, 1356 AH, v. 3, p. 54 and thereafter.

36. ‘Abd Al Qâder Zemâma, ‘Abd Al Wahhâb At-Tâzi, Fadel ‘Abd An-Nabi and Mohammed Al-Kettâni : “Dictionary of the Exegeses of the Holy Quran”,  ISESCO. (1417 AH/1997 AD).

37. For detailed information see :

- Books on the bases of Fiqh, the  chapters related  to religious arguments “Le Coran”.

And among the simplified surveys on this science:

- ‘Abd Al Wahhâb Khallâf : “Ilmu Usûli Al fiqh”, Ed. Dâru Al Qalami, Kuwait 1398 AH/1978 AD.

-‘Alî Hasabu Allah : “Usûlu At-Tachrî‘i Al Islâmiyyi”, Dâru Al-Ma‘ârifi -Egypt- 1396 AH/1976 AD).

38. Al-Boukhârî, n° 6856 ;  Muslim, n° 4832 ; Al-Tarmidi 3527.

39. Muslim, n° 5326 ; Ahmad, n° 10663.

40. Al Bukhâri : “Sahih,” Chapter on “Science”.

41. Muslim : al-Hajj 2433, al-'itq 2774 ; Ahmad : Musnadu al-'Asharati al-Mubasharin bi al-Jannah, 956.

42. Ad-Darami, “al-Muqaddimah”, 508.

43. He is Ahmad bin Ali bin Hajar al-'Asqilani Ashafi’i, author of “Fath al-Bari fi Sharhi  Sahih Al-Bukhari”, in 13 volumes.

44. “Fathu Al Mughîti”, Exegesis of Al‘Iraqî’s Poem, p. 10. This Hadith was reported by the Imâm As Shâfi‘î, according to the Imâm Mâlik, etc.

45. Muslim, 3906, Exegesis of Al‘Irâqî’s poem, p. 89.

46. Al-Bukhari, 5416 ; Muslim, n° 3898.

47. Al-Bukhâri, n° 50 ; Muslim, n° 2996.

48. Al Bukhâri, n° 5552 ; Muslim, n° 4685.

49. Al Bukhâri, n° 2262 ; Muslim, n° 4677.

50. Ibn Maja, n° 2332 ; Ahmad, n° 2719.

51. Al Bukhâri, n° 1.