Chronological Order of the Qur'an: Difference between revisions
[checked revision] | [pending revision] |
(Have added some academic material on Qur'anic chronology, just covering the Meccan-Medinan split - it's very minimal for now but I plan to add significantly more to cover the 'plot' of the Quran and it's chronology going forwards.) |
(→Mecca-Medina Split: Added another key Medinan change from preaching god will destroy the unbelievers in Mecca to the military activism to do so in Medinan period.) |
||
Line 256: | Line 256: | ||
{{Quote|Sinai, Nicolai. Qur'an: A Historical-Critical Introduction (The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys) (pp. 196-197). Edinburgh University Press. Kindle Edition.|...they betray an explicit demarcation of the Qur’anic community from Judaism and Christianity and harshly criticise Jewish and Christian beliefs (for example, Q 5: 12–19, 5: 41–86, and 5: 116–118).<sup>38</sup> This forms a contrast to surahs that do not allude to the Medinan constellation. To be sure, non-Medinan texts do occasionally feature critical references to disunity among the post-Mosaic Israelites and to schisms among the followers of Jesus,<sup>39</sup> casually accuse some of them of ‘wrongdoing’ (Q 29: 46), and insist that Jesus is not God’s ‘child’ but only His ‘servant’ (Q 19: 34–40 and 43: 57–65).<sup>40</sup> Nonetheless, texts lacking references to the Medinan constellation are generally devoid of explicit, targeted, and sustained anti-Jewish and anti-Christian polemics. Instead, their polemical attention is squarely focused on the pagan Associators, against whom the ‘Israelites’ or earlier recipients of ‘the Scripture’ are occasionally invoked as witnesses who would confirm the truth of Muhammad’s revelations (for example, Q 6: 20.114, 10: 94, 17: 101, and 26: 197). Indeed, it is only in surahs that form core texts of the Medinan subcorpus (Q 2–5, 9, and 22) that we even come across the Qur’anic expressions for ‘Christians’ (al-naārā, ‘Nazoraeans’) and ‘Jews’ (alladhīna hādū, al-yahūd).<sup>41</sup>}} | {{Quote|Sinai, Nicolai. Qur'an: A Historical-Critical Introduction (The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys) (pp. 196-197). Edinburgh University Press. Kindle Edition.|...they betray an explicit demarcation of the Qur’anic community from Judaism and Christianity and harshly criticise Jewish and Christian beliefs (for example, Q 5: 12–19, 5: 41–86, and 5: 116–118).<sup>38</sup> This forms a contrast to surahs that do not allude to the Medinan constellation. To be sure, non-Medinan texts do occasionally feature critical references to disunity among the post-Mosaic Israelites and to schisms among the followers of Jesus,<sup>39</sup> casually accuse some of them of ‘wrongdoing’ (Q 29: 46), and insist that Jesus is not God’s ‘child’ but only His ‘servant’ (Q 19: 34–40 and 43: 57–65).<sup>40</sup> Nonetheless, texts lacking references to the Medinan constellation are generally devoid of explicit, targeted, and sustained anti-Jewish and anti-Christian polemics. Instead, their polemical attention is squarely focused on the pagan Associators, against whom the ‘Israelites’ or earlier recipients of ‘the Scripture’ are occasionally invoked as witnesses who would confirm the truth of Muhammad’s revelations (for example, Q 6: 20.114, 10: 94, 17: 101, and 26: 197). Indeed, it is only in surahs that form core texts of the Medinan subcorpus (Q 2–5, 9, and 22) that we even come across the Qur’anic expressions for ‘Christians’ (al-naārā, ‘Nazoraeans’) and ‘Jews’ (alladhīna hādū, al-yahūd).<sup>41</sup>}} | ||
The authority and status of Muhammad is severely elevated from being simply a 'warner' to having complete authority over his community; also see Sinai (2018) on this.<ref>Sinai, Nicolai. “''[https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:34ef078e-0bb9-422e-8fd7-a42c8d1bdf1b/files/m73f645bb4eda180c5d419565b2b19ce0 Muhammad as an Episcopal Figure.]''” Arabica, vol. 65, no. 1-2, Brill Academic Publishers, 2018, pp. 1–30. ''PP13.'' <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1163/15700585-12341480</nowiki></ref> | The authority and status of Muhammad is severely elevated from being simply a 'warner' to having complete authority over his community; also see Sinai (2018) on this.<ref>Sinai, Nicolai. “''[https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:34ef078e-0bb9-422e-8fd7-a42c8d1bdf1b/files/m73f645bb4eda180c5d419565b2b19ce0 Muhammad as an Episcopal Figure.]''” Arabica, vol. 65, no. 1-2, Brill Academic Publishers, 2018, pp. 1–30. ''PP13.'' <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1163/15700585-12341480</nowiki></ref> | ||
{{Quote|Sinai, Nicolai. Qur'an: A Historical-Critical Introduction (The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys) (p. 197). Edinburgh University Press. Kindle Edition.|Another key doctrinal trait of the Medinan proclamations is their heightened emphasis on the status and far-reaching authority of the Qur’anic Messenger: whereas non-Medinan texts limit themselves to presenting him as a divinely sent ‘warner’ and ‘bringer of good tidings’ (for example, Q 17: 105, 25: 56, 51: 50–51, and 79: 45), Medinan surahs additionally cast him as a ‘prophet’ (nabiyy; for example, Q 33: 1.6.13), a title that non-Medinan texts reserve for figures from Biblical history.<sup>42</sup> Moreover, Medinan texts over and over again enjoin their audience to obey ‘God and His Messenger’ (for example, Q 3: 32, 4: 13, and 5: 92).}} | {{Quote|Sinai, Nicolai. Qur'an: A Historical-Critical Introduction (The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys) (p. 197). Edinburgh University Press. Kindle Edition.|Another key doctrinal trait of the Medinan proclamations is their heightened emphasis on the status and far-reaching authority of the Qur’anic Messenger: whereas non-Medinan texts limit themselves to presenting him as a divinely sent ‘warner’ and ‘bringer of good tidings’ (for example, Q 17: 105, 25: 56, 51: 50–51, and 79: 45), Medinan surahs additionally cast him as a ‘prophet’ (nabiyy; for example, Q 33: 1.6.13), a title that non-Medinan texts reserve for figures from Biblical history.<sup>42</sup> Moreover, Medinan texts over and over again enjoin their audience to obey ‘God and His Messenger’ (for example, Q 3: 32, 4: 13, and 5: 92).}}The previous calls in the Meccan verses of Allah destroying unbelievers who rejected Gods messengers in the '[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punishment_narratives_in_the_Quran punishment narratives]' are replaced with calls of military activism to carry out the punishment themselves. As Durie (2018) notes, "''...the key aspect of the marked developments traditionally associated with the contrast between “Meccan” and “Medinan” sūrahs, is a shift in eschatology from an expectation of future punishment of rejectors in this world to a “realized eschatology” (Ladd 1993, 56) of judgment in the here and now, at the hands of believers. This critical change in the Qurʾan’s message takes place in the context of an emerging crisis of confidence caused by an apparent delay in divine punishment of disbelievers, combined with growing opposition to, and persecution of believers.''"<ref>Durie, Mark. ''The Qur’an and Its Biblical Reflexes: Investigations into the Genesis of a Religion. pp. 47-48 (Kindle Edition pp. 149).'' 2018. Lexington Books. | ||
''See also Chapter 2: The Eschatological Crisis & 3: A Nonbiographical Qurʾanic Chronology.''</ref> | |||
{{Quote|Sinai, Nicolai. Qur'an: A Historical-Critical Introduction (The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys) (pp. 293-294). Edinburgh University Press. Kindle Edition.|That the Believers’ recourse to military violence against the Associators was a turning point is openly acknowledged by the Qur’an itself. According to Q 4: 77, the members of the Qur’anic community were first instructed to ‘restrain your hands, perform prayer, and pay the alms’ and only subsequently was ‘fighting prescribed for them’. Not everyone in the community appears to have been keen to follow this command: ‘Our Lord, why have you prescribed fighting for us? Why have you not granted us a short delay?’, some of the addressees are quoted as saying. | |||
Yet the Medinan Qur’an unwaveringly upholds the duty to combat the Associators. Henceforth it was the military victories of the Believers by means of which God was believed to exact His punishment of the Meccan Unbelievers, rather than by a natural disaster of the sort that had befallen the people of Noah, the Ād, or the Thamūd. As David Marshall has emphasised, we are here confronted with two different paradigms of divine punishment, one Meccan, the other Medinan.<sup>1</sup> | |||
The Medinan surah’s general lack of punishment legends, pointed out in Chapter 5, is obviously linked to the replacement of one paradigm by the other.<sup>2</sup> Interestingly, the Qur’an itself endeavours to reduce the appearance of a disjuncture between the two by integrating the new doctrine that God’s retribution is meted out via the Believers’ military victories with the earlier Meccan expectation of a direct divine intervention. Thus, surah 8 describes the Believers’ military victory at Badr in a manner that presents it as the fulfillment of the Qur’an’s earlier threats of a divine chastisement.}} | |||
==References== | ==References== |
Latest revision as of 23:57, 3 November 2024
Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination
| This article or section is being renovated. Lead = 3 / 4
Structure = 3 / 4
Content = 2 / 4
Language = 4 / 4
References = 3 / 4
|
The Qur'an is not in chronological order, but arranged roughly longest surah (chapter) to the shortest. The table in this article provides the traditional chronological order as set out by medieval Islamic scholars, ostensibly reported from the Companion, Ibn 'Abbas, though such traditions date to the early 8th century CE according to Neal Robinson, which he says "would make them roughly contemporary with the early discussions about abrogation and the sῑra-maghāzī literature", leading him to suspect that they are merely the opinions of the scholars of the time rather than authentic oral traditions from Companions.[1] It is furthermore well known by Islamic scholars that the traditional reports of Asbab al-Nuzul (revelational circumstances of the Quran) are often contradictory, and are treated with considerable caution by academic scholars.[1]
The chronological sequence of the Quran, including elements within individual surahs, is an active area of research for academic scholars. Surahs identified with the Meccan phase of Muhammad's career are sometimes further sub-divided into a number of periods. Theodor Nöldeke (d. 1930), whose sequence produced with his pupil Friedrich Schwally (d. 1919) differs slightly from the traditional chronological order, divided the Meccan surahs into early, middle, and late Meccan periods.[1] Sometimes, internal evidence such as references to external events helps with the relative dating. Alongside literary style, internal evidence such as references to external events helps with the relative dating, and documenting the changing relationship between Muhammad, his Community and the Unbelievers, such as Mark Durie (2018)[2] and David Marshall (1999).[3] An interesting example of more recent research is the work of Joseph Witztum to derive a relative chronology between certain surahs based on the differences between versions of the same repeated stories.[4]
The traditional chronological order has been passed down in slightly varying versions. The version shown here is reported in a fifteenth century work by 'Abd al-Kafi[1], and is commonly reproduced on websites today.[5][6] It is also the main source (along with the other slightly different versions) drawn upon for the very similar ordering included in the 1925 Standard Egyptian Quran.[1] In the case of many of the Meccan surahs some specific verses are traditionally attributed to the Medinan phase.
Traditional chronological order table
To view the traditional order of the Quran (rather than the traditional chronological order), you can sort the table by "Traditional Order"
Chronological Order | Surah Name | Number of Verses | Location of Revelation | Traditional Order |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Al-Alaq | 19 | Mecca | 96 |
2 | Al-Qalam | 52 | Mecca | 68 |
3 | Al-Muzzammil | 20 | Mecca | 73 |
4 | Al-Muddathir | 56 | Mecca | 74 |
5 | Al-Fatiha | 7 | Mecca | 1 |
6 | Al-Masadd | 5 | Mecca | 111 |
7 | At-Takwir | 29 | Mecca | 81 |
8 | Al-Ala | 19 | Mecca | 87 |
9 | Al-Lail | 21 | Mecca | 92 |
10 | Al-Fajr | 30 | Mecca | 89 |
11 | Ad-Dhuha | 11 | Mecca | 93 |
12 | Al-Inshirah | 8 | Mecca | 94 |
13 | Al-Asr | 3 | Mecca | 103 |
14 | Al-Adiyat | 11 | Mecca | 100 |
15 | Al-Kauther | 3 | Mecca | 108 |
16 | At-Takathur | 8 | Mecca | 102 |
17 | Al-Maun | 7 | Mecca | 107 |
18 | Al-Kafiroon | 6 | Mecca | 109 |
19 | Al-Fil | 5 | Mecca | 105 |
20 | Al-Falaq | 5 | Mecca | 113 |
21 | An-Nas | 6 | Mecca | 114 |
22 | Al-Ikhlas | 4 | Mecca | 112 |
23 | An-Najm | 62 | Mecca | 53 |
24 | Abasa | 42 | Mecca | 80 |
25 | Al-Qadr | 5 | Mecca | 97 |
26 | Ash-Shams | 15 | Mecca | 91 |
27 | Al-Burooj | 22 | Mecca | 85 |
28 | At-Tin | 8 | Mecca | 95 |
29 | Quraish | 4 | Mecca | 106 |
30 | Al-Qaria | 11 | Mecca | 101 |
31 | Al-Qiyama | 40 | Mecca | 75 |
32 | Al-Humaza | 9 | Mecca | 104 |
33 | Al-Mursalat | 50 | Mecca | 77 |
34 | Qaf | 45 | Mecca | 50 |
35 | Al-Balad | 20 | Mecca | 90 |
36 | At-Tariq | 17 | Mecca | 86 |
37 | Al-Qamar | 55 | Mecca | 54 |
38 | Sad | 88 | Mecca | 38 |
39 | Al-Araf | 206 | Mecca | 7 |
40 | Al-Jinn | 28 | Mecca | 72 |
41 | Ya-Sin | 83 | Mecca | 36 |
42 | Al-Furqan | 77 | Mecca | 25 |
43 | Fatir | 45 | Mecca | 35 |
44 | Maryam | 98 | Mecca | 19 |
45 | Taha | 135 | Mecca | 20 |
46 | Al-Waqia | 96 | Mecca | 56 |
47 | Ash-Shuara | 227 | Mecca | 26 |
48 | An-Naml | 93 | Mecca | 27 |
49 | Al-Qasas | 88 | Mecca | 28 |
50 | Al-Isra | 111 | Mecca | 17 |
51 | Yunus | 109 | Mecca | 10 |
52 | Hud | 123 | Mecca | 11 |
53 | Yusuf | 111 | Mecca | 12 |
54 | Al-Hijr | 99 | Mecca | 15 |
55 | Al-Anaam | 165 | Mecca | 6 |
56 | As-Saaffat | 182 | Mecca | 37 |
57 | Luqman | 34 | Mecca | 31 |
58 | Saba | 54 | Mecca | 34 |
59 | Az-Zumar | 75 | Mecca | 39 |
60 | Al-Ghafir | 85 | Mecca | 40 |
61 | Fussilat | 54 | Mecca | 41 |
62 | Ash-Shura | 53 | Mecca | 42 |
63 | Az-Zukhruf | 89 | Mecca | 43 |
64 | Ad-Dukhan | 59 | Mecca | 44 |
65 | Al-Jathiya | 37 | Mecca | 45 |
66 | Al-Ahqaf | 35 | Mecca | 46 |
67 | Adh-Dhariyat | 60 | Mecca | 51 |
68 | Al-Ghashiya | 26 | Mecca | 88 |
69 | Al-Kahf | 110 | Mecca | 18 |
70 | An-Nahl | 128 | Mecca | 16 |
71 | Nooh | 28 | Mecca | 71 |
72 | Ibrahim | 52 | Mecca | 14 |
73 | Al-Ambiya | 112 | Mecca | 21 |
74 | Al-Mumenoon | 118 | Mecca | 23 |
75 | As-Sajda | 30 | Mecca | 32 |
76 | At-Tur | 49 | Mecca | 52 |
77 | Al-Mulk | 30 | Mecca | 67 |
78 | Al-Haaqqa | 52 | Mecca | 69 |
79 | Al-Maarij | 44 | Mecca | 70 |
80 | An-Naba | 40 | Mecca | 78 |
81 | An-Naziat | 46 | Mecca | 79 |
82 | Al-Infitar | 19 | Mecca | 82 |
83 | Al-Inshiqaq | 25 | Mecca | 84 |
84 | Ar-Room | 60 | Mecca | 30 |
85 | Al-Ankaboot | 69 | Mecca | 29 |
86 | Al-Mutaffifin | 36 | Mecca | 83 |
87 | Al-Baqara | 286 | Medina | 2 |
88 | Al-Anfal | 75 | Medina | 8 |
89 | Al-i-Imran | 200 | Medina | 3 |
90 | Al-Ahzab | 73 | Medina | 33 |
91 | Al-Mumtahina | 13 | Medina | 60 |
92 | An-Nisa | 176 | Medina | 4 |
93 | Al-Zalzala | 8 | Medina | 99 |
94 | Al-Hadid | 29 | Medina | 57 |
95 | Muhammad | 38 | Medina | 47 |
96 | Ar-Rad | 43 | Medina | 13 |
97 | Al-Rahman | 78 | Medina | 55 |
98 | Al-Insan | 31 | Medina | 76 |
99 | At-Talaq | 12 | Medina | 65 |
100 | Al-Bayyina | 8 | Medina | 98 |
101 | Al-Hashr | 24 | Medina | 59 |
102 | An-Noor | 64 | Medina | 24 |
103 | Al-Hajj | 78 | Medina | 22 |
104 | Al-Munafiqoon | 11 | Medina | 63 |
105 | Al-Mujadila | 22 | Medina | 58 |
106 | Al-Hujraat | 18 | Medina | 49 |
107 | At-Tahrim | 12 | Medina | 66 |
108 | At-Taghabun | 18 | Medina | 64 |
109 | As-Saff | 14 | Medina | 61 |
110 | Al-Jumua | 11 | Medina | 62 |
111 | Al-Fath | 29 | Medina | 48 |
112 | Al-Maeda | 120 | Medina | 5 |
113 | At-Taubah | 129 | Medina | 9 |
114 | An-Nasr | 3 | Medina | 110 |
Mecca-Medina Split
Sinai (2017) notes the Meccan-Medinan divide has evidence from the Qur'an itself (and not just tradition).
There are features that separate the later Medinan Surahs and verses from the earlier Meccan ones.
Sinai (2017) notes that there are typically higher mean verse length and formulaic density in the later Medinan surahs than Meccan ones.
The Qur'an begins to directly criticize key doctrines of the Jews and Christians.
The authority and status of Muhammad is severely elevated from being simply a 'warner' to having complete authority over his community; also see Sinai (2018) on this.[7]
The previous calls in the Meccan verses of Allah destroying unbelievers who rejected Gods messengers in the 'punishment narratives' are replaced with calls of military activism to carry out the punishment themselves. As Durie (2018) notes, "...the key aspect of the marked developments traditionally associated with the contrast between “Meccan” and “Medinan” sūrahs, is a shift in eschatology from an expectation of future punishment of rejectors in this world to a “realized eschatology” (Ladd 1993, 56) of judgment in the here and now, at the hands of believers. This critical change in the Qurʾan’s message takes place in the context of an emerging crisis of confidence caused by an apparent delay in divine punishment of disbelievers, combined with growing opposition to, and persecution of believers."[8]
Yet the Medinan Qur’an unwaveringly upholds the duty to combat the Associators. Henceforth it was the military victories of the Believers by means of which God was believed to exact His punishment of the Meccan Unbelievers, rather than by a natural disaster of the sort that had befallen the people of Noah, the Ād, or the Thamūd. As David Marshall has emphasised, we are here confronted with two different paradigms of divine punishment, one Meccan, the other Medinan.1
The Medinan surah’s general lack of punishment legends, pointed out in Chapter 5, is obviously linked to the replacement of one paradigm by the other.2 Interestingly, the Qur’an itself endeavours to reduce the appearance of a disjuncture between the two by integrating the new doctrine that God’s retribution is meted out via the Believers’ military victories with the earlier Meccan expectation of a direct divine intervention. Thus, surah 8 describes the Believers’ military victory at Badr in a manner that presents it as the fulfillment of the Qur’an’s earlier threats of a divine chastisement.References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Neal Robinson, "Discovering the Qurʼan: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text", Georgetown University Press, 2003, pp. 62-74. ISBN 1589010248
- ↑ Durie, Mark. 2018. Lexington Books. The Qur’an and Its Biblical Reflexes: Investigations into the Genesis of a Religion
- ↑ Marshall, David. God, Muhammad and the Unbelievers. 1999. ISBN 9780415759946
- ↑ See for example Joseph Witztum. “Thrice upon a Time: Abraham’s Guests and the Study of Intra-Quranic Parallels”. In Holger Zellentin (ed.), The Quran’s Reformation of Judaism and Christianity: Return to the Origins. London: Routledge, 2019, pp. 277–302.
- ↑ https://tanzil.net/docs/revelation_order
- ↑ http://www.qran.org/q-chrono.htm
- ↑ Sinai, Nicolai. “Muhammad as an Episcopal Figure.” Arabica, vol. 65, no. 1-2, Brill Academic Publishers, 2018, pp. 1–30. PP13. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700585-12341480
- ↑ Durie, Mark. The Qur’an and Its Biblical Reflexes: Investigations into the Genesis of a Religion. pp. 47-48 (Kindle Edition pp. 149). 2018. Lexington Books. See also Chapter 2: The Eschatological Crisis & 3: A Nonbiographical Qurʾanic Chronology.