A couple months ago we posted an entry on the basic definition of the Qur'an, which you can read by clicking here. Below is a follow-up to that post, on the arrangement and structure of the Qur'an. At some point, there will be two or three more, dealing with other issues related to the Qur'an.
As defined in the previous post on the Qur'an, Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the written record of
revelations from God given orally to the Prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel over a period
of about 23 years. These revelations are
divided in the Qur’an into 114 separate units, called Surahs, ranging in length
from 3 to 286 verses, called ayas. According
to the famous Persian Qur'anic commentator and historian Al-Tabari (838-923), the word Surah, which in English is translated as chapter, can
come from two sources. First is from the
root suur (سور), which means to enclose, fence in, wall in
or surround with a railing or wall. It
is from this root that the word for the type of wall that surrounds a home or a town—like that which
surrounds the old cities of Damascus or Jerusalem—comes, separating what
is inside from what is out. It is like
“the wall of a town,” he says, “meaning
the wall which encircles it, because of its elevation over what it surrounds.” Also, al-Tabari said Surah could come from
the root sa'er (سئر), which means to remain or be
left. It is from this root that the word suu'ra (سؤرة) comes, meaning that which is leftover.
Those who read the word this way, he says, define surah as “the part
which is left in the Qur’an over the rest of it, and which is retained." Or, in the words of the 20th century Lebanese scholar Mahmoud Ayoub, “the better
portion of a thing or separate sections, that is, a chapter.” Either way, a clear separation between
readings and into different units is denoted.
“Thus the word signifies a distinct section of the Qur’an separated from
what is before and after it,” says Ayoub. Regarding the word aya (آية), although translated into English as verse, it refers to that which
points to something else, or sign. In fact, besides this particular use of the word aya, the
Qur’an spends a great deal of time referring to the signs of God in nature
and the world. For example, Surah 42:29
says, “and of His signs (ayat) is the creation of the heavens and the earth and what
He has spread forth in both of them of living beings.”
Except for the opening surah, the surahs in the Qur'an are
ordered roughly—but not exactly—by length, from the longest to
the shortest. Each surah has a name—such
as The Criterion (25), The Pilgrimage (22), The Iron (57) and The Cow (2)—which comes from a prominent word or theme in the Surah. Sometimes, though, the name comes from a word
or theme that actually is not so prominent, as in the case of The Poets (26), which is 227 verses long, and the poets from which the surah gets its name
are not mentioned until verse 224. There
are also several Surahs that simply begin with certain individual Arabic letters and are given names that coincide with these letters. Muslims know the Surahs by these names, not
their numbers. Muhammad spent time in the cities of both Mecca and Medina, and each Surah is explained as
either having been from Muhammad’s Meccan or Medinan period, even though some
Meccan Surahs include ayas said to have been revealed in Medina, and vice versa. Generally, Meccan surahs are believed to be
those that are shorter in length—especially those near the end of the
Qur’an—and that speak more about broad themes, such as judgment, warning,
heaven and hell, belief in God and God’s signs, whereas the Medinan surahs are
believed to be of the longer variety and include more specific items regarding
rules, regulations and legislation. Finally,
except for The Repentance (9), each surah begins with the words, “in the name of God, the most Gracious, the most Merciful.”
And what about the material contained within these
surahs? What is the content of the
Qur’an? Without getting into too much
detail here, according to Egyptian-born professor of Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, Muhammad Abdel
Haleem, "quantitatively speaking, the Qur’an consists of the various beliefs of
Islam by far, followed by moral issues, ritual aspects, and then legal
provisions." According to Ayoub, “The
Qur’an, broadly speaking, consists of moral and legal precepts, commands and
prohibitions with regard to lawful (halal) and unlawful (haram) actions,
promise (wa’d) of paradise for the pious and threat (wa’id) of punishment in
hell for the wicked. It also contains
reports of bygone prophets and their peoples, parables, similes and metaphors,
and admonitions. Finally, it sets forth
for the pious obligations (fara’id) of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, the rites
of pilgrimage, and struggle (jihad) in the way of God.”
It is important to know, though, that the Qur’an is not
laid out in a neat, orderly fashion, with, for example, beliefs in one section,
stories of ancient prophets in another, and ritual aspects and legal provisions
in other sections. The Qur’an is not
arranged in the form of a narrative, like the biblical books of Genesis or Exodus, or
like the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In fact, just one Surah—Yusef/Surah 12,
which deals with the same Joseph (called Yusef in Arabic) from the book of Genesis—can really be
considered to be in story form. Its contents
are not arranged chronologically, or by theme or subject matter. Instead, many Surahs in fact have several
subjects, and may switch rapidly back and forth several times between subjects,
themes and/or stories involving various prophets, people and past events along with events contemporary to Muhammad. “The Qur’an is not like a legal
textbook that treats each subject in a separate chapter,” says Abdul
Haleem. “It may deal with matters of
belief, morals, ritual and legislation within one and the same Surah.”
This aspect of the Qur’an’s arrangement has been the
cause of much criticism from non-Arabic speaking—especially Western—readers of
the Qur’an. To such people, the quick
fluctuation between stories and themes makes the Qur’an seem disjointed and
haphazardly put together, and difficult to read. However, Muslims would argue that this
mingling of themes, characters and other aspects emphasizes their
interconnectedness. Also, the mixing
together of various ritual and legislative aspects with ideas about God,
doctrine and other religious beliefs ties everything back to God. “This gives its teachings more power and
persuasion, since they are all based on the belief in God and reinforced by
belief in the final judgment,” says Abdel Haleem.
For example, legal aspects, according to Abdel Haleem, “are
given more force through being related to beliefs, rituals and morals.” To highlight this idea he points to verse 255
in Surah al-Baqara (2), which is a lengthy description of God and God’s
attributes that is preceded by an admonition to give charitably. Also, he points to a section in the same
Surah that deals with divorce, but is broken up at some point by a reminder to
be devoted to prayer. Such mixing is
purposeful, providing for a constant reminder of the various themes and issues
found in the Qur’an. If the Qur’an
followed a more neat thematic, chronological or historical arrangement, he
said, “it would not have had the powerful effect it does by using these themes
to reinforce its message in various places.”
