The Qur'an: Arrangement and Structure

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.”