DIVINE REVELATION:
A STUDY OF THE QUR’ANIC
SCIENCES
Lecture 2
January 27
2013
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WAHY
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Chapter
1 .3
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THE NEED FOR WAHY
 Allah SW T sent human beings down to the earth in order to
utilize their surroundings and obey His commandments
 This is only possible through the human acquiring knowledge
 Tools for the Acquisition of Knowledge
 Five Senses (al-ḥawas al-khamsah)
 Intellect (‘aql)
 Revelation (waḥy)
 The only way to be sure that the five senses and the intellect
have come to the correct conclusions is to see if it is consistent
with revelation.
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DEFINITION OF WAHY
Definition of Wahy:
 Literal: To make a quick gesture or to communicate secretly
or unclearly.
 Technical: It is the speech of Allah that is revealed upon a
prophet from amongst His prophets .
By means of Wahy, people are taught those things which they
cannot learn from their senses and intellect alone.
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KINDS OF WAHY
‘Allamah Anwar Shah Kashmiri has classified Wahy into three basic
types:
 WAHY AT HEART ( Wahy Qalbi)
 Revelation that is sent directly to the heart of a Prophet, where neither an angel
is sent nor is hearing involved; can be sent in a state of wakefulness or sleep –
includes dreams and visions.
 Ibrahim (AS)
 DIRECT DISCOURSE ( Kalam Ilahi)
 Direct conversation with Allah with no interlink of an angel; the Prophet does
hear a voice, however this voice is entirely different than anything from creation
– the most honorific form of Wahy.
 Musa (AS) and Muhammad (‫)ﷺ‬
 ANGELIC WAHY ( Wahy Malaki)
 Allah sends a message to a Prophet through an angel; the angel may not be
visible and only his voice is heard, or he may come in human form, or (rarely) he
may come in his original form.
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EXAMPLE IN QUR’AN
‫ش ر أ َنْ يُ َك ل ِّ َم ُه ه‬
ٍ ‫َّللا ُ إ ِ هَّل َو ْح يً ا أ َ ْو مِنْ َو َر ا ِء حِ َج ا‬
‫ب‬
ٍ َ ‫َو َم ا َك انَ ل ِ َب‬
ً ‫س‬
َ ‫وَّل فَيُ وحِ َي ب ِإ ِ ْذ ن ِهِ َم ا َي‬
ِ ‫أ َ ْو يُ ْر‬
‫ي َح ِك يم‬
ٌّ ِ ‫ش ا ُء ۚ إ ِ هن هُ َع ل‬
ُ ‫س ل َ َر‬
It is not (possible) for a human being that Allah speaks to him,
except by way of revelation, or from behind a barrier, or that He
sends a courier and he reveals, with His permission, what He
wills. Surely, He is All -High, All-Wise. (Shūrā 42:51)
 “Except by way of revelation” refers to Wahy Qalbi
 “From behind a barrier” refers to Kalam Ilahi
 “He sends a courier” refers to Wahi Malaki
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WAYS WAHY CAME TO PROPHET ‫ﷺ‬
1 .Salsalat al-Jaras (Chiming of Bells)
 Various interpretations:
 Some scholars interpret this as the voices of angels, while some
think this sound was the flutter of the angels’ wings.
 Allamah Khattabi: “Ringing” does not relate to the tune of sound, but
is referring to the continuity of revelation—similar to the ringing of a
bell
 Ibn Arabi: When a bell chimes, it is difficult to tell which directions
the reverberations are coming from. In this way, revelation was
understood not to be coming from one specific direction .
 This type was the most dif ficult on the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬
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WAYS WAHY CAME TO PROPHET ‫ﷺ‬
2.Tamaththul Insān (In the form of a human):
 Jibril would appear to the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬in the form of a human
being
 Dihyah Kalbi
 A stranger (Hadith Jibril – narration of Umar bin Khattab)
3.Tamaththul Malak (In the form of an angel):
 Jibrīl came to the Prophet in his true angelic form on at least
two certain occasions:
 Once when the Prophet asked Jibril to show him his true form
 During Isra and Mi’raj
 A third time appears in hadith, during the early stage of the
Prophet’s message at Ajyad in Makkah, but its authenticity is
doubtful.
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WAYS WAHY CAME TO PROPHET ‫ﷺ‬
4. True Dreams
 Before the revelation of the Qur’an began
 Whatever he saw in a dream happened in exactly the same manner
5. Discourse with Allah ( Kalam Ilahi)
 On the Isra and Mi’raj – command of Salah given
 Once in a dream
6. Inspiration in the Heart ( Wahy Qalbi)
 Jibril would place the revelation directly into the heart of the
Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬without himself appearing.
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WAHY: MATLUW AND GHAYR MATLUW
 Matluw (Qur’anic)
 “Recited”
 Comprises verses of Qur’an in which words and meanings are both
from Allah
 Fundamental beliefs and basic teachings of Islam
 Ghayr Matluw (non-Qur’anic)
 “Not recited”
 Does not form a part of Qur’an, but a large number of commands and
tenents have been sent through it
 Preserved in the form of Hadith – the subject matter was revealed to
the Prophet ‫ﷺ‬who then expressed it in his own words
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KASHF & ILHAM
Wahy is specific for the Prophets. Any other person, irrespective
of his spiritual status, cannot be a recipient of Wahy. However,
sometimes Allah does inspire certain things to some of His
selected servants.
 Kashf – “the removal of a veil”
 Allah removes a barrier from the spiritual realm so a human can
perceive and sense the spiritual realm
 Ilham – “inspiration”
 Allah inspires a thought or feeling into the heart
 Neither Kashf nor Ilham are certain – unlike Wahy – hence
they do not form arguments in faith or become obligatory
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BEGINNING OF
REVELATION
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Chapter
1 .4
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DESCENT OF THE QUR’AN
 The Qur’an is the Word of Allah and is preser ved in the Guarded Tablet
(al-Lawh al-Mahfuzh)
 “Nay! It is the Glorious Qur’an, in the Guarded Tablet.”
(Al-Buruj 21-22)
 Has existed here since the beginning of time – the Qur’an is uncreated
 From al -Lawh al-Mahfuzh, the Qur’an was then sent down in two stages:
 First: to al-Bayt al-Ma’mur (or Bayt al-Izzah) – the Ka’ba of the Angels located
above the 7 th heaven, directly above the Ka’ba of the Earth
 ‫اَّلنزال‬
– Inzal
 Revelation of the entire Qur’an at once from al-Lawh al-Mahfuzh to al-Bayt alMa’mur
 Second: to the heart of the Prophet Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬
 ‫التنزيل‬
– Tanzil
 Revelation in piecemeal over the course of Prophethood (23 years) from al-Bayt
al-Ma’mur to the heart of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬via Angel Jibril
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POSSIBLE WISDOM OF INZAL AND TANZIL
 Inzal
 Allamah Abu Shamah: To emphasize the splendor of Qur’an and to
honor the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad ‫ﷺ‬, and to make clear to
the Angels that this is the final revelation to humanity
 Allamah Zarqani: To establish that there is no doubt in the
safeguarding of the Qur’an, as it is stored in three places
 Tanzil
 Imam Razi:
 If revealed all at once, difficult for Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬to memorize
 All commandments would have become obligatory all at once, which
would have been contradictory to objectives of Shari’ah
 To strengthen the heart and spirit of the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬during times of
difficulty
 Much of the Qur’an deals with answers to questions of the people and
various events at different times
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FIRST REVELATION TO PROPHET ‫ﷺ‬
 The Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬was 40 year s old
 Retreat to the Cave of Hira
 Ramadan – Laylat-ul Qadr (the Night of Power)
 17 th , 19 th , or 27 th night of Ramadan according to various narrations
 (Battle of Badr took place on this date 11 years later)
 Sayyida ‘Aisha:
 The Wahy started as true dreams. Thereafter, he received an urge for prayer and
meditation, and for that he used to spend several days and nights in the Cave of
Hira, until one day Allah sent an Angel to the cave, and the Angel said ‘Read!’ The
Prophet replied 'I do not know how to read'. The Prophet added, 'The angel
caught me (forcibly) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it anymore. He
then released me and again said ‘Read!’ and I replied, ‘I do not know how to
read’. Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could
not bear it any more. He then released me and again said ‘Read!’ but again I
replied, ‘I do not know how to read.’ Thereupon he caught me for the third time
and pressed me, and then released me and said :
"Read! In the name of Your Lord, who created, created man from a clot. Read! And
Your Lord is the most Bountiful...” (Surah Al-Alaq)
 The wisdom behind squeezing & Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬physically meeting Jibril (AS)
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FIRST REVELATION TO PROPHET ‫ﷺ‬
 The narration continues:
 Went home to Khadijah (RA), asked to be wrapped up
 Period of three years with no revelation (Fatrat al-Wahy)
 Very distressing for Prophet ‫ﷺ‬
 Was worried Allah had abandoned him
 After period of no revelation, the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬again saw the
same angel sitting on a chair between the earth and the sky
 Surah Al-Muddathir
 Majority of scholars agree that first revelation consisted of
first few verses of Surah Al - Alaq, and then were the verses of
Surah Al-Muddathir.
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MINORIT Y OPINIONS
 Surah Al-Muddathir was first revelation, followed by Surah Al Alaq (based on narration of Ibn Jabir)
 Hafiz ibn Hajar’s explanation – missing sentences
 Allamah Zamakhshari: first revelation was Surah Al -Fatiha
(based on narration by Amr bin Hubayl in collection of Baihaqi)
 Hafiz ibn Hajar refutes
 Imam Baihaqi himself states this incident possibly came after Surah Al Alaq and Surah Al-Muddathir
 Tatbiq
 No chair in Cave of Hira
 Al-Fatiha first revelation as a Surah
 Beyond a few narrations, the majority of narrations and scholars
support the commonly known sequence (Surah Al - Alaq, then
Surah Al-Muddathir)
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FINAL REVELATION
 Many scholar s agree the final revelation from the Qur’an to the Prophet
Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬was:
‫وا ي َ ْو ًۭ ًم ا ت ُ ْر َج عُ و َن ف ِيه ِ إ ِل َ ى ه‬
۟ ُ ‫َو ٱت ه ق‬
ْ َ‫س ب‬
‫ت َو ه ُ مْ ََّل ي ُ ْظ ل َم ُ و َن‬
َ َ‫س مه ا ك‬
ٍ ْ ‫ٱَّلل ِ ۖ ث ُم ه ت ُ َو ف ه ٰى ك ُ ل ُّ ن َ ف‬
'And fear the day when ye shall be brought back to God. Then shall every soul be paid what it earned
and none shall be dealt with unjustly.‘ (Al -Baqarah 2:281)
 Other opinions: 2:278, 2:282, etc.
 Some say the final revelation was:
ُ ‫ضي‬
ُ ‫ت ل َك ُ مْ دِ ين َ ك ُ مْ َو أ َتْ مَ ْم‬
ُ ْ ‫ٱل ْي َ ْو م َ أ َ ْك مَ ل‬
ِ ‫ع ل َيْ ك ُ مْ ن ِ ْع مَ ت ِى َو َر‬
‫س ٰلَ م َ دِ ي ًًۭن ا‬
ْ ِ ‫ت ل َك ُ م ُ ْٱْل‬
َ ‫ت‬
'This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you and have chosen for you
Islam as your religion.‘ (Al -Maidah 5:3)
 Not sound according to many scholar s
 Revealed during last Hajj of Prophet ‫ﷺ‬, based on narration from Umar (R)
 Imam Suyuti: After this verse nothing concerning Islamic law was revealed, and in this
sense it is the 'completion' of religion. However, revelation reminding man of the Day
of Judgment continued and the last such revelation is (2:281)
 The Prophet Muhammad ‫ ﷺ‬passed away from this world nine nights
following the final revelation
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ASSIGNMENTS & QUESTIONS
 Review Chapter 1 .3-1 .4
 Read ahead: Chapter 2.1 to 3.1
 Online version of Course Manual posted in Student Portal at
www.DKinstitute.net
 Copies of manuals will be distributed next week in class, inshaAllah
 Questions?
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