The Qur'an and Its Study. Adnan Zarzour

context and just how effective it is. It can also be linked to a verse before it that says: ‘If they say, “He has invented it,” say: “Produce, then, ten invented surahs like it, and call for help on all you can other than God, if what you say is true”’ (11: 13). Likewise, it may also be associated with the verse that comes after it: ‘Noah received this revelation: “None of your people will believe now apart from those who have already accepted the faith. Do not be in distress over anything they may do”’ (11: 36). It is clear that the verse in question, with the instructions given to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), provides a pause separating two eras of the history of Noah and his people.

      Similar to the verses of Surah 75 which al-Suyūṭī mentions are verses 4: 105, 15: 9 and 27: 6; alongside several other verses that speak about the Qur’an itself.

      7.2 Al-Suyūṭī gives another example of linkage difficulty: ‘Consider the verse that says: “They ask you about the new moons. Say, ‘They are signs for people to mark fixed periods of time, and for the pilgrimage.’ Righteousness does not mean that you enter houses from the rear, but the truly righteous is he who fears God. Enter houses by their doors and fear God, so that you may be successful” (2: 189). One may indeed wonder what relates the new moons to the rulings concerning how to enter houses.’ He then provides some answers. However, perhaps a better answer is given in what we have incidentally mentioned in a different context in the chapter entitled ‘The Scientific Interpretation of Verses Speaking of Nature and Man’. Taking what we mention there in conjunction with what we said above about the verses of Surah 75 we may say that the inability to see the relevance of some verses to their context may be due to the interpreter himself or to the situation pertaining in a particular age. Needless to say, no commentator can fully grasp all that the Qur’an includes. The Qur’an is a Book that applies to all generations, and it addresses all nations and communities.

      176.Authors divide their works into sections, chapters, parts and paragraphs, and they express their ideas in sentences and phrases, etc.

      177.Ibn ‘Aṭiyyah, Al-Muḥarrar al-Wajīz, vol. 1, p. 71; Al-Qurṭubī, Tafsīr, vol. 1, p. 66.

      178.The same root also gives the word siwār, which means a ‘bracelet’ that surrounds a person’s wrist.

      179.Al-Suyūṭī, Al-Itqān, vol. 1, p. 185.

      180.Al-Zarkashī says in Al-Burhān, vol. 1, p. 311 that al-Māwardī attributes this to the majority of scholars, but the correct scholarly view is that it starts with Surah 50, Qāf.

      181.Ibid, vol. 1, pp. 307–312.

      182.Related by al-Bukhārī, vol. 6, p. 111.

      183.Al-Sakhāwī, Al-Wasīlah ilā Kashf al-‘Aqīlah, p. 11; Al-Qurṭubī, Tafsīr, vol. 1, p. 44.

      184.Related by Al-Bukhārī, Hadith no. 4530. Ibn al-Zubayr was referring to Verse 240 of the same surah, which gives a different provision for widows. It says: ‘Those of you who die leaving their wives behind, shall bequeath to their wives provisions for one year without their being obliged to leave (their deceased husbands’ homes).’

      185.Al-Baghawī, Sharḥ al-Sunnah, vol. 4, p. 512.

      186.Related by al-Nasā’ī in Al-Sunan al-Kubrā, Hadith no. 8007; al-Taḥāwī in Sharḥ Ma‘ānī al-Āthār, vol. 1, p. 201.

      187.‘Whoever reads the last two verses of Surah The Cow on any night, they will be sufficient for him.’ Related by Al-Bukhārī, Hadith no. 4008; Muslim, Hadith no. 1369.

      188.Abū al-Dardā’ reports that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘Whoever memorises the first ten verses of Surah 18, The Cave, will be protected from the Impostor.’ Another version reported by Shu‘bah mentions the last ten verses of the same surah. The Hadith is related by Muslim, Hadith no. 809 and Abū Dāwūd, Hadith no. 4323.

      189.Related by Muslim, Hadith no. 804. Imam al-Nawawi said: ‘These two surahs are called the illuminated ones because of the light and guidance they give, and because the reward for reading them is great indeed. Linguists refer to anything that gives shade to a person from above his head as “a cloud”. Scholars say that the Prophet meant that the reward for reading them is indicative of a cloud.’

      190.Related by Muslim, Hadith no. 772.

      191.Related by Al-Bukhārī, Hadith no. 3809; Muslim, Hadith no. 799.

      192.Related by Al-Bukhāri, Hadith no. 4582; Muslim, Hadith no. 800.

      193.Related by Al-Bukhārī, Hadith no. 765. This is Surah 52, a Makkan revelation.

      194.Related by Al-Bukhārī, Hadith no. 769; Muslim, Hadith no. 464; Ibn al-Athīr, Jāmi‘ al-Uṣūl, Hadith no. 3464.

      195.Related by Ibn al-Athīr, ibid, Hadith no. 3458.

      196.Related by Al-Bukhārī, Hadith no. 764; Ibn al-Athīr, ibid, Hadith no. 3457.

      197.Related by Al-Bukhārī, Hadith no. 891; Muslim, Hadith no. 880.

      198.Related by Muslim, Hadith no. 877.

      199.Related by Muslim, Hadith no. 891.

      200.Related by Muslim, Hadith no. 873.

      201.Al-Suyūṭī, Al-Itqān, vol. 1, p. 284.

      202.Ibid, vol. 1, p. 291.

      203.Al-Suyūṭī, Al-Itqān, vol. 4, p. 14. The author mentions that this view was expressed by ‘some scholars of late’ without naming them. Al-Suyūṭī was a highly eminent scholar who lived in Cairo 849–911 AH/1445–1505 CE.

      204.Related by Aḥmad, Hadith no. 16982. Also related by Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālīsī.

      205.Al-Zarkashī, Al-Burhān, vol. 1, pp. 326–327; Al-Suyūṭi, Al-Itqān, vol. 1, pp. 294–295. The Hadith refers to the fact that the Islamic message incorporates all past Divine messages and more. We may say that the Qur’an suffices but nothing else does or renders it unnecessary.

      206.Related by Al-Bukhārī, Hadith no. 4739. This means that he learnt them in the early Makkan days.

      207.A. Zarzour, Al-Ḥākim al-Jushamī wa Minhājuh fī Tafsīr al-Qur’an, pp. 373–380. The book forms vol. 6 of the author’s Complete Works.

      208.Al-Zarkashī, Al-Burhān, vol. 1, p. 329; Al-Suyūṭī, Al-Itqān, vol. 4, p. 21.

      209.Al-Qurṭubī, Tafsīr, vol. 1, p. 60; Al-Zarkashī, Al-Burhān, vol. 1, p. 328; Al-Suyūṭī, Al-Itqān, vol. 1, p. 292.

      210.The Arabic word Qāḍī is a title which means ‘judge’. In Islamic states, the post was only awarded to distinguished scholars. Therefore, this title was used whenever they were referred to in other scholars’ works and when they were quoted or their views explained. I would have preferred to use an English equivalent, such as Justice, when any such scholar is mentioned, but it has become customary in English to retain the Arabic title. This is unfortunate because readers may think that these scholars were named Qadi, when this is only a title of distinction.

      211.Al-Qurṭubī, Tafsīr, vol. 1, p. 60.

      212.Al-Suyūṭī, Al-Itqān, vol. 1, p. 293.

      213.Ibid., vol. 1, p. 296.

      214.Ibn ‘Aṭiyyah, Al-Muḥarrar al-Wajīz, vol. 1, p. 54.

      215.Al-Suyūṭī, Al-Itqān, vol. 1, p. 293.

      216.Al-Qurṭubī, Tafsīr, vol. 1, p. 61.

      217.Ibid, vol.1, p. 61.

      218.Al-Nawawī, Al-Tibyān fī Adab Ḥamalat al-Qur’an,

      219.Al-Qurṭubī, Tafsīr, vol. 1, p. 61.

      220.Al-Fātiḥah is the first surah of the Qur’an and it must be read in every rak‘ah in prayer. Hence, these scholars say that a worshipper should in this case start from the beginning of the Qur’an.

      221.Al-Nawawī, Al-Tibyān, p. 55.

      222.This