A Closer Look at the Qur’an (2/2)
Yahiya Emerick
Meccan and Medinan Revelations
The verses of the Qur’an are divided into two main categories based on the period of the Prophet’s mission in which they were revealed. The first 13 years of prophethood were spent in Mecca, a hostile environment for the Muslims in which the reigning idolaters made life miserable for the new religion and its followers. The second period began with the Hijrah, or migration to Medina, when Islam became the dominant force in city politics and thus was no longer directly under fire.
Meccan revelations, as they are called, center on two main themes: confronting backward Arab tribal customs and pointing out the foolishness of idolatry. Some of the customs that the Qur’an spoke out against are as follows:
* Burying unwanted baby girls alive (infanticide)
* Believing in superstition and practicing witchcraft
* Men inheriting their widowed mothers as wives of their own
-Blindly following tradition for its own sake
The campaign against idolatry was especially urgent because the Qur’anic revelations were making it increasingly clear that the shrine of Abraham, the Ka’bah, was no place to store 360 tribal idols. Mecca was so decadent that idolaters often circled the Ka’bah naked, paying homage to their idols. The Qur’an mentioned specifically three gods that the Arabs worshipped and called such practices idiocy. Instead of praying to lesser gods for daily benefits and luck, Islam asserted, why not pray to the only true God, Allah?
Understandably, the Meccans didn’t take kindly to Muhammad’s preaching and teaching, and they began to harass the Muslims daily. Muhammad was often punched and shoved in the streets. Once he was almost strangled to death by an irate Meccan near the Ka’bah. Other Muslims were brutally tortured, and a few were murdered.
(The first martyr of Islam was a woman who refused to go back to idol worship.)
Consequently, Meccan revelations also contain the stories of past prophets who suffered hardships; this was a way to show Muhammad and his followers that others also endured rough times, but God’s help eventually saved them.
Medinan revelations, or those delivered to Muhammad after he and his followers escaped Mecca, were concerned with how to build an Islamic society. The values and manners of Islam and the particulars of Islamic Law grew in importance and application.
Verses regulating inheritance, marriage and divorce, the conduct of statecraft, civil laws, and criminal punishments made an appearance. An extensive collection of verses on relations with Jews and Christians was given as well. It was also during this period that alcoholic beverages were made illegal. But by this time Muslims were so staunch in their faith that they had no problem in smashing their wine vessels in the streets. This is one Prohibition that didn’t fail.
The Compilation
The Qur’an was an oral message given to Muhammad through the archangel Gabriel. Muhammad himself couldn’t write, so he asked his literate followers to be his secretaries. Even in the earliest days of Mecca, the Qur’an was being recorded. Paper was unknown in Arabia at that time, so the materials used consisted of Egyptian parchment, leather scrolls, and the shoulder blades of camels (which were sort of like large slates). During the Medinan period, the entire collection of written surahs was kept in a large leather bag in the possession of the Prophet. At one time the Prophet had over 20 secretaries writing down his words.
There was no need to put everything together in book form because the tradition established by the Prophet was for people to memorize as much of the Qur’an by heart as possible. By the time of the Prophet’s death, hundreds of people had memorized the entire book in its properly arranged order. Nearly everyone else knew at least significant portions by heart. And with the Prophet’s emphasis on literacy, more people than ever before were learning how to read and write, so written pages of Qur’anic verse began to circulate far and wide.
During the rule of the first Muslim caliph, Abu Bakr, a rebellion arose in southern Arabia, and during one battle over 70 of the most prominent memorizers were killed.
Umar ibn al Khattab, one of the top companions of Muhammad, prevailed upon Abu Bakr to prepare the Qur’an in a single book form so that its proper order and reading would never be lost. This was done under the meticulous supervision of the Prophet’s chief secretary, Zayd bin Thabit, who was able to utilize newly introduced paper products from China.
Later on, during the rule of the third Muslim caliph, Usman ibn Affan, non-Arab converts began arguing about the proper way to pronounce the verses of the Qur’an. They even began writing personal copies incorporating their own variant spellings and pronunciations of words. The problem became so serious that some of the old-time companions of the Prophet thought the Qur’an might be lost in a sea of competing versions.
Usman acted decisively and ordered that the official edition, prepared in the time of his predecessor, Abu Bakr, be duplicated and one copy of it sent to every major Muslim city. From there, scribes could make further copies, so all controversies and disagreements would be laid to rest. All the faulty copies people had made themselves were to be burned so that only the authentic edition would circulate.
A facsimile of a page from the world’s oldest surviving Qur’an, prepared by the order of Caliph Usman circa 655 C.E. Two copies of those Usmani Qur’ans, as they are called, exist to this day in museums in Turkey and Tashkent. They have exactly the same text as any Arabic Qur’an today.
To those who have suggested that the Qur’an we have today is not completely in line with the one Muhammad recited, the reply is simple: All of the people who were involved in recording the Qur’an both during and after Muhammad’s time were memorizers of the book. In addition, there were hundreds of other such people who would have noticed any alterations in the text. Among Muhammad’s thousands of surviving companions, there was never any controversy on this issue.
Major Themes of the Qur’an
The Qur’an has three major themes:
1. The absolute authority of God
2. The accountability of humans for their deeds
3.The impermanence of this life
Each theme is expressed in a forceful way using parables, examples, references to past peoples or prophets, and logic.
Fully one third of the verses of the Qur’an relate to issues concerning the next life and what people will find after death. Another third of the verses deal with prophets, interfaith issues, and the human experience, while the final third cover subjects ranging from law to personal and social obligations. All of these different themes appear at different places throughout the whole scripture.