بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ
اقرَأ بِاسمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذي خَلَقَ
Recite in the name of your Lord who created.
EXEGESIS
This verse begins with the imperative verb iqraʾ which means ‘read!’ or ‘recite!’, depending on the context. Its trilateral root letters are q-r-ʾ and their primary significance is to collect something together, to put it or draw it together, part to part, and portion to portion. This is what happens during the act of reading and recitation, termed qirāʾah in the Arabic language, which is a noun that has the same root letters as the imperative iqraʾ. Thus, Rāghib defines the term qirāʾah as ‘joining letters and words, one to the other, in successive order’ from a written source or from memory, in the mind, with or without speaking them out loud. However, this only pertains to joining letters and words one to the other and does not apply to all and every joining, nor does it apply to uttering or pronouncing a single letter. Thus the articulation of written speech would be reading and reading out loud, while the articulation of speech preserved in the heart would be recitation. 26:192-195 and 2:97, which speak of the Quranic revelation as one which is brought to the Prophet’s heart by means of the trustworthy spirit so that the Prophet may admonish mankind, are good examples of the latter phenomenon. It is suggested that when verbal derivatives of the root letters q-r-ʾ are used in relation to poetry or sacred scripture they connote the meaning of chanting and intonation.
Another important noun related to the root letters q-r-ʾ is qurʾān. This word is used as a proper noun for the recital that comprises the revelations to Prophet Muhammad (s). It occurs frequently in the Muslim scripture and means a recital (13:31), and the act of reciting or reading the Quran (75:16-17, 20:114, 46:29). It can mean the entire text of the Quran as a recital (10:15), or part of the Quran (72:1). It can also mean the teaching contained in the Quran (28:85). Another reason suggested as to why God’s revelation is called qurʾān is because it collects and comprises verses and chapters, or because it collects the stories of the prophets, the commands, the prohibitions, and the promises and threats of God. This explanation or justification for applying the term qurʾān to Islamic revelations hearkens to the primary significance of its root letters identified earlier.
The perfect and imperfect tense verbs qaraʾa (he read/recited) and yaqraʾu (he is reading/reciting) respectively, are considered transitive with or without the particle bi. A transitive verb is one which takes a direct grammatical object, unlike an intransitive verb which does not. In this verse, this transitive verb (in the form of an imperative) occurs with the particle bi: iqraʾ bi. The particle bi following the verb iqraʾ can have several significations; one of these, in the case of the specific interpretation for this verse favoured here, is that it is the redundant letter bāʾ denoting emphasis. The other relevant significations for this particle are: 1. It is the bāʾ of accompaniment. 2. It is the bāʾ of initiation. 3. It is the bāʾ of instrumentality. The meaning and significance of these three latter significations for the letter bāʾ have been discussed under Review of Tafsīr Literature, where an alternative interpretation for this verse has been discussed.
Returning to our discussion, when the particle bi is identified as the redundant letter bāʾ denoting emphasis, it means that although it has a syntactical effect in that it renders the noun succeeding it in the genitive case, it does not significantly affect the meaning of the sentence as asserted by the theologian, litterateur, and trained philologist Ibn Qutaybah, save in a nuanced way, for it denotes emphasis. Hence its placement or displacement would not significantly alter the meaning of the relevant sentence. The grammatical object of the imperative iqraʾ (recite) in the verse under discussion is explicit and clearly manifest, it being ism (name), and therefore the meaning of the verse is an imperative by God to the Prophet to: Recite the name of your Lord (iqraʾ isma rabbika).
The reason this particular reading or interpretation is favoured for this verse (where iqraʾ bi-smi rabbika is understood as iqraʾ isma rabbika (recite the name of your Lord)), in addition to the grammatical explanation expounded earlier, is because the structure of this verse resembles the structure of at least seven other Quranic verses, which helps bolster the efficacy of this interpretation. These verses are 56:74, 56:96, 69:52, 73:8, 76:25-26, 87:1, and 87:15. The first three of these verses, that is 56:74, 56:96, and 69:52, read as follows: fa sabbiḥ bi-smi rabbika al-ʿaẓīm (Therefore glorify the name of your Lord, the great). The particle bi in these verses is identified to be the redundant letter bāʾ denoting emphasis, which means it does not have any effect on the meaning of the verses save that of emphasis, and hence its placement or displacement does not change the meaning of the relevant verses. This can be seen in the occurrence of a similar verse where the particle bi is absent. This is in 87:1 which reads: sabbiḥ isma rabbika al-aʿlāʾ (Glorify the name of your Lord, the most high).
At least three erstwhile Shia scholars have understood this verse in like manner. Two of these are the very early, foundational Shia savants, namely Ṭūsī, and following him Ṭabarsī, while the third is Mahdi Pooya, who explicitly cites Ṭabarsī’s interpretation as evidence. Both the former scholars explain this verse as follows: ‘This is God’s instruction to His Prophet to recite the name of his Lord who created the creation and to call Him by His beautiful names.’ They both write that the particle bi is redundant here and the verse intends to say ‘recite the name of your Lord’. As for Mahdi Pooya Yazdi, he writes, after pointing out that the particle bi is superfluous, that the meaning of this verse is the same as that of the initial part of 17:110.
The term ism which occurs in this verse means a word or a sign which may be uttered or written and which indicates, informs, or conveys knowledge about the thing named. Thus, it points to the thing named. It is by it that the thing named is distinguished and known, such as proper nouns, for example, Mecca, Joseph, etc. It is also defined as the word that indicates the reality of the thing or its attribute, substance, or accident for the purpose of distinction. Hence the word ism, for example, that appears in Glorify the name of your Lord, the most high (87:1) means: Glorify the attribute of your Lord; which in this case refers to His attribute of being most high which transcends limitations and description. Thus the verse intends to say: Glorify your Lord the most high by deeming Him far above limitations and what does not befit Him. In a similar manner, the plural asmāʾ (names) which appears in And He taught Adam the names (2:31) does not mean the names of places, things, animals, and suchlike. Rather, it means the attributes of things and their realities.
The word ism has as its root letters the trilateral s-m-w. It essentially means to become lofty, high, raised, elevated, and to rise high.
The term rabb means to become a lord, possessor, and owner of something or someone, and to have command and authority over it (see 12:41). The plural of rabb is arbāb, as in 12:39. Another meaning for this word is to rear, to foster, to feed, to nourish, and to bring up, namely a child.
It is said that the primary significance of the term rabb is bringing a thing to a state of completion by degrees, which is also the meaning for the term tarbiyah. The word also has the nuance of collecting, along with the meaning of increase, such as in the sentence ‘the clouds collect and increase (yarubbu) the rain’. Another relevant meaning is to put an affair in the right or proper state, to establish something firmly, and to manage and conduct an affair. Finally, it obviously has the meaning of God as a deity in whom all the meanings outlined above come together in a consummate manner, some examples of which are 7:29, 7:189, and 21:56. Thus the following meanings apply to the word rabb: God as deity, lord, master, chief, regulator, disposer, rectifier, reformer, one who rears, fosterer, nourisher, and completer.
Subḥānī writes that the one, single, unique, and original meaning of the term rabb that can be evinced from all the different meanings identified for it and which can be deemed the most common denominator for them all, is: one to whom the affair of the one raised and looked after is handed over from the perspective of rectification, management, and rearing; one in whose hand lies the affair of managing, planning, administering, and the authority of disposal and making decisions.
It has also been pointed out that the word rabb cannot be applied to other than the being of God save if the term is appended to another thing in the form of a possessive construct and thereby qualified as such, such a rabb al-safīnah (the lord of the ship), rabb al-dār (the lord of the house), and rabb al-ḍayʿah (the lord of the hamlet).
The perfect tense verb khalaqa which occurs in this verse means to originate, to bring into being, to create, to form, or to shape.
EXPOSITION
This verse instructs Prophet Muhammad (s) to recite the name of his Lord who created, to recite the name of his Lord who is most munificent and generous (verse 3), and one who taught (verses 4-5). This is therefore an instruction to bring to mind, to recall, remember, call upon, and glorify God. Ṭūsī and Ṭabarsī write ‘glorifying and exalting the name is akin to glorifying and exalting the named, as the name is the description by which the named is remembered in instances where there is no way the named can be remembered and glorified save by the name and the meaning it entails and invokes’. They then caution however, that ‘the name of God is only glorified and exalted as befits it when the one glorifying and remembering him does so with knowledge and comprehension of the name coupled with faith in God’. T
The word ism has been defined (see Exegesis) to mean the attribute of a thing, thus the imperative in this verse to recite the name of the Lord may also be understood to mean recalling, mentioning, and remembering the attributes of the Lord with comprehension. These attributes follow immediately on the heels of this imperative, in this and the next few verses of this surah. These are God’s attributes of lordship (rabb in verses 1 and 3), of being a creator (khalaqa in verses 1-2), of being generous and munificent (karīm in verse 3), and of being a teacher (ʿallama in verses 4-5).
This verse may also be understood to mean an imperative in favour of spreading monotheism by reciting out and proclaiming the name of the Lord, and making mention of or teaching and drawing attention to the attributes of the Lord. When the verb qaraʾa is used in conjunction with the preposition ʿalā, it means: to recite something to (someone), to read something to (someone), to convey or deliver something to (someone). A couple of examples from the Quran where this verb occurs in conjunction with the preposition ʿalā are 26:199 and 17:106. However, there are instances in the Quran where the verb occurs without the preposition ʿalā but where the meaning, in light of the context, is clearly that of reciting something out (to someone), such as 17:45, 75:18, and 7:204. Hence, in the verse under discussion, where the imperative verb iqraʾ occurs without the preposition ʿalā, it may also mean that the Prophet should begin preaching monotheism.
The verse describes God as rabb, meaning one who owns and undertakes to set things right, one who nourishes, maintains, and manages something and brings it to a stage of completion by degrees, and one who rectifies and reforms as well as has the authority to make decisions and disposals. Then, in order to augment and emphasise His lordship, the verse mentions God’s attribute of creating, which is a description which qualifies your Lord. It means one who innovates and brings into existence from non-existence on the basis of His wisdom and by means of His perfect power, since the greatest evidence of God’s lordship is His power to create. Thus the one who manages the world is also its creator. The mention of the term Lord alongside God’s description as who created has been suggested to serve as a rejoinder to the belief held by the Arab henotheists who believed God to be the creator of the world but not one who engaged in its daily running; rather, they believed that the daily running of the world’s affairs had been delegated to the angels and other creatures close to God, which they worshipped. Thus by using the word Lord in reference to God and as one who created, the verse intends to emphasise that both creation and the subsequent nurturing and management of what is created lies with God and is restricted to Him.
It is observed that the grammatical object of the perfect tense verb khalaqa, which is a transitive verb, does not appear in the verse and is therefore suggested to be elided. It is suggested that the elision of the grammatical object of a transitive verb has a significance which is that when the grammatical object of a verb is elided, the verb denotes generality as in this verse where the perfect tense verb khalaqa is not followed by its object, thus denoting generality. Therefore this verse would mean that the Lord whose name is to be recited and remembered is one who created everything, however, an alternative meaning shall be mentioned below.
Previously, this verse was compared with a number of verses with which, it was argued, it shared structural elements, and these verses were 56:74, 56:96, 69:52, 73:8, 76:25-26, 87:1, and 87:15. These verses taken together bring to light yet another relationship that is observable between them, which is the relationship between remembrance (dhikr), glorification (tasbīḥ), ritual prayer (ṣalāh), prostration (sajdah), sincere devotion (tabattul), and self-purification (tazkiyah). 73:8 says: And remember the name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him with exclusive devotion, while 76:25-26 says: And remember the name of your Lord morning and evening, and during part of the night prostrate to Him and glorify Him a long part of the night. This is while 87:1 says: Glorify the name of your Lord, the most high, while several verses later, in 87:14-15 it reads: Felicitous is he who purifies himself, celebrates the name of his Lord, and prays, while the following three verses, 56:74, 56:96, and 69:52, repeat the same instruction, namely: Therefore glorify the name of your Lord, the great. Could these verses along with the verse under discussion also be an allusion to the prayer ritual which is such a conspicuous feature of the Islamic faith? In the subsequent verses of this surah there occurs a mention of both the ritual prayer and an imperative to the Prophet to prostrate, along with a harsh rebuke and censure of an unnamed adversary who attempts to prevent the Prophet from prayer and who behaves tyrannically, both of which are contrary to sincere devotion to God. Several reports appear to suggest just such a connection between the revelation of Sūrat al-ʿAlaq and the Islamic prayer ritual. Some of these reports have been cited under Insights from Hadith.
The meaning for the initial section of this verse outlined above, which is that it means recite the name of your Lord, is admittedly a minority opinion, albeit a well-known one, and hence it has been subject to several criticisms. These have been dealt with in the following section along with a review of the more famous interpretation of the verse.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
The Sunni scholarly tradition contains a number of reports purporting to be the context of the revelation of verses 1-5. Abū Nuʿaym Iṣfahānī, the Shāfiʿī hadith scholar, records three different contexts for the revelation of verses 1-5 in his work, Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah. This he does in the section devoted to the reports about the onset of Quranic revelations to Prophet Muhammad (s). One context is the famous one where the revelation of verses 1-5 occurs at Ḥirāʾ. The second context is identified with the incident of the opening of the Prophet’s chest and the washing away of filth from it whilst he was an adult, and the third context is identified as the moment Gabriel taught the Prophet the ritual ablution and prayer.
From among these three contexts the first is the most attested and the most favoured account in the Sunni scholarly tradition as the context for the revelation of these verses. The second, as the context for the revelation of verses 1-5, is rarely attested in the sources. On the other hand, reports of the incident of the opening of the Prophet’s chest and the purification of his heart of filth but without any mention of such an experience being accompanied with the revelation of verses 1-5 do occur abundantly in the sources, but these are polarised between its occurrence during his infancy and its occurrence as a prelude to the Night Ascension. Nevertheless, its occurrence as the context for the revelation of verses 1-5 is rarely attested. As for the third context, it also appears sparsely attested in the sources as the context for the revelation of verses 1-5.
The Sunni Muslim scholarly tradition appears settled on the account of ʿĀʾishah as being the context for the revelation of verses 1-5, and lays great store by it. The account situates it at Ḥirāʾ; however, this account is also transmitted by two other individuals: ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr and ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Shaddād. Ṭabarī, the renowned ninth-century scholar, records all three principal variants in his historical work, Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk. The version by ʿĀʾishah is however greatly favoured by the Sunni scholarly tradition and preferred over the other two because she was the Prophet’s wife and companion, while the other two narrators belonged to the generation succeeding that of the companions. However, all three reports contain a basic kernel which they share with each other along with some differences between them.
ʿĀʾishah’s report, which she is attributed to have related to her maternal nephew ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, who in turn related it to Muhammad ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī, (subsequent to whom the transmitters differ as the report becomes more widely transmitted), is as follows: ‘The first form in which the revelation came to the Messenger of Allah was true visions; this used to come to him like the break of dawn. After that, he grew to love solitude and used to remain in a cave on Ḥirāʾ engaged in acts of devotion for a number of days before returning to his family. Then he would return to his family and supply himself with provisions for a similar number of days. This continued until the truth came to him unexpectedly, and said: “Muhammad, you are the Messenger of Allah.” [Describing what happened next,] the Messenger of Allah said: “I had been standing but fell to my knees and crawled away, my shoulders trembling. I went to Khadijah and said: ‘Wrap me up! Wrap me up!’ When the terror had left me, he came to me and said: ‘Muhammad, you are the Messenger of Allah.’” He [Muhammad] said: “I had been thinking of hurling myself down from a mountain crag, but he appeared to me as I was thinking about this and said: ‘Muhammad, I am Gabriel and you are the Messenger of Allah.’ Then he said: ‘Recite!’ I said: ‘What shall I recite?’ He took me and pressed me three times tightly until I was nearly stifled and was utterly exhausted; then he said: ‘Recite in the name of your Lord who created,’ and I recited it. Then I went to Khadijah and said: ‘I have been in fear for my life.’ When I told her what had happened, she said: ‘Rejoice, for Allah will never put you to shame, for you treat your kinsfolk well, tell the truth, deliver what is entrusted to you, endure fatigue, offer hospitality to the guest, and aid people in misfortune.’ Then she took me to Waraqah ibn Nawfal ibn Asad and said to him: ‘Listen to your brother’s son.’ He questioned me and I told him what had happened. He said: ‘This is the Nāmūs which was sent down to Moses son of ʿImrān. Would that I were a young man now and would that I could be alive when your people drive you out!’ I said: ‘Will they drive me out?’ ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘No man has ever brought the message which you have brought without being met with enmity. If I live to see that day, I shall come firmly to your aid.’”’
The version by ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr is as follows: ‘The Messenger of Allah would pray in seclusion at Ḥirāʾ every year for a month to practice seclusion [for worship] as was the custom of the Quraysh during the Age of Ignorance. Every year during that month the Messenger of Allah would pray in seclusion and give food to the poor that came to him. When he completed the month and returned from the seclusion the first thing he would do on leaving, even before going home, was to circle the Kaaba seven times, or however many times Allah willed; then he would go home. When the month came in which Allah willed to ennoble him, in the year in which Allah made him His Messenger, this being the month of Ramadan, the Messenger of Allah went out as usual to Ḥirāʾ accompanied by his family. When the night came in which Allah ennobled him by making him His Messenger and thereby showed mercy to His servants, Gabriel brought him the command of Allah. The Messenger of Allah said: “Gabriel came to me as I was sleeping with a brocade cloth in which was writing. He said: ‘Recite!’ and I said: ‘I cannot recite.’ He pressed me tight and almost stifled me until I thought I would die. Then he let me go, and said: ‘Recite!’ I said: ‘What shall I recite?’, only saying that in order to free myself from him, fearing that he might repeat what he had done to me. He said: ‘Recite in the name of your Lord who created; He created man from a clinging form. Recite, as your Lord is the most generous, who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know’ [96:1-5]. I recited it, and then he desisted and departed. I woke up, and it was as though these words had been written on my heart. There was none of Allah’s creation more hateful to me than a poet or a madman; I could not bear to look at either of them. I said to myself: ‘Your humble servant [meaning himself] is either a poet or a madman, but Quraysh shall never say this of me. I shall betake myself to a mountain crag, hurl myself down from it, kill myself, and find relief in that way.’
‘“I went out intending to do that, but when I was halfway up the mountain I heard a voice from heaven saying: ‘O Muhammad, you are the Messenger of Allah, and I am Gabriel.’ I raised my head to heaven and there was Gabriel in the form of a man with his feet set on the horizon, saying: ‘O Muhammad, you are the Messenger of Allah and I am Gabriel.’ I stood looking at him and this distracted me from what I had intended, and I could go neither forward nor back. I turned my face away from him to all points of the horizon, but wherever I looked I saw him in exactly the same form. I remained standing there, neither going forward nor turning back, until Khadijah sent her messengers to look for me. They went as far as Mecca and came back to her, while I was standing in the same place. At last Gabriel left me and I went back to my family. When I came to Khadijah, I sat down with my thigh next to hers, and she said to me: ‘Abū al-Qāsim, where have you been? I sent messengers to look for you all the way to Mecca and back.’ I said to her: ‘I am either a poet or a madman,’ but she answered: ‘May God save you from that, Abū al-Qāsim! Allah would not do that to you, considering what I know of your truthfulness, your great trustworthiness, your good character, and your good treatment of your kinsfolk. It is not that, cousin. Perhaps you did see something.’ ‘Yes,’ I said, and then told her what I had seen. ‘Rejoice, cousin, and stand firm,’ she said. ‘By Him in whose hand is Khadijah’s soul, I hope that you may be the prophet of this community.’ Then she rose up, gathered her garments around her, and went to Waraqah ibn Nawfal ibn Asad, who was her paternal cousin. He had become a Christian, read the scriptures, and learned from the people of the Torah and the Gospel. She told him what the Messenger of Allah had told her he had seen and heard. Waraqah said: ‘Holy, holy! By Him in whose hand is the soul of Waraqah, if what you say is true, Khadijah, there has come to him the greatest Nāmūs, he who came to Moses. That means that Muhammad is the prophet of this community. Tell him to stand firm.’” Khadijah went back to the Messenger of God and told him what Waraqah had said, and this relieved his anxiety somewhat. When he had completed his retreat he went back to Mecca and, as was his usual practice, went first to the Kaaba and circled it. Waraqah ibn Nawfal met him as he was doing this and said: “Son of my brother, tell me what you saw or heard.” The Messenger of Allah did so, and Waraqah said to him: “By Him in whose hand is my soul, you are the prophet of this community, and there has come to you the greatest Nāmūs, he who came to Moses. They will call you a liar, molest you, drive you out, and fight you. If I live to see that, I will come to Allah’s assistance in a way which He knows.” Then he brought his head close and kissed the top of his head. The Messenger of Allah went home with his resolve strengthened by what Waraqah had said and with some of his anxiety relieved.’
Finally, we have the account of ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Shaddād, which does not explicitly mention Ḥirāʾ but the account is so similar to the accounts of ʿĀʾishah and ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr that it could very well be grouped with them and the event may possibly be understood to have occurred at Ḥirāʾ. ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Shaddād relates: ‘Gabriel came to Muhammad and said: “O Muhammad, recite!” He said: “I cannot recite.” Gabriel was violent towards him and then said again: “O Muhammad, recite!” He said: “I cannot recite,” and Gabriel was again violent towards him. A third time he said: “O Muhammad, recite!” He said: “What shall I recite?” and he [the angel] said: “Recite in the name of your Lord who created; He created man from a clinging form. Recite, as your Lord is the most generous, who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know [96:1-5].” Then he [Muhammad] went to Khadijah and said: “Khadijah, I think I have gone mad.” “No, by Allah,” she said, “Your Lord would never do that to you. You have never committed a wicked act.” Khadijah went to Waraqah ibn Nawfal and told him what had happened. He said: “If what you say is true, your husband is a prophet. He will meet adversity from his people. If I live long enough, I shall believe in him.” After this Gabriel did not come to him for a while, and Khadijah said to him: “I think that your Lord must have come to hate you.” Then Allah revealed to him: By the forenoon, and by the night when it is still, your Lord has not forsaken you, nor does He hate you [93:1-3].’
If these accounts are carefully considered then the following observations come to light:
- There are differences and contradictions between these accounts which serve to raise doubts about their reliability.
- None of the three ultimate authorities of these accounts actually witnessed the event for themselves and yet they fail to name their informants. This decreases the degree of reliability of these accounts. These ultimate authorities are ʿĀʾishah, ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, and ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Shaddād who were all born years after the event and did not witness the event themselves. ʿĀʾishah’s birth is suggested to have occurred in either the fourth, fifth, or sixth year after biʿthah (although reports also exist which suggest that she may have been born a couple of years before biʿthah, however that would still preclude her from sensibly witnessing the event since she would be at best a toddler, in addition to which no report exists that claims she was actually present with the Prophet at the moment of the inception of the revelations), while ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Shaddād is not from the generation of the companions but from the generation following it. He was born during the Prophet’s lifetime but was too young to interact with him in a meaningful way. He was killed in Kufa in 81/82 ah. ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr was also born late during the Prophet’s lifetime, and like the latter is considered from the second generation of Muslims. He is said to have probably seen him. His father, ʿUmayr ibn Qatādah, is said to have been a companion of the Prophet; however, ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr only transmits from the generation of the companions and not from the Prophet, and hence he is counted among the generation that followed that of the companions, that is, he was from the second generation of Muslims. Although ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr is judged reliable in the Sunni scholarly tradition, Muhammad ibn Saʿd carries a couple of reports in his biography of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr which are significant. These say that ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr had a penchant for storytelling during his sermons and that he was the first person to use this art when sermonising, which he began during the reign of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb.
Thus none of the main authorities of the reports regarding what happened during the first revelation were alive or witnessed what happened, and yet none of them mention an eye-witness intermediary or any intermediary for that matter, who informed them of what happened. Instead, they seem to be as if narrating stories, since they narrate the anecdotes about the Prophet in the third person. This consequently renders their narratives as very probably being their own personal opinions, and raises more questions than answers.
Shia scholars are particularly wary of Muhammad ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī and ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, who are the principal transmitters of ʿĀʾishah’s report. Shia scholars disagree about al-Zuhrī’s reliability; however, those who are suspicious of him are so primarily due to his close affiliation with the Umayyad ruling dynasty. The Umayyads were generally bitter rivals of the Prophet and his extended clan of the Hashimites in pre-Islamic times, as well as during the Prophet’s prophetic mission, and thereafter too, as well as being rivals of the Alids. The observation has also been made of the strong presence, in the earlier part of the transmission chains of some of these reports, of narrators who had close relations with the Zubayrids. As noted earlier, there are three principal versions of the reports that describe the descent of verses 1-5 at Ḥirāʾ. Two of these have as their ultimate authorities, ʿĀʾishah and ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr. In these reports, Khadijah and Waraqah ibn Nawfal are always portrayed in a positive light; as always helping the Prophet dispel his confusion, and helping him verify the reality of his experiences. ʿĀʾishah relates her report to ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, as noted earlier. He was her maternal nephew, since his mother, Asmāʾ bint Abū Bakr, was ʿĀʾishah’s sister, while his father was the Prophet’s companion and cousin, Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwām, who instigated a catastrophic rebellion against Imam Ali (a) in 36 ah with the active support of ʿĀʾishah and Ṭalḥah during the Imam’s caliphate, an event which came to be known as the infamous Battle of the Camel. ʿUrwah was born during the reign of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. ʿAbd-Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, the counter-caliph in the Hijaz during the middle of the first century ah, was his older brother. During this point in Muslim history there was bitter political rivalry between the Zubayrids and the Umayyads, the former situated in the Hijaz and Iraq, and the latter situated in Damascus. Although ʿUrwah supported his brother during the latter’s rebellion against the Umayyads, he quickly sought close relations with the Umayyads after his brother’s defeat and death at their hands. Indeed, he did this immediately after his brother’s defeat and death and continued to cooperate with the Umayyads in their various scholarly projects thereafter, and hence was closely affiliated with them subsequent to the defeat of the Zubayrid counter-caliphate. The report by ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr is transmitted by Wahb ibn Kaysān, a client of the Zubayrids, and the narrative unfolds in the presence of a gathering headed by ʿAbd-Allāh ibn al-Zubayr. In addition, Ibn Isḥāq, the author of one of the earliest extant biographies of Prophet Muhammad (s), carries a report in his work which describes Khadijah’s efforts to help the Prophet verify the identity of his interlocutor, as to whether it was angelic or demonic when he was supposedly frightened, agitated, and bewildered with his experiences. This she did by means of various erotic postures which she undertook with the Prophet. Ibn Isḥāq narrates this report from Khadijah via Ismāʿīl ibn Abū Ḥakīm who was yet another client of the Zubayrids, although Ibn Isḥāq claims he had this report verified by an Alid, this being ʿAbd-Allāh ibn al-Hasan (ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abī Ṭālib) from his mother Fatimah, the daughter of al-Husayn ibn Ali, from Khadijah. However, it is not clear how Ismāʿīl ibn Abū Ḥakīm, who was Ibn Isḥāq’s contemporary and who does not mention his informants, obtained this information from Khadijah since he could hardly have met her, for Khadijah died before the Prophet’s migration to Medina, while Ismāʿīl ibn Abū Ḥakīm was a contemporary of Ibn Isḥāq and probably lived during the latter half of the first century ah and the first half of the second. It is equally unclear how Fatimah bint al-Husayn obtained this report from her great grandmother Khadijah, since the latter died long before the former was born, while the former does not mention her intervening informants. Now, the patriarch of the Zubayrids, namely Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwām (ibn Khuwaylid ibn Asad), belonged to the tribe of the Banī Asad, which was the same tribe to which Khadijah (bint Khuwaylid ibn Asad) and her paternal cousin Waraqah (ibn Nawfal ibn Asad), belonged. Thus it has been suggested that these reports could have had a Zubayrid influence behind them, stemming from their political rivalry with the Umayyads for the political leadership of the Muslims during the middle of the first century ah, their aim being to impress their tribe’s primary contribution to the Islamic faith during its weakest point, as a ruse to gain legitimacy. The verity of such a conclusion may be further bolstered when one observes that both Khadijah and Waraqah ibn Nawfal are described in these reports as sane, collected, cognisant, better informed, and more certain of the Prophet’s experiences and the identity of his interlocutor than him.
- Most importantly, there are shared elements between them, the most important and recurrent of these is that Prophet Muhammad was subjected to repeated violence by his interlocutor, that he became very frightened due to this experience, that he doubted himself and his experience, thinking that his mysterious interlocutor was a demon and that he could be bewitched or rendered insane, that he seriously contemplated suicide, either because of this experience or because of a lull in the revelations, and he contemplated such a deed as a consequence of his doubts about his experience. These elements only serve to augment scepticism regarding the origin of these accounts since they run contrary to the Quran, are contrary to the explanations of the Imams from the Prophet’s family regarding the office of prophethood, and they contradict the Prophet’s experiences of the divine prior to the onset of revelations, thereby rendering them suspect.
In these reports, the Prophet is repeatedly asked to recite/read and when he fails to do so he is subjected to recurrent violence and yet, with the exception of the report of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, he is never given anything to recite/read in the first place so that he may comply and save himself from an experience that these reports claim he found traumatic.
The reports then mention his fright, doubt, assumption of insanity or bewitchment with regards to himself, and serious contemplation of suicide. However, 12:108 argues contrary to that. It describes the Prophet as saying that his way or mode of conduct is that he calls to God and that he and those who follow him are on certain knowledge (baṣīrah) – one which is as clear as seeing with one’s eyes. Certainty of knowledge and evidence are important characteristics of prophets in the Quran, and hence in 6:57, 11:17, and 47:14 Prophet Muhammad (s) is described as having clear proof (bayyinah) from his Lord, while the same stands true for Prophet Noah (a) in 11:28, Prophet Ṣāliḥ (a) in 11:63, and Prophet Shuʿayb (a) in 11:88. Furthermore, 25:32 and 16:102 mention an important characteristic of divine revelation, which is that it helps settle, strengthen, and firmly establish the hearts, rendering them certain that it is guidance and a source of good news rather than a source of fright and terror. This suggests that the revelations contain an inherent quality of inspiring faith, certainty, and tranquillity in the recipient. Thus, Ṭabarsī writes in his commentary Majmaʿ al-Bayān that God the exalted does not inspire or send revelations to His messengers save by means of very clear and manifest proofs and signs (al-barāhīn al-nayyirah wa al-āyāt al-bayyinah), which prove to the recipient that what is being revealed to him is from God, the exalted. Consequently, the recipient does not need anything else save what comes from God, and he neither gets scared and nor does he flee in fright or doubt.
Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said to Muhammad ibn Hārūn: ‘The Messenger of Allah did not know that Gabriel was from Allah save by means of the success granted to him by Allah.’ Zurārah asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a): ‘How did the Messenger of Allah not fear with respect to what was coming to him from Allah in that it may be something by which Satan incites to evil?’ The Imam replied: ‘When Allah chooses [one of His] servants as a messenger, He bestows on him tranquillity and solemnity. Consequently, what comes to him from Allah, the exalted and majestic, is as [clear and evident as] what he sees with his very eyes.’ And Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) was asked: ‘How did the messengers know that they were messengers [of Allah]?’ He replied: ‘The veils were removed from them.’ And yet Ibn Isḥāq and other writers who lived subsequent to him narrate the embarrassing tale about an experiment conducted by Prophet Muhammad (s) and Khadijah at the latter’s behest, which is when Khadijah tries out various titillating and erotic postures with the Prophet when next he informed her of his visitant in order to verify whether the visitor was an angel or a demon.
Indeed, a perusal of Quranic verses relevant to God communicating with His chosen creatures from among human beings demonstrates that He does not frighten and terrorise them, but rather assuages any fright and alarm that they may experience. In the Quran there occurs the narrative of how the first communication between Prophet Moses (a) and God occurs. God begins by introducing Himself (20:12, 27:8-9, 28:30), then informs Prophet Moses (a) about his selection and asks him to pay heed (20:13), then provides him with evidences regarding his selection to prophecy (20:17-20, 20:22-23, 27:10, 27:12, 28:31-32); and when Moses gets frightened, he does so not due to God or his revelatory experience, but due to his staff transforming into a dangerous animal – a snake (20:21, 27:10, 28:31), whereupon God reassures him not to fear and goes on to explain why, which is that messengers do not fear near God (27:10, 28:31). The possibility of Prophet Moses (a) getting frightened was greater for he heard a voice from a burning bush in the desert during a dark night when he and his family were lost, which is when he was informed about his prophetic mission (20:10ff, 27:8-9, 28:29-30). And yet, the relevant Quranic narrative does not describe him as agitated or frightened or doubtful, save when his staff transformed into a snake. The Quranic narrative says that on hearing the divine voice Prophet Moses (a) becomes fully satisfied that it was from God and at once prayed to him that Aaron, his brother, be appointed as his companion and helper since he could speak more eloquently (20:25-35, 28:34); and yet it is claimed the chief of the prophets, Muhammad (s), remained in doubt for quite some time till Waraqah dispelled the doubt and indecision from his mind!
The same procedure occurs when an angel visits Mary. The angel introduces himself and conveys the purpose for the visit thereby assuaging any fear or trepidation (19:17-21). The same occurs when the angels visit Prophet Abraham (a) as human guests (15:24). They greet him with greetings of peace (15:25), inform him of the purpose of their visit, and assuage his fears (15:28).
This is while Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) is attributed to have explained that with respect to Prophet Muhammad (s), Gabriel had a special protocol which he followed when visiting him. He said: ‘When Gabriel would visit the Messenger of Allah he would ask his permission, and if he [the Prophet] was in a state where it was inappropriate for him to grant Gabriel permission, the latter would wait till the Messenger of Allah granted him permission, and he would [then] come into his presence.’ The same Imam is attributed to have said: ‘When Gabriel would come to the Prophet he would sit in front of him in the posture of a slave. And he would not enter into his presence till he had asked his permission.’
Furthermore, it is argued that the Quran contains many verses which state that the People of the Book knew of the advent and characteristics of the last prophet since they had been apprised of him. Some of the relevant verses are 3:81, 61:6, 2:146, 6:20, 7:157, and 2:89. This is while 48:29 says that even the characteristics of Prophet Muhammad’s (s) followers are mentioned in the scriptures of the People of the Book. With respect to 3:81, several prominent Quran commentators, such as, for example, Ṭabarī, Ṭūsī, Ṭabarsī, Rāzī, and Suyūṭī transmit an exegetical report attributed to Imam Ali (a). The report has Imam Ali (a) say: ‘Allah did not send forth a prophet from [the time of] Adam and thereafter, save that He took a covenant from him in favour of Muhammad, in that if he [i.e. the prophet in question] were alive when he [i.e. Muhammad] was sent forth, then he would surely believe in him [i.e. Muhammad] and aid him. Allah also instructed him to take a [similar] covenant from his community.’ Thereafter, the Imam recited 3:81. Muhammad ibn Isḥāq mentions similar sentiments when he begins to write the details relevant to the onset of Quranic revelations in his biography of the Prophet. Ṭabarsī relates the following report attributed to Imam Ali (a), Ibn Abbas, and Qatādah. The report says: ‘Allah surely took a covenant from the prophets before our Prophet [Muhammad (s)]; a covenant that they should inform their communities of his advent and of his characteristics, that they should give their communities glad tidings of him, and that they should instruct their communities to attest to him.’ Therefore, how could it be that the one informed about was ignorant of his mission while others knew of it such as some Jewish rabbis and Christian monks who recognised him?
Finally, well before the age of forty, the Prophet had already begun to have a connection with the divine realm, such as being paired with a great angel from childhood who guided and taught him at God’s behest, as well as hearing the voice of the angel, and seeing true dreams before the onset of revelations. Imam Ali (a) is attributed to have said: ‘The dreams of the prophets are revelations.’ Consequently, it has been explained that these experiences before the onset of revelations were in order to accustom the Prophet to what he would experience with the onset of revelations, since angelic experiences are not easy for a human being to bear.
But perhaps the most insightful portion of the Quran regarding what may have happened during the event of the first revelation is 53:1-12 and 81:23. The latter verse reads: Certainly, he [i.e. Prophet Muhammad (s)] saw him [Gabriel] on the manifest horizon. It is suggested that the manifest horizon (ufuq) is the same as the one referred to in 53:7. Incidentally, the word ufuq, meaning horizon, occurs twice in the Quran, once in 81:23 and the other in 53:7. 53:1-12 reads as follows: By the star when it sets. Your companion [i.e. the Prophet] does not err or go astray. Nor does he speak out of [his own] desire. [Rather] it is naught but revelation that is revealed [to him], [a revelation] which one of mighty powers taught him. Possessing great strength, he grew clear to view, while he was on the highest horizon (ufuq). Then he drew near and came [even] closer, till he was at a distance of but two bow lengths or even nearer. And He revealed to his servant what He revealed. The [i.e. the Prophet’s] heart did not belie what it saw. Will you then dispute with him concerning what he saw?
It is suggested that the Holy Prophet saw Gabriel on the manifest horizon. It is also said that these verses allude to the Prophet seeing Gabriel in his true form on the horizon where the sun rises, once at the beginning of his prophetic mission when Gabriel appeared on the highest horizon and covered the entire horizon such that he bedazzled the Prophet with the magnificence of his appearance, and another time during the Night Ascension, which is recounted in 53:13-18. Thus the verses 53:1-12 are understood to allude to his first vision of Gabriel, in his true image, at the beginning of his Prophetic career. Admittedly, other exegetes maintain that the witnessing mentioned in these verses refers to the Prophet witnessing God, not materially but an inner vision, a vision by the heart. As for those who maintain that this vision was that of Gabriel, there is some confusion as to when exactly this vision occurred. Was it on the occasion of the revelation of the first five verses of Sūrat al-ʿAlaq, which were the very first verses revealed to the Prophet, or was it a later vision, which precipitated the revelation of Sūrat al-Muddaththir (74) or its first few verses? However, it is not improbable that the vision mentioned here is that which took place on the occasion of the first revelation, that is, verses 1-5 of Sūrat al-ʿAlaq.
Hence, if 53:1-12 is a reference to the very first revelation then the verses refute what the historical reports convey of fright, doubt, and suicidal tendencies on the part of the Prophet; rather, these verses suggest a state of collected composure without a hint of fear or doubt where the sight remained steady and the heart did not belie. And in case these verses relate to a later revelatory experience or even an inner vision of God, it demonstrates that such experiences were not negative ones consisting of fright, doubt, and desperation, but rather those of steadfastness and composure.
Mudarrisi asks whether God was incapable of showing His chosen servant Muhammad (s) signs and indications as well as inspiring and helping him recognise the reality of revelation so that his chosen servant would not doubt. Or would He send as His messenger one who continued to doubt the message and its origin? How would that serve God’s purpose? And what would that say of the person chosen by God for His mission – a person who does not have conviction, but rather doubts and behaves like a deeply depressed and suicidal human being? A person who is chosen by God for prophecy is done so when he is ready in all respects since he is then supposed to impress the people with divine teachings. How can he succeed in that if his confidence and understanding of the divine is so poor, weak, and limited? Makārim Shīrāzī opines that these reports are most surely fabrications and Isrāʾīliyyāt reports, while Dr Uri Rubin observes that ‘there is not in the Quran any reference to a terrifying encounter with the angel which causes the Prophet a critical state of anxiety. The [story of] fear with which Muhammad reacts to his first prophetic experience seems to have its origin in biblical conventions of terror and fright with which prophets and other human beings react to the appearance of God, for example in Judges 6:22-23, 13:22 and Isaiah 6:5’. He concludes that ‘the basic tale of Muhammad’s first revelations, therefore, accords with biblical rather than Quranic conventions’. It is also interesting to note that what these reports mention of the Prophet such as his fear of having been bewitched or having become a poet through whom a demon spoke or having been rendered insane, are some of the same accusations that the Quran says were levelled against the Prophet by those who stubbornly refused to acknowledge his message.
The question therefore remains: what did happen?
The following is probably what happened during the event of the first revelation. Imam Ali (a), who had been taken into the Prophet’s care from his childhood, is attributed to relate as follows: ‘Certainly, you know my position of close kinship and special relationship with the Prophet of Allah. When I was only a child he took charge of me. He used to press me to his chest and lay me beside him in his bed, bringing his body close to mine and making me smell his fragrance. He used to chew something and then feed me with it. He found no lie in my speaking nor weakness in any act. From the time of his weaning, Allah had put a mighty angel with him to take him along the path of high character and good behaviour through the day and night, while I used to follow him like a young camel following in the footsteps of its mother. Every day he would show me clearly some of his high traits and commanded me to follow them, and every year he used to go in seclusion to Ḥirāʾ, where I saw him but no one else saw him. In those days Islam did not exist in any house except that of the Prophet of Allah and Khadijah, while I was the third of these two. I used to see the light of revelation and messengership and used to smell the fragrance of prophethood. When the revelation descended on the Prophet of Allah I heard the moan of Satan. I said: “O Prophet of Allah, what is this moan?” and he replied: “This is Satan who has lost all hope of being worshipped.”’
The Imams from the Prophet’s family have not related the kind of reports found in the Sunni scholarly tradition such as those cited earlier regarding what happened during the event of the first revelation, save for a report found in the partial Quran commentary ascribed to Imam al-ʿAskarī (a) who transmits a report which resembles a lot of what has been cited earlier from ʿĀʾishah, ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, and ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Shaddād. Imam al-ʿAskarī (a) transmits this report from his father, Imam al-Hādī (a), but what is significant is not only how much this report resembles that of the reports of ʿĀʾishah, ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, and ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Shaddād, but also how much it differs from them. The ascription of this commentary to Imam al-ʿAskarī (a) is subject to debate, however if the claim of the ascription of this report to him is upheld then this is what it says: ‘When the Messenger of Allah ceased his trade journeys to Shām and gave away in charity all that Allah the exalted had blessed him with from those commercial endeavours, he used to go to Ḥirāʾ every day. [There] he would look at the signs of Allah’s blessings and reflect deeply on the kingdoms of the heavens and the earth, and he would worship Allah as befits His worship till he completed forty years of his life. Allah found his noble heart the best, the most exalted, the most obedient, and the most fearful of hearts whereupon he permitted the gates of the heavens to open and they opened, and he permitted the angels to descend while Muhammad witnessed all that. Thus the mercy of God descended on him from beyond the throne and he saw the trustworthy spirit Gabriel encompassed by light. The latter descended to him and took hold of his upper arm and shook it, saying: “Muhammad, recite (iqraʾ)!” He replied: “What shall I recite (wa mā aqraʾu)?” The angel said: “Muhammad, iqraʾ bi-smi rabbika alladhī khalaqa, khalaqa al-insāna min ʿalaq, iqraʾ wa rabbuka al-akram, alladhī ʿallama bil-qalam, ʿallama al-insāna mā lam yaʿlam.” Then it revealed to him what it revealed and thereafter Gabriel ascended to his Lord while Muhammad descended from the mountain in a state whereby Allah’s greatness, magnificence, and splendour had overtaken him which caused a fever to take hold of him. [At that moment] he felt with great intensity what he feared of the belying reaction of the Quraysh and their attributing insanity to him while he was the most intelligent and noblest of Allah’s creation. This was while the most hateful thing to him was Satan and the deeds of the insane. Consequently, Allah desired to encourage his heart and to expand his chest, and therefore whenever he passed by a stone or a tree they would call out “peace be on you, Messenger of Allah!”’
This is while Qummī simply relates in his commentary from Imam al-Bāqir (a) in respect of Sūrat al-ʿAlaq that Gabriel came to the Prophet and said: ‘Muhammad, recite!’ When the Prophet asked him: ‘What do I recite (wa mā aqraʾu)?’ Gabriel responded by reciting the first five verses of Sūrat al-ʿAlaq coupled with a brief commentary.
This is what has been attributed to the Imams from the Prophet’s family regarding the context of the revelation of verses 1-5, and it appears that many Shia commentators accept the basic outline of this event shorn of the objectionable elements. This would mean that the version recorded by Ibn Saʿd and Balādhūrī would probably be the most acceptable, which is as follows: ‘The commencement of divine inspiration to the Messenger of Allah was in the form of true dreams in his sleep such that he never had a dream but it turned out to be true and as clear as the break of dawn. Then he became fond of seclusion and would go for seclusion to the cave of Ḥirāʾ where he used to worship God continuously for many nights before returning to his family to re-provision himself for the subsequent sojourn, till one day he received the guidance while he was in the cave of Ḥirāʾ.’
In case the reports from Shia sources do not inspire confidence like the reports in the Sunni scholarly sources, then the most one may conclude is that the exact details of the first revelation are ambiguous, but the details of doubt, fright, and attempted suicide are unacceptable according to the Quran. However, returning to the narration attributed to Imam al-Hādī (a), it is most possible that the part of the narrative above which says ‘Then it [the angel] revealed to him what it revealed and thereafter Gabriel ascended to his Lord while Muhammad descended from the mountain …’ which occurs subsequent to the revelation of verses 1-5 in the narrative, pertains to the revelation of Sūrat al-Fātiḥah and the instruction in favour of the ritual prayer, which the following report attributed to Qummī relates. Ṭabarsī describes Qummī as ‘one of our most respected hadith scholars’ and writes that he relates in his book: ‘When the Prophet was thirty-seven years of age, a person used to come to him in his dreams, addressing him as follows: “O Messenger of Allah!”, but he used to ignore this. After a long time had passed, and as he was among the hills tending the sheep of his uncle Abū Ṭālib, he saw and heard a person addressing him: “O Messenger of Allah!” He asked: “Who are you?” “I am Gabriel,” the person answered. “Allah has sent me to you so that He may take you for a messenger.” The Messenger of Allah told Khadijah of what happened. Khadijah had already been informed of the account of the Jew and Bahīrā, and what Muhammad’s mother, Āminah, had recounted. Thus, she answered: “O Muhammad, I do hope that it is true!” The Prophet used to hide all this until one day Gabriel came to him with heavenly water and said: “O Muhammad, rise and perform your ablutions for prayers!” Gabriel taught him the ablutions – washing the face and the two hands from the elbows down, rubbing the head and the two feet to the two heels. He also taught him prostration (sujūd) and bowing (rukūʿ). When the Prophet attained his fortieth year, Gabriel commanded him to perform the prayers and taught him their rites, except their prescribed timings. The Messenger of Allah used to pray two cycles of prayer every time he prayed.’ It is probably pertinent to note here that the above report, which is cited in Ṭabarsī’s biography of the Prophet and which forms part of his work devoted to the collective biographies of the Infallibles, Iʿlām al-Warāʾ bi-Aʿlām al-Hudā, contains only this report in the section where he writes about the beginning of Prophet Muhammad’s (s) prophetic mission. He does not quote any other report akin to those above, which very probably indicates that he believed the revelation of verses 1-5 occurred at age forty, accompanied with Gabriel’s instruction to the Prophet, at God’s behest, to perform the ritual prayers and their rites, except that the ritual prayer’s prescribed timings were not specified.
That the instruction in favour of the ritual prayer formed part of the conglomerate of important events at the inception of the Quranic revelations is repeatedly attested in the early Muslim sources. Thus, for example, the report in Ibn Isḥāq’s biography of the Prophet, which describes the teaching of the ritual ablution and prayer to the Prophet, is situated soon after the revelation of verses 1-5. Indeed, Ṭabarī, who narrates the same anecdote of the teaching of the ritual ablution and prayer as Ibn Isḥāq, transmitting it from the latter as he does, writes that ‘in light of what has been mentioned, the first thing that God prescribed of the rituals of Islam after the testimony in favour of monotheism and dissociation from images, idols, and setting up peers for God, was the ritual of prayer’. The report of Ibn Isḥāq is as follows: ‘A learned person told me that when prayer was laid on the Prophet, Gabriel came to him when he was on the heights of Mecca and dug a hole for him with his heel in the side of the valley from which a fountain gushed forth, and Gabriel performed the ritual ablution as the Prophet watched him. This was in order to show him how to purify himself before the prayer. Then the Prophet performed the ritual ablution as he had seen Gabriel perform it. Then Gabriel said a prayer and the Prophet prayed too. Then Gabriel left him and the Prophet went to Khadijah and performed the ritual prayer for her just as Gabriel had done for him, and she copied him. Then he prayed with her as Gabriel had prayed with him, and she said his prayer.’
Many early authors in addition to Ibn Isḥāq, Qummī, and Ṭabarī, mention the very early teaching of the ritual prayer to Prophet Muhammad (s) such as Balādhūrī, Yaʿqūbī, and Masʿūdi, and perhaps this early instruction of the ritual prayer, soon after the descent of verses 1-5, is the reason for the emergence of those reports which mention the revelation of verses 1-5 as being accompanied with the teaching of the ritual prayer and as being the historical context for their revelation, such as the account in Balādhūrī’s Anṣāb al-Ashrāf, the account in Samarqandī’s commentary Baḥr al-ʿUlūm, and the account in Abū Nuʿaym Iṣfahānī’s Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah. The version of Balādhūrī reads: ‘Gabriel taught the Messenger of Allah the ritual ablution, the ritual prayer, and iqraʾ bi-smi rabbika alladhī khalaqa. He returned to Khadijah, his wife, and informed her of what Allah had honoured him with. He then taught her the ritual ablution and she said the ritual prayer with him. Thus she was the first of those whom Allah had created to pray with him.’ This is similar to what early Shia scholars have recorded regarding the context of verses 1-5, contenting themselves with the mention of the descent of verses 1-5 followed by the instruction in favour of the ritual prayer. This may also help us understand the relationship between these verses, the prayer ritual, and the revelation of Sūrat al-Fātiḥah, which is considered to be one of the earliest surahs to be revealed to the Prophet, and indeed competes in the relevant literature with Sūrat al-ʿAlaq as the foremost surah to be revealed, such that it has caused a bewildering confusion regarding whether it or Sūrat al-ʿAlaq is the foremost surah to be revealed. In addition, Sūrat al-Fātiḥah has a singularly important place in the ritual prayer since the ritual prayer is not valid without it.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
The interpretation of the initial part of this verse outlined earlier has been criticised. It has been argued that if the intent was to ask the Prophet to remember and recall the name of his Lord then it would have been more suitable to reveal the verse as: Recall (udhkur) the name of your Lord, rather than Recite in the name of your Lord, and so therefore the verse cannot be understood to mean as interpreted earlier. However, a possible rejoinder to that may be that the remembrance of God may be done silently and within one’s heart without even moving one’s lips, just as it can be done silently by moving one’s lips in quiet pronunciation and utterance, and it can be done vocally and out loud as well. Thus when the remembrance of God is done out loud or by quietly uttering and pronouncing specific formulas or words then is that anything other than a recital? In addition to which, the imperative, as suggested earlier, may also be in favour of reciting out, mentioning, and proclaiming the name of God to others in the spirit of preaching monotheism.
Rāzī enumerates additional criticisms of this interpretation. He writes that firstly, the Prophet’s reaction and response on being instructed to read/recite, was mā aqraʾu or mā anā bi-qāriʾin meaning ‘I do not read/recite!’ Such a response, in light of the interpretation favoured here, would not behove a Prophet since it would mean that the Prophet said: ‘I do not mention and remember the name of God!’ But as it has been argued extensively in Insights from Hadith, the reports cited as the background context to the revelation of verses 1-5 do not engender conviction that such an incident took place or that it took place as described. But assuming that these reports are reliable, these contain different versions of the Prophet’s response. Some of them describe the Prophet saying mā aqraʾu (which can be translated as ‘what do I read/recite?’, just as it can be translated as ‘I do not read/recite’), others describe the Prophet saying mā anā bi-qāriʾin (‘I am not one who reads/recites’) and others describe the Prophet saying mā dhā aqraʾu (‘what do I read/recite?’). Therefore, just as it may be possible to understand the sentence mā aqraʾu in the negative to mean ‘I do not recite/read’ it may also be possible to understand it interrogatively, as in ‘what do I recite/read?’, which dovetails with the third alternative response reported of the Prophet, which was mā dhā aqraʾu (‘what do I recite/read?’). Furthermore, such narrations, which attempt to explain the background context of verses 1-5, have not been transmitted by the Imams from the Prophet’s family save for two reports, one of which is found in the partial commentary of the Quran attributed to Imam al-ʿAskarī (a), but which attribution is not without doubt and ambiguity, and a second report is attributed to Imam al-Bāqir (a) and found in Tafsīr al-Qummī. Both of them have the Prophet respond with wa mā aqraʾu (‘and what shall I recite?’). Therefore, if the Prophet was instructed to recite, his response of ‘what do I recite?’ would not be inappropriate or out of place at all. Consequently, this objection loses credibility.
Rāzī then presents another objection which is that the Prophet was already engaged in the continuous remembrance of God, thus such an imperative does not behove a Prophet. In addition to which, what can such an imperative mean when the Prophet was already engaged in this practice? This objection on his part is perplexing, for there are scores of imperatives made to the Prophet of a similar nature, recorded in the Quran, some of which have already been mentioned in the context of the evidence provided for the preferred interpretation of this verse, such as God’s imperative to the Prophet to glorify God, to remember and recall God, and to render himself sincerely to God, as in 56:74, 56:96, 69:52, 73:8, 76:25-26, 87:1, and 87:15. Furthermore, scores of similar, additional examples may be found in the Quran. Would that mean that the Prophet was remiss in these acts? Could it not mean that the Prophet was being further encouraged to increase his engagement with these devotions and acts? It is also possible that these imperatives be understood in light of the well-known interpretive dictum attributed to Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) which teaches that an address may be made to the Prophet but in reality the message is for the people. The Imam is reported to have said: ‘Surely, God sent forth His Prophet, [that is, His messages and teachings,] on the principle “you do I intend [by my address] but listen O ye neighbour”.’ Thus Qummī, for example, interprets 28:86 and 28:88 in light of the above dictum. Both verses apparently contain harsh rebukes to the Prophet not to back the disbelievers and not to call on any other god with God. Qummī writes that these addresses are made to the Prophet but the message is for the people. Nonetheless, the imperative in this verse may be both in favour of remembering and reciting the name of the Lord, as well as mentioning, reciting out, and proclaiming the name of God to others in the sense of teaching monotheism.
An interpretation of this verse that is more well-known and appears to be the preferred interpretation of many exegetes across the centuries and across the sectarian divide, is one that argues in favour of considering the transitive imperative verb iqraʾ (recite!/read!) as an intransitive verb, which is a verb that does not take a direct grammatical object. Hence, the grammatical object of the imperative iqraʾ (recite!) in this verse is argued to be elided and therefore implicit, it being ‘that which is revealed to you, O Muhammad, of the revelations via the agency of Gabriel’. This would mean, as Rāzī writes, that the intent of the imperative in this verse is to recite the Quranic revelations – Recite [the Quran,] in the name of your Lord who created. He argues that this verb and derivatives of its root letters have been used for the Quran in the Quran, such as, for example, in 75:18 and 17:106. Since this interpretation suggests considering the imperative iqraʾ (recite!) contrary to its grammatical identity, it needs an explanation. Ibn Āshūr supplies an explanation in his commentary, al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr; he writes: ‘The grammatical object of the imperative verb iqraʾ has not been given either because the verb was revealed as an intransitive verb [that is, meant to function as an intransitive verb], or that the thing to be recited would manifest there, and so the intent would be: Recite what We shall present you with of the Quran.’
Those who favour this interpretation for the imperative verb iqraʾ (recite!) in this verse, consequently understand the succeeding phrase in the name of your Lord as denoting the state (ḥāl) which the reciter has to obtain for him or herself when actualising the imperative iqraʾ (recite!), where the particle bi in bi-smi rabbika is attributed to have several meanings: 1. The bāʾ of accompaniment, which would render the verse’s meaning to be: Recite the Quranic revelations accompanied with the name of your Lord. 2. The bāʾ of initiation, which would render the verse’s meaning to be: Recite the Quranic revelations whilst beginning with the name of your Lord. 3. The bāʾ of instrumentality, i.e. the instrument or the means by whose help an action is performed, which would render the verse’s meaning to be: Recite the Quranic revelations whilst seeking the help of the name of your Lord. ‘This is as if,’ writes Rāzī, ‘God has made his name a means with which to endeavour in matters of life and faith, which is similar to the help and support one takes of a pen to write a document, as one says: katabtu bil-qalam (I wrote with the help of the pen).’ However, this last identification of the meaning of the particle bi has been criticised. It has been argued that the Quran encourages seeking the help of God and not of His name, such as is clear from 1:5, 7:128, 12:18, and 21:112. Therefore, discounting the third interpretation, it may be said that the first two interpretations of the particle bi are in effect an imperative to recite the Quran accompanied with or beginning with the formula bi-sm allāh or bi-sm allāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm. Equating the phrase bi-smi rabbika alladhī khalaqa (with or beginning with the name of your Lord who created) with bi-sm allāh (with or beginning with the name of Allah) is a notion that is not farfetched, since the Quranic rabb is amply equated with Allah in the Quran, while many verses describe the Quranic rabb as creator, and the following verses in particular equate rabb with Allah as being the creator: 6:102, 7:54, and 10:3. Consequently, the rabb mentioned in the verse under discussion is a reference to Allah, which means the phrase bi-smi rabbika alladhī khalaqa can be synonymous to bi-sm allāh. This particular interpretation for the verse as a whole has led some scholars to consider this to be evidence that the formula bi-sm allāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm is an integral part of every surah of the Quran, while Rāzī adduces from this that it means that it is obligatory to recite the basmalah formula before every surah since God has revealed thus and commanded in its favour, which refutes those who hold contrary to this opinion. Of course, the basmalah formula is a part of every surah except Sūrat al-Tawbah (9) as vouchsafed by many reports. Finally, it has also been suggested that the particle bi occurs in the meaning of: to devote an act to God, such as when as one says banaytu hādhihi al-dār bi-smi al-amīr (I built this house in the name of or devoting it to the prince) or ṣanaʿtu hādhā al-kitāb bi-smi al-wazīr wa li-ajlihi (I wrote this book in the name of or devoting it to the minister and for him). Thus, when something is devoted to God it is impossible for Satan to have any stake or share in it. In light of the latter, the verse under discussion would be understood to mean: Recite the Quranic revelations in the name of Allah, sincerely devoting it to Him. All the three accepted explanations of the particle bi (from the four mentioned above) may be taken to apply here in a consummate manner, and therefore, in light of this particular interpretation, this verse would be an imperative in favour of reciting the Quran to the people as it was revealed, thereby heralding the onset of Prophet Muhammad’s (s) mission.
Two additional issues are worthy of a brief mention here: 1. Many exegetes and translators of the Quran have understood the imperative iqraʾ to mean ‘read’, rather than ‘recite’, and have consequently rendered this imperative in their works likewise. 2. Some of them have understood the imperative at several levels, one of which is that the imperative is an exhortation to read in general as a means of acquiring knowledge, lauding thereby the Muslim faith for underscoring the significance of education and knowledge in its very first revealed message.
With respect to the first issue at hand, which renders the imperative iqraʾ as meaning ‘read’ rather than ‘recite’, this would make little sense with regards to the interpretation of this verse as favoured in this study. This is because the favoured interpretation of the verse asks the Prophet to remember and glorify God by reciting His name (and reciting it out to others). This would involve no reading whatsoever, but would rather involve a pious act of reflective, considered, and engaged recital of the name of God and bringing Him to mind, and reminding others of Him. As for the more famous interpretation of this verse which is understood to ask the Prophet to recite the Quranic revelations beginning with the name of God, the Quranic revelations including verses 1-5 of this surah are not known to have been in a written form such that they could be read. Admittedly, there is a report in an early source which describes the Prophet being presented with something written at the moment of the revelation of verses 1-5, which he was expected to read. This is the report of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, and this report has been discussed with regards to its reliability under Insights from Hadith and the reader may refer to it, but suffice it to say that the report does not prove convincing in terms of its reliability. Furthermore, Quranic verses describe the revelations to Prophet Muhammad (s) as being of a non-material nature such as 26:192-199 and 2:97. These state that the Quranic revelations brought to the Prophet by the trustworthy spirit were brought by the latter to the former’s heart. 6:7 and 17:93 emphatically deny any kind of written revelation to Prophet Muhammad (s), while the over 300 repeated occurrences of the imperative qul (say), which introduce so many Quranic verses, emphasise the oral and recitative nature of the revelations rather than written. Apart from angelic revelation where the relevant reports mention the Prophet seeing the angel and hearing its voice and hearing it speak, especially when the angel manifested in the form of a human being, the reports do not mention him receiving anything written. The Prophet experienced other modes of revelation too, apart from the angelic, such as a revelatory mode consisting of dreams, a revelatory mode that involved a ringing sound which would exhaust him, a revelatory mode where information was scratched in his heart and drummed in his ear, as well as a revelatory mode where there was no intermediary between him and God which is when he would experience swooning. In all these cases he would comprehend the revelatory message in his heart without any writing given to him. Therefore, rendering the imperative iqraʾ as ‘read’ rather than ‘recite’ lacks convincing evidence. However, there is one consideration that could probably be argued in favour of rendering the imperative iqraʾ in verses 1 and 3 as ‘read’, and that is when these two verses are juxtaposed with verse 4 which hints at writing and mentions the ‘pen’. It is probably such a consideration that led some to understand the imperative as an exhortation to read in general as a means of acquiring knowledge, in addition to the argument that when a transitive verb occurs intransitively it means that the verb denotes generality, although applying this rule here has its detractors, and as demonstrated above, interpreting iqraʾ as ‘read’ is unconvincing, since there was nothing available for the Prophet to read at that point in time for the imperative ‘read’ to make sense. This is unless the imperative is interpreted ahistorically and an appeal is made to the fact that iqraʾ can mean ‘read’ as it can mean ‘recite’.
[1] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 745.
[2] Lane, 2/2502; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 745; Tahqiq, 9/219.
[3] Cited in Tahqiq, 9/219.
[4] Ibn Ashur, 30/384.
[5] Cited in Tahqiq, 9/219.
[6] Lane, 2/2502.
[7] Tahqiq, 9/219; Lane, 2/2502.
[8] Tahqiq, 9/219.
[9] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, pp. 746-747
[10] Tahqiq, 9/218-219; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 746.
[11] Iʿrāb al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, 3/457; Shawkani, 5/570-571; Gunabadi, 4/266; Karbāsī, Iʿrāb al-Qurʾān, 8/665.
[12] Taqrīb al-Qurʾān ilā al-Adhhān, 5/704; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 72.
[13] Zamakhshari, 4/775; Shawkani, 5/570-571; Tabrisi.J, 4/512; Anwār al-Tanzīl wa Asrār al-Taʾwīl, 5/325; Kitāb al-Tashīl li-ʿUlūm al-Tanzīl, 2/496; Daqaiq, 14/346; Zubdah, 7/470; Mizan, 20/323.
[14] Shawkani, 5/570-571; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 72; Gunabadi, 4/266; Anwār al-Tanzīl wa Asrār al-Taʾwīl, 5/325; Daqaiq, 14/346; Zubdah, 7/470; Razi, 32/215; Karbāsī, Iʿrāb al-Qurʾān, 8/666.
[15] Uri Rubin, ‘Iqra’ bi-smi rabbika…: Some Notes on the Interpretation of Surat al-‘Alaq (VS 1-5)’, in Israel Oriental Studies 13 (1993), p. 214.
[16] Uri Rubin, ‘Iqra’ bi-smi rabbika…: Some Notes on the Interpretation of Surat al-‘Alaq (VS 1-5)’, in Israel Oriental Studies 13 (1993), p. 214.
[17] Iʿrāb al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, 3/457.
[18] Shawkani, 5/570-571.
[19] Shawkani, 5/570-571; Gunabadi, 4/266.
[20] Of course, a study of the Quran commentary literature will certainly manifest divergent interpretations for this particle in these verses, which means the identification championed here would be one of several alternative interpretations.
[21] However, it appears that in his subsequent shorter work titled Tafsīr Jawāmiʿ al-Jāmiʿ, which he wrote after having completed his first, voluminous commentary Majmaʿ al-Bayān and in writing which he took into account, with much appreciation, the recently published commentary by Jār-Allāh Zamakhsharī titled al-Kashshāf (see Qur’ānic Hermeneutics: Al-Ṭabrisī and the Craft of Commentary, pp. 32 and 39), he espoused a different understanding, which was the more well-known interpretation discussed under Review of Commentaries (see Tabrisi.J, 4/512).
[22] Tibyan, 10/379; Tabrisi, 10/780.
[23] Tibyan, 10/379; Tabrisi, 10/780.
[24] http://ahlulbait.gigfa.com/books/html/book/new/mostalahat-1.htm; Lane, p. 1435.
[25] http://ahlulbait.gigfa.com/books/html/book/new/mostalahat-1.htm; Lane, p. 1433.
[26] http://ahlulbait.gigfa.com/books/html/book/new/mostalahat-1.htm.
[27] Lane, p. 1433.
[28] Lane, pp. 1002-1003; Amthal, 20/319; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 342.
[29] Lane, pp. 1002-1003.
[30] Amthal, 20/319; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 342.
[31] Lane, pp. 1002-1003.
[32] Lane, pp. 1002-1003.
[33] Lane, pp. 1002-1003.
[34] Amthal, 20/319.
[35] Lane, pp. 1002-1003; Amthal, 20/319.
[36] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 342.
[37] Jafar al-Subhani, Al-Asmāʾ al-Thalāthah: al-Ilāh wa al-Rabb wa alʿIbādah (Qum: Mu’assasah al-Imam al-Sadiq, 1418 ah), pp. 16-17.
[38] Tabrisi.J, 1/7.
[39] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 282.
[40] Tibyan, 10/379; Tabrisi, 10/780.
[41] Tibyan, 10/379; Tabrisi, 10/780.
[42] Uri Rubin, ‘Iqra’ bi-smi rabbika…: Some Notes on the Interpretation of Surat al-‘Alaq (VS 1-5)’, in Israel Oriental Studies 13 (1993), 218.
[43] Lane, 2/2502; Tahqiq, 9/219.
[44] Amthal, 20/319.
[45] Amthal, 20/319.
[46] Tibyan, 10/379; Iʿrāb al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, 3/457.
[47] Tibyan, 10/379; Razi, 32/216; Irshād al-Adhhān, 1/603.
[48] Irshād al-Adhhān, 1/603.
[49] Razi, 32/216; Amthal, 20/319.
[50] Mizan, 20/323; Amthal, 20/319; henotheism is the belief in a high god who, in the pre-Islamic Arabian context, was known as ‘Allah’. However, he was worshipped with other lesser gods considered as intercessors, while other Arabs believed in the angels and jinn as daughters of ‘Allah’ thus associating these beings with ‘Allah’. Some Quranic verses which substantiate the idea that henotheism was practiced by the pre-Islamic Arabs are: 6:136 and 29:61-5. Further Quranic verses which may serve as proof of the presence of the idea in Mecca of a high god called ‘Allah’ are as follows: 1. Verses wherein the Meccan unbelievers are described as admitting ‘Allah’ to be the creator of the heavens and the earth: 29:61-65, 39:38-39, 31:25, 43:86-87, 23:84-89, 43:9. 2. Verses which complain that some people set up peers or rivals for Allah: 2:165, 2:22, 6:136. 3. Verses that speak of the Arabs setting up partners with Allah and describing them as intercessors with Allah: 10:18, 39:3, 30:12. 4. 30:33 and 39:8 describe the attitudes of some people at that time who did believe in Allah and prayed and appealed to Allah sincerely in times of distress but on being saved or on the removal of distress would fall back on their old practice of associating partners with Allah. 5. Other verses which allude to a belief in henotheism may be 112:4, 16:35, and 35:40. 6. 16:38 is a verse which is taken to imply a belief in or at least a recognition or acknowledgment of ‘Allah’.
[51] Mizan, 20/323; Razi, 32/216.
[52] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 282.
[53] Tibyan, 10/379; Zamakhshari, 4/775; Razi, 32/217.
[54] Kashif, 7/587; Ibn Ashur, 30/386.
[55] Tibyan, 10/379; Zamakhshari, 4/775; Razi, 32/217; Kashif, 7/587.
[56] These reports can be found, for example, in Ibn Isḥāq’s early biography of Prophet Muhammad (s) (The Life of Muhammad: a Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 112), in Balādhūrī’s work Anṣāb al-Ashrāf (1/111), Samarqandi 3/597, in Ṭabarī’s historical work, Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk (2/307), in Abū Nuʿaym Iṣfahānī’s work Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah (1/218-219), and in Ṭabarsī’s biography of Prophet Muhammad (s) titled Iʿlām al-Warāʾ bi-Aʿlām al-Hudā (1/102).
[57] Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah, 1/213-222.
[58] Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah, pp. 213-215.
[59] Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah, pp. 215-216.
[60] Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah, pp. 218-219.
[61] The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muḥammad, pp. 13-17; Bukhari, 1/3 and 3/173 cited in Mafahim, 3/330; https://sunnah.com/urn/182930; https://sunnah.com/muslim/1/310; Tabari, 30/161; Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, 3/297-298; al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā, 1/153; Anṣāb al-Ashrāf, 1/105, report number 191.
[62] The Life of Muhammad: a Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, pp. 71-72; The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muḥammad, p. 7; al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā, 1/90, 119-120; The Works of Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-Yaʿqūbī, 3/603; Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, 2/158-165; https://sunnah.com/muslim/1/320; Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah, 13/15; Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah, 1/219-222.
[63] Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, 2/307-308; https://sunnah.com/bukhari/25/119; https://sunnah.com/bukhari/8/1; https://sunnah.com/bukhari/60/17; https://sunnah.com/muslim/1/319; https://sunnah.com/muslim/1/323.
[64] Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, 2/305; Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah, 1/215-216; Suyuti, 4/369.
[65] Samarqandi, 3/597; Anṣāb al-Ashrāf, 1/111.
[66] Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, 2/297-302.
[67] Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, 3/297.
[68] Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, 2/300-302.
[69] Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, 2/299.
[70] The Role of Holy Imams (a.s.) in the Revival of Religion, p. 267.
[71] Usd al-Ghābah, 7/179, cited in The Role of Holy Imams (a.s.) in the Revival of Religion, p. 267.
[72] The Case for an Older Age of ʿĀisha in Traditionalist Sunni Scholarship, pp. 1-31.
[73] Usd al-Ghābah, 4/183, cited in Mafahim, 7/104.
[74] Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, 1/422, cited in The Role of Holy Imams (a.s.) in the Revival of Religion, pp. 267-268.
[75] Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, 1/544, cited in The Role of Holy Imams (a.s.) in the Revival of Religion, p. 268; Usd al-Ghābah, 3/353, cited in Mafahim, 7/104.
[76] Usd al-Ghābah, 3/353, cited in Mafahim, 3/329.
[77] Al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā, 6/16, entry number 1531: http://shamela.ws/browse.php/book-1686/page-1931#page-1931.
[78] Shiʿa Rijāli Views of Muḥammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihāb al-Zuhri, pp. 7-14.
[79] M. Lecker, ‘al-Zuhri’, in Encyclopaedia of Islam.
[80] G. Schoeler, ‘Urwa b. al-Zubayr’ in Encyclopaedia of Islam.
[81] G. Schoeler, ‘Urwa b. al-Zubayr’ in Encyclopaedia of Islam.
[82] Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, 2/19, cited in The Role of Holy Imams (a.s.) in the Revival of Religion, p. 268.
[83] G. Schoeler, ‘Urwa b. al-Zubayr’ in Encyclopaedia of Islam.
[84] G. Schoeler, ‘Urwa b. al-Zubayr’ in Encyclopaedia of Islam.
[85] G. Schoeler, ‘Urwa b. al-Zubayr’ in Encyclopaedia of Islam.
[86] G. Schoeler, ‘Urwa b. al-Zubayr’ in Encyclopaedia of Islam.
[87] Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, 2/300-302.
[88] The Life of Muhammad: a Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 107.
[89] The Life of Muhammad: a Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 107.
[90] Sīrah Sayyid al-Anbiyāʾ wa al-Mursalīn Muḥammad: Jāmiʿ al-Maḥāmidi Kullihā, pp. 319-320; al-Ṣaḥīḥ min Sīrat al-Nabī al-Aʿẓam, 2/313.
[91] Tabrisi, 10/579-580.
[92] Ayyashi, 2/202.
[93] Ayyashi, 2/202; Bihar, 18/262.
[94] Bihar, 11/56.
[95] The Life of Muhammad: a Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 107.
[96] Bihar, 18/263.
[97] Ilal, p. 14, cited in Bihar, 18/256.
[98] Tibyan, 2/513.
[99] Suyuti, 2/47, transmitting from Ṭabarī; Razi, 8/123, cited in Amthal, 2/575; Mizan, 3/337.
[100] The Life of Muhammad: a Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, pp. 104-105.
[101] Tabrisi, 2/784.
[102] Nahj, sermon 192; Ibn Abi al-Hadid, 13/207, cited in Gharavī, Mawsūʿat al-Taʾrīkh al-Islāmī, 1/259-260; Baṣāʾir al-Darajāt, p. 378, h. 1, p. 383, h. 19, and p. 379, h. 19.
[103] Ibn Abi al-Hadid, 13/207, cited in Gharavī, Mawsūʿat al-Taʾrīkh al-Islāmī, 1/259-260.
[104] The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muḥammad, p. 13; Kafi, 3/176; a similar report is transmitted in Bihar, 18/270, citing Baṣāʾir al-Darajāt, p. 109, by Zurārah from Imam al-Bāqir (a); Iʿlām al-Warāʾ bi-Aʿlām al-Hudā, 1/102.
[105] Bihar, 11/64.
[106] Al-Sīrah al-Ḥalabiyyah, 1/397-400, cited in al-Qurʾān fī Madrasat Ahl al-Bayt, p. 33.
[107] Tibyan, 10/287.
[108] Amthal, 19/465.
[109] Amthal, 19/465. For those who incline to the idea that this vision pertains to that of God in light of 53:1-12, this would be sensible only if verses 53:1-12 are interpreted to refer to the ascent part of the event of the Prophet’s Night Ascension, while 53:13-18 would refer to the descent part of it.
[110] Mudarrisi, 18/218-219.
[111] Amthal, 20/318-319.
[112] The Eye of the Beholder: The Life of Muhammad as Viewed by the Early Muslims, a Textual Analysis, p. 109.
[113] The History of al-Ṭabari, 6/83; Arastu, Beacons of Light: Muhammad the Prophet and Fatima the Radiant, pp. 59-60.
[114] Nahj, sermon 192.
[115] The Quran Commentary Ascribed to Imam Hasan al-Askari, pp. 358-379.
[116] Tafsīr al-Imām al-Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī, pp. 156-157; Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, 1/40-44; Bihar, 18/206.
[117] Qummi, 2/430.
[118] Al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā, 1/153; Anṣāb al-Ashrāf, 1/105, report number 191.
[119] Iʿlām al-Warāʾ bi-Aʿlām al-Hudā, 1/102.
[120] This report has been subjected to criticism. The earliest texts in which it appears are Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib by Ibn Shahrāshūb, Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ by al-Rāwandī, and Iʿlām al-Warāʾ bi-Aʿlām al-Hudā by Ṭabarsī. Majlisī has reported this report in his Biḥār al-Anwār from the first two works. However, in none of these works has information been supplied as to the sources or authorities of Qummī for this report, for he surely obtained it from somewhere since his scholarly oeuvre demonstrates that he was a versatile scholar and a hadith scholar. Consequently, this report raises questions regarding its reliability and utility, however the reason it is utilised is because its contents generally agree with other reports regarding the biʿthah and the initiation of the ritual prayer. This inspires confidence in it, in addition to which Qummī was a reliable scholar.
[121] The Life of Muhammad: a Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 112.
[122] Taʾrīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk, 2/307.
[123] The Life of Muhammad: a Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 112.
[124] Anṣāb al-Ashrāf, 1/111.
[125] The Works of Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-Yaʿqūbī, 3/616-617.
[126] Ithbāt al-Waṣiyyah, p. 116; Murūj al-Dhahab, 2/276.
[127] Samarqandi, 3/597.
[128] Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah, 1/218-219.
[129] Anṣāb al-Ashrāf, 1/111.
[130] The Works of Ibn Wāḍiḥ al-Yaʿqūbī, 3/616; Murūj al-Dhahab, 2/275-276; Ithbāt al-Waṣiyyah, pp. 115-116; Iʿlām al-Warāʾ bi-Aʿlām al-Hudā, 1/102.
[131] Mustadrak.W, 4/158; Wasail, 6/88-89, h. 5 and h. 2.
[132] Amthal, 10/319.
[133] This is a reference to the various versions of the favoured reports regarding the context of the revelation of verses 1-5, which locate its context at Ḥirāʾ. These are the reports by ʿĀʾishah, ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, and ʿAbd-Allāh ibn Shaddād (see Insights from Hadith).
[134] Razi, 32/215.
[135] The Qur’an: A User’s Guide, p. 39.
[136] Tafsīr al-Imām al-Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī, pp. 156-157; Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, 1/40-44; Bihar, 18/206.
[137] Qummi, 2/430.
[138] Razi, 32/215.
[139] Qummi, cited in Mizan, under the commentary of 28:85-87 within the section of the discussion of the narrations.
[140] Qummi, cited in Mizan, under the commentary of 28:85-87 within the section of the discussion of the narrations.
[141] Fadlallah, 24/335-336; Shawkani, 5/570; al-Tafsīr al-Qurʾānī lil-Qurʾān, 14/1623; Mizan, 20/323.
[142] Razi, 32/215; Fadlallah, 24/335-336; Shawkani, 5/570; al-Tafsīr al-Qurʾānī lil-Qurʾān, 14/1623; Amthal, 20/319; Mizan, 20/323.
[143] Razi, 32/215.
[144] Ibn Ashur, 30/385.
[145] Zamakhshari, 4/775; Shawkani, 5/570-571; Tabrisi.J, 4/512; Razi, 32/216.
[146] Taqrīb al-Qurʾān ilā al-Adhhān, 5/704; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 72.
[147] Zamakhshari, 4/775; Shawkani, 5/570-571; Tabrisi.J, 4/512; Anwār al-Tanzīl wa Asrār al-Taʾwīl, 5/325; Kitāb al-Tashīl li-ʿUlūm al-Tanzīl, 2/496; Daqaiq, 14/346; Zubdah, 7/470; Mizan, 20/323.
[148] Shawkani, 5/570-571; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 72; Gunabadi, 4/266; Anwār al-Tanzīl wa Asrār al-Taʾwīl, 5/325; Daqaiq, 14/346; Zubdah, 7/470; Razi, 32/215; Karbāsī, Iʿrāb al-Qurʾān, 8/666.
[149] Razi, 32/216.
[150] Zamakhshari, 4/775; Amthal, 20/319. This would be akin to the following verses which teach the lesson of starting various things with the name of God: 11:36-42 (Prophet Noah (a) being taught to embark on the ark with the name of God), 27:28-31 (Prophet Solomon’s (a) letter is described as being prefaced with the name of God), 5:4 and 6:118 (to eat food by mentioning God’s name over it), 6:121 (not to eat what does not have God’s name mentioned over it), 22:36 (to mention God’s name over the sacrificial camels before slaughtering them).
[151] Such as the following verses which equate the term rabb with Allah: 1:2, 5:28, 6:45, 6:126, 7:54, 9:129, 10:10, 13:16, 21:22, 23:116, 27:8, 27:26, 27:44, 28:30, 11:101, 3:51, 5:72, 5:118, 6:102, 7:54, 10:3, 10:32, 11:34, 11:56, 19:36, 11:34, 11:56, 19:36, 37:126, 39:6, 40:28, 40:62, 40:64, 42:15, 43:64, 44:8, 60:1, 65:1, 7:89, 10:85, 46:13, 2:282, 2:283, 39:22.
[152] 15:28, 15:86, 18:48, 19:9, 28:68, 38:71, 2:21, 4:1, 6:102, 7:54, 10:3, 21:56, 40:62, 3:191, 20:50, 96:1.
[153] Amthal, 20/319.
[154] Razi, 32/216; Furqan, 30/362.
[155] Kafi, 3/312, h. 1, 3/313, h. 2; Ayyashi, 1/19; Bayhaqi, 2/42; Mustadrak.S, 1/23; Muslim, chapter on ritual prayers, h. 607; Abu Dawud, 1/125, h. 4122; Nasai, 1/143, h. 894; al-Itqān, 1/79.
[156] Razi, 32/216.
[157] Fadlallah, 24/335-336; Mubin, 1/864; al-Tafsīr al-Qurʾānī lil-Qurʾān, 14/1624.
[158] Mubin, 1/864.
[159] The Life of Muhammad: a Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, p. 105.
[160] Mizan, 18/79-80.
[161] Mizan, 18/79.
[162] Baṣāʾir al-Darajāt, pp. 389-390.
[163] Mizan, 18/79-80; The Perfect Guide to the Sciences of the Qurʾān, pp. 101-102, in which Suyūṭī mentions all these different modes of revelation.
[164] Mizan, 20/323.