The Holy Quran

1
The Holy Quran

• How was it revealed and collected
• and compiled
• Ali Azhar Arastu

2
Agenda

• Introduction
• Revelation and its kinds
• Revealed and recorded
• Surahs, Makki and Madani and their
  characteristics
• Compilers of the Holy Quran
• Qiraats
• Mohkamat (definitive) and Mutashabihat (ambiguos)
• Huroof e Muqatte (The letters that are broken)
• Short Stories in Quran
• Ethics in Quran
• The Miracle

3
Introduction

• Book that brings light
• Not the only heavenly book, but its unique
• Literary Masterpiece
• Challenge of Allah (swt) (Surah Isra 1788)
• Other names of Quran

4
Revelation and its kinds

• Revelation
• Revelation on the heart
• Revelation through sound or sign
• Revelation through Angels

5
Revealed and recorded

• The first 5 Ayats revealed on 27th Rajab
• Period of 23 years
• The first one to record in Mecca was Ali (as)
• The first one to record in Medina was Zaid
• The others who recorded
• Where were they recorded?
• After recording what?
• Memorize
• How did they know when a Surah ended?
• Bismillah, why was it omitted in Surah Tauba?

6
Surahs , Makki and Madani

• Surah, its definition
• Two Kinds of Surahs
• Makki Surahs and Madani Surahs
• Special characteristics of Makki and Madani
• The sequence of Surahs
• The names of the Surahs
• Some Surahs have more than one name
• - Surah Tauba is also called Baraat
• - Surah Naml is also called Suleiman

7
Compilers of the Holy Quran

• Ali (as) compiles it first after the demise of
  the holy Prophet (sawa)
• Zaid was asked to do it
• Others who did it too
• Quran standardized in the reign of the 3rd caliph
• No difference in the Quran compiled by Imam Ali
  and the Quran we have today
• Imam Ali (as) and other Imams authenticate the
  Quran

8
Qiraats

• Minor problems in the standardized version
• - Letters without dots
• - No vowels
• - No Alifs inside the word
• Only educated Arabs could read
• Causes differences in Qiraats
• 7 different Qiraats
• Most of the muslim world follows Hafs now
• Hafs student of Aasim

9
Mohkamat (definitive) and Mutashabihat (ambiguos)
verses

• Surah Aale Imran Ayat 7
• Mohkamat (definitive) verses
• Mutashabihat (Metaphorical) verses
• - Hands of Allah (swt)
• Definitive verses explained in Tafseer
• Metaphorical verses paraphrased/Taweel

10
Huroof e Muqatte (Alif Lam Mim)

• The letters that are used in beginning of some
  Surahs
• 29 Surahs that start with these letters..
• What are these letters? What do they mean?
• There are 3 opinions
• - Only Allah (swt) knows
• - Only Allah (swt), His Prophet(S) and Imams
  (AS) know
• - To show that Quran is written by simple
  letters

11
Short Stories in Quran

• Quran just hints the incidences of the past
• No details, it is not a history book
• Has no fiction
• Stories to wake the sleeping ones
• Stories to prove that it is a heavenly book
• All the Prophets had the same mission
• Roots of all the religions are the same
• Stories show the fate of non believers
• Stories boosted the morale of the prophet (S)

12
Ethics in Quran

• Always Respond to a Greeting with a better
  one(486)
• Do not be Arrogant or Proud (3118)
• Be Humble and Speak softly (3119)
• Invite to God with Wisdom and Kindness (16125)
• Be Kind to Your Parents (1723,24)
• Suppress Anger and Forgive People (3133,134)
• Counter Evil with Good (4134) (1322)
• Do not say Bad Things (1426)
• Do not insult the Idolaters (6108)
• Do not make Fun of Others, or call Them Names
  (4911)
• Do not be Suspicious, or Spy on One Another, or
  Backbite (4912)
• Do not be Racist (4913)

13
The Miracle

• Literary masterpiece
• A book 1400 yrs old has things that science is
  now discovering
• Quran challenges the mankind
• To produce one surah like it