Textual and Contextual Issues in Relation to the Qur’an

2249 Words9 Pages
Textual and Contextual Issues In Relation to the Qur’an Qur’an Definition The Qur’an literally meaning “The recitation” is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be the verbatim word of God. It is widely regarded as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language. (Chejne, 1969) The word itself occurs about 70 times in the Qur’an itself. It is defined as the book which Allah revealed in His speech to His Prophet Muhammad in Arabic and has been transmitted to us by continuous testimony or tawatur. (Ibraheem). Qur’an is a verbal noun of the Arabic verb qara’a meaning ‘he read’ or he recited’ an important meaning of the word is “the act of reciting” as reflected in an early Qur’anic passage: “It is for Us to collect it and recite it (qur’anahu)” (Qur’an 75:17) Textual Issues: Divisions The Qur’an consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, known as Surah’s. The chapters are either classified as Makkan or Medinan, depending on whether the verses were revealed before the migration of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) from the city of Makkah or after to the city of Madinah. Chapter titles are taken from a name or quality mentioned in the texts or from the first letters or words of the Surah. Each chapter begins with the Bismillah an Arabic phrase meaning ‘In the name of God’ except for the ninth. The longer chapters generally appear before the shorter ones but this is not connected to the sequence of revelation. Each chapter consists of several verses or ayat. The number of verses vary from chapter to chapter. An ayah may be just a few letters or many lines. The total number of verses in the Qur’an are 6236. The Qur’an is also divided further into thirty juz’ (plural ajzaa) which are approximately equal in length for convenience, so that it can be used to read through the entire Qur’an in a month. The Qur’an is

More about Textual and Contextual Issues in Relation to the Qur’an

Open Document