2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how Internals did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam-ul-Quran – Mode of Revelation

The Holy Qur’ān itself testifies that it was not revealed in a single instance, but rather in a piecemeal fashion (25:32):

And those who disbelieve say: “Why is not the Quran revealed to him all at once?” Thus (it is sent down in parts), that We may strengthen your heart thereby. And We have revealed it to you gradually, in stages

Parts of the Holy Qur’ān were revealed considering the circumstances of its addressees. Therefore, when some of the directives were relaxed in some aspect

Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam-ul-Quran – Determining the Addressees and the Addressors

Muslims unanimously hold that the Holy Qur’ān is the word of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (sws). This, however, does not mean that all that has been discussed in the Book has been addressed by God alone.

Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam-ul-Quran – Names of the Sūrahs and their Central Themes

Four factors seem to have been considered in naming the sūrahs of the Holy Qur’ān:

Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam-ul-Quran – Structure of the Qur’ān

Division of the Qur’ān in rukū‘ as well as in 30 distinct parts is a post-Prophetic innovation. A little deliberation shows that the basic purpose of the rukū‘ division is to mark a thematic shift. Those who marked the rukū‘s have indeed intended to highlight the thematic shifts in the text and have tried to mark such thematic shifts by putting the sign ع.

Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam-ul-Quran – Naẓm Adds to Meaning of the Text

Arrangement of a discourse creates specific meaning which is over and above the sum total of the whole. If we disregard the arrangement of the text we can never reach to the intended conclusions.

Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam-ul-Quran – Ma‘rūf and Munkar: Good and Evil

The Qur’ānic term ma‘rūf refers to what was welcomed as virtuous by the Arabs of the time of the Prophet (sws) and its opposite munkar signifies what they detested as evil. The Arabs of pre-Islamic age were not animals living in a jungle destitute of any sense of good and evil.

Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam-ul-Quran – Fundamental Teachings of the Qur’ān

The teachings of Qur’ān can be divided into two major categories:

1. Beliefs
2. Practices

Practices are further divided in three sub-categories:

Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam-ul-Quran – Length of the Surahs

In one of the discussions above, I have mentioned that the shorter Sūrahs of the Holy Qur’ān compete with their longer  counterparts in their grandeur, wisdom, and beautiful structure. This brief point requires some elaboration which is offered here.

Muqaddimah – Tafsir Nizam-ul-Quran – The Holy Quran and the previous Scriptures on the Divine Commands and Historical Narratives

A traveller does not need to turn to stars for direction in broad daylight. Similarly, after the revelation of the Holy Qur’ān Muslims do not need guidance from the earlier Scriptures for these are now a mixture of truth and falsehood. However, the Holy Qur’ān is one of the Books from amongst the Divine Books and the individual who brought it is a member of the community of the Prophets and Messengers of God. All Muslims, from Adam to us, in spite of the great number of the Prophets sent in different times and regions, form a single ummah following the same religion. This makes it imperative