Q. Do we look for Lailat Al-Qadr, or the Night of Power, in the correct month and time of year? I am confused on account that God states that the Qur’an was sent down on that night, and we know that its revelation took place 13 years before the Prophet’s emigration to Madinah, i.e. Hijra, which happens to be the start of the Islamic calendar. Did the hijra take place in the month of Muharram? If Muharram was the first month of the year before Islam, was it a coincidence that the hijra took place in that month? Did it actually take place on the first day of that month? On the other hand, if the months have been shifted to start the calendar, then we are not looking for the Night of Power at the right time. Please comment.
Haris Deen, Hofuf
A. No, the Prophet’s journey from Makkah to Madinah did not take place in the month of Muharram, but we look for the Lailat Al-Qadr, or the Night of Power, at the right time. There was no shift in the months of the year. We are required to fast in the month of Ramadan, and we have been doing so since the second year of the hijra.
When Omar consulted the Prophet’s companions about dating Islamic history, the consultation concentrated on which event was the most important so as to date events by it. They agreed that the Prophet’s hijra was this event, because it signaled a new age when people were able to worship God alone in security and peace, fearing no persecution.
They proclaimed high and loud that they were Muslims submitting themselves and all their affairs to God. This meant that the year in which the hijra took place was the start of the Islamic calendar. It does not mean that the event itself took place on the first day of that year. Otherwise we would go into further details so as to ask whether the Islamic calendar starts on the day the Prophet started his journey to Madinah, or on the day he arrived there. As you know the journey took him several days to complete, and he stayed in the Cave of Thawr for three days, and in Qibaa for two weeks.
The choice concentrated on the event, and when it was chosen, the year in which it took place was considered the first year of the Islamic calendar. But the year started on its normal day, Muharram 1, i.e. more than 2 months before the actual event. We say, then, that the hijra took place in the third month of Year 1 of the Islamic calendar. This makes it clear that Muharram was recognized as the first month of the year long before Islam.
There was no change of the order of months after Islam. In fact, such changes were often made, not in the actual months themselves, but in the rules applicable to them, before the advent of Islam. The Qur’an denounces that and describes it as "an increase in disbelief." Hence, Islam would not perpetrate any such thing.
It remains to be said that the hijra became possible after the Ansar gave the Prophet their pledge to protect him and defend Islam whatever that might take. That pledge took place during the pilgrimage, on Thul-Hijjah 11. The Prophet received his instructions to emigrate two and a half months later. He immediately started and arrived in Madinah on 12th Rabie Al-Awwal. The reader’s confusion arises from thinking that the Islamic calendar begins with the actual event itself. That is not the case.
Arrangement of the Qur’an
Q.1. Could you explain the basis of the arrangement of the Qur’anic Surahs. We know that the Surah entitled Al-Alaq was the first to be revealed, but it is placed as Surah No. 96 in the final arrangement. May I ask on what basis was the Qur’an arranged and by whom.
Q.2. It is said that Sarah, the wife of Prophet Abraham, was unhappy when his other wife had given birth to his first son, Ishmael. She asked him to banish her and that was the cause for Abraham taking both wife and child to the barren valley of Makkah where he left them. Was Sarah actually so jealous?
Q.3. Since the Shias praise Ali all the time, rather than God and His messenger, and since they do not say the athan as we do, can we consider them Muslims?
I. Hassan, Al-Khobar
A.1. The Prophet received revelation of the Qur’anic Surahs as and when God chose to bestow on him new revelation. At times several Surahs, particularly the longer ones, were being revealed to him concurrently. The Prophet was instructed by the angel Gabriel who brought him the revelation where to place every new passage. Thus, the arrangement of the text of each Surah was given by specific instruction from on high.
Similarly the arrangement of the Surahs in a specific order was given by the Prophet, who indicated it mostly by reading the Surahs, particularly in prayer, in a specific order. There are some reports about the arrangement of the Surahs being done without any specific authority given by the Prophet, but there is no basis for this assumption. The fact is that when Caliph Abu Bakr instructed Zaid ibn Thabit to collect the original writings of the Qur’anic revelations, Zaid produced a whole copy of the Qur’an. It was arranged in the order we have today.
This was done in the first two years after the Prophet’s death, since Abu Bakr ruled for less than two years. Later, at Othman’s time, copies were produced and sent to various centers of the Muslim state to be the reference copy in each center. These, also produced by Zaid ibn Thabit, were based on the first collection. There was no disagreement among the Prophet’s companions with regard to the ordering of the Surahs. This shows that an arrangement was made by the Prophet himself as he taught the Qur’an to his companions.
The question remains why the arrangement did not follow the chronological order of revelation. The answer is that the Qur’an was revealed over a period of 23 years, with passages and Surahs revealed in connection with certain events. This was highly beneficial as the Qur’an addressed cases when they actually took place. But when its revelation was over, its arrangement should take into consideration the needs of later generations of Muslims. The arrangement reflects what God wishes His book to be like. Hence, He gave His instructions to His messenger to indicate its arrangement, with both Surahs and verses placed at their appropriate positions.
A.2. The report about Sarah, Abraham’s wife, is correct to the best of our knowledge. Sarah was susceptible to all the feelings and emotions of ordinary women. Hence, it is not surprising that she should feel jealous when her husband was given a child by his second wife, while she, an old woman, had no children. As Abraham showed great care and tenderness toward both mother and baby, Sarah must have felt that she was reduced to a secondary position. Hence her demand that both be taken away. It was God who commanded Abraham to take his wife and child to the valley of Makkah and leave them there. That was for a definite purpose of His, and He does what He wishes.
A.3. It is true that the Shias accord great respect to Ali, placing him above other companions of the Prophet in their esteem. But neither this, nor the additions they have in the athan, or call to prayer, is reason to consider them nonbelievers. How can anyone say so when they declare that they believe in the oneness of God and the message of His messenger, Muhammad (peace be on him).