With regard to its subject-matter, the Quran is a narrative of a messenger’s indhar. Every page of the Quran speaks of this reality. The reason for this is that the Quran has not merely been revealed as an amalgam of shariah and hikmah, it has also been revealed to become the real means of the Prophet’s indhar to his people:

وَأُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ لأُنذِرَكُم بِهِ وَمَن بَلَغَ (19:6)

And this Quran has been revealed to me that I may warn you through it and all whom it may reach. (6:19)

It is known that Muhammad (sws) was not merely a nabi (prophet), he was also a rasul (messenger). Prophets are personalities whom the Almighty reveals divine guidance so that they can guide people. However, not every prophet is a messenger. Messengerhood is a position bestowed to only some prophets. According to its details furnished by the Quran, a rasul decides the fate of his addressees and implements the judgement of God on them in this very world. The Quran informs us that this final phase in the preaching endeavour of a rasul comes after it passes through the phases of indhar, [1] indhar-i am, [2] itmam al-hujjah [3] and hijrah wa baraah. [4] It is in this phase that the divine court of justice is set up on this earth. Punishment is meted out to the rejecters of the truth and those who have accepted it are rewarded, and, in this way, a miniature Day of Judgement is witnessed on the face of the earth. The history of the preaching endeavours of the rusul related in the Quran shows that at this stage generally either of the following two situations arise.

Firstly, a rasul has a few companions only and there is no place available to him for migration.

Secondly, a rasul’s companions are in substantial numbers and the Almighty also furnishes a place to them where they can migrate and be bestowed with political authority.

In both these situations, the established practice of the Almighty manifests itself – the practice which the Quran refers to in the following words:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحَادُّونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ أُوْلَئِكَ فِي الأَذَلِّينَ كَتَبَ اللَّهُ لَأَغْلِبَنَّ أَنَا وَرُسُلِي إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ (58: 20-21)

Indeed those who are opposing Allah and His Messenger are bound to be humiliated. The Almighty has ordained: “I and My messengers shall always prevail.” Indeed, Allah is Mighty and Powerful. (58:20-21)

In the first situation, once a rasul has left his people, divine punishment in the form of raging storms, cyclones and other calamities descends upon those who have rejected him and completely destroy them. It is evident from the Quran that the people of Noah (sws), Lot (sws), Salih (sws) and Shuayb (sws) besides others met with this dreadful fate. The only exception in this case were the Israelites. Since they primarily adhered to monotheism, instead of annihilation, the punishment of subjugation was meted out to them once the Prophet Jesus (sws) left them.

In the second situation, a rasul and his companions subdue their nation by force.In this case, the addressees of the rasul are given some more respite for he delivers the truth to the people of the place he has migrated to till the extent that they too are left with no excuse to deny it. Also, during this time he instructs and purifies his followers and isolates them from his rejecters and organizes them to fight the enemy. He also consolidates his political authority in the place he has migrated to the extent that with its help he is able to destroy his rejecters and achieve victory for his followers.

In the case of the Prophet Muhammad (sws), this second situation arose. Consequently, the subject matter of the Quran is the account of his indhar which passed through various phases referred to above and culminated in the worldly reward and retribution of his addressees. Each of its surahs has been revealed in this background, and each of its groups has been arranged keeping it in view.

While taking into consideration this subject matter of the Quran, the following three things should thus always remain in consideration before a student of the Quran viz-a-viz its exegesis and interpretation:

Firstly, after deliberation on the contents of a surah, the exact phase in which it was revealed should be determined. So deep and accurate is a person required to go in this endeavour that he is able to very satisfactorily say that for example a surah has been revealed in the phase of indhar or in the phase of migration and acquittal or in the phase of reward and punishment. Each verse of a surah also should be interpreted keeping in view this distinction.

Secondly, the addressees of each surah must be determined from among people present at the time of revelation of the Quran. They could be the Idolaters, the People of the Book, the Hypocrites, the Prophet (sws) and his followers or some specific group from among these denominations. It must also be determined if parts of a surah address a secondary addressee besides the primary one. Consequently, the antecedent of every pronoun, the referred to entity of every defining article (alif lam) and the connotation of every term and expression should be determined in the light of the addressees of the surah.

Thirdly, it must be determined specially in case of directives which relate to jihad, supremacy of the truth and political authority as a result of this supremacy whether they are a permanent directive of the shariah or if they specifically relate to the addressees of the prophetic times and the directive cannot be extended beyond these addressees.

(Meezan: Javed Ahmed Ghamidi)

(Translated by Dr. Shehzad Saleem)

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[1]. Warning.

[2]. Augmented and pronounced warning.

[3]. Communicating the truth to the extent that no one among its addressees is left with an excuse to deny it.

[4]. Migration and acquittal.