Al-Nuzul al-Daf'i
Al-nuzūl al-dafʿī (Arabic: النزول الدفعي, lit: instant revelation), or al-nuzūl al-ijmālī (Arabic: النزول الاجمالي, lit: compact revelation), is the revelation of the whole Qur'an at the Night of Qadr all at once. According to hadiths, the Qur'an was sent down in Bayt al-Ma'mur at the Night of Qadr, and then it was gradually revealed to the Prophet (s). The majority of Quranic exegetes appeal to the third verse of Qur'an 44 and the first verse of Qur'an 97 to show that there was an instant revelation of the Qur'an.
Meaning
Quranic exegetes have appealed to some verses such as "Indeed, We sent the Qur'an down during the Night of Qadr"[1] and "We sent it down on a blessed night, and We have been warning [mankind]"[2] to show that the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet (s) all at once at the Night of Qadr. This is technically referred to as daf'i (instant) or ijmali (compact) revelation of the Qur'an[3].
In Hadiths
Al-Shaykh al-Saduq was the first scholar who counted the belief in the instant revelation of the Qur'an as a Shiite belief[4]. He takes the reason for this kind of revelation to be the Prophet's simple and compact knowledge of the content of the Qur'an. According to Shiite hadiths, the Qur'an was sent down to the fourth sky at the Night of Qadr in Bayt al-Ma'mur. It was then gradually sent down and revealed to the Prophet (s) during twenty three years in a verbal and detailed way[5]. Moreover, according to Sunni hadiths, the Qur'an was sent down from the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz) to the first sky in a place called Bayt al-'Izza[6].
The Quality
There are different accounts of the quality of the instant (daf'i) revelation of the Qur'an. Al-Fayd al-Kashani interprets Bayt al-Ma'mur as referring to the Prophet's heart[7]. Allama Tabataba'i believes that the Qur'an was revealed at the Night of Qadr in its interior and true existence, and then, within twenty three years, it was revealed in its exterior and detailed existence[8]. It is believed by some others that the amount of the Qur'an that was going to be revealed during a year was sent down to the Prophet (s) at the Night of Qadr of that year[9]. On another account, much of, and not the whole, Qur'an was revealed at the Night of Qadr[10]. Furthermore, there are scholars who deny instant revelation of the Qur'an, holding that verses, such as "Indeed, We sent the Qur'an down during the Night of Qadr,"[11] refer to the beginning of the gradual revelation of the Qur'an[12].
See Also
Notes
- ↑ Qur'an 97:1
- ↑ Qur'an 44:3
- ↑ Anṣārī, Nuzūl-i dafʿi-yī Qurʾān-i karīm, p. 2226.
- ↑ Karīmī, Istidlāl-i riwayī Syaykh Ṣadūq bar nuzūl-i Qurʾān, p. 24.
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 628, quoted by Nāsihiyan, Barrasī-yi didgah-i Ayatollah Maʿrifat dar nuzūl-i Qurʾān, p. 161.
- ↑ Anṣārī, Nuzūl-i dafʿi-yī Qurʾān-i karīm, p. 2226.
- ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī, vol. 1, p. 57, quoted by Nāsihiyan, Barrasī-yi didgah-i Ayatollah Maʿrifat dar nuzūl-i Qurʾān, p. 170.
- ↑ Maʿrifat, tārikh-i Qurʾān, p. 41.
- ↑ Maʿrifat, tārikh-i Qurʾān, p. 41.
- ↑ Maʿrifat, tārikh-i Qurʾān, pp. 36-39.
- ↑ Qur'an 97:1 and Qur'an 44:3
- ↑ Rāmyār, Tārīkh-i Qurʾān, p. 191.
References
- Anṣārī, Masʿūd. Nuzūl-i dafʿi-yī Qurʾān-i karīm. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Dustān, 1377 Sh.
- Rāmyār, Maḥmūd. Tārīkh-i Qurʾān. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Amīr Kabīr, 1369 Sh.
- Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Mullā Muḥsin. Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī. Beirut: al-Aʿlamī inistitute, 1399 AH.
- Karīmī, Maḥmud, Dayma Kargarāb, Muḥsin. Istidlāl-i riwayī Syaykh Ṣadūq bar nuzūl-i Qurʾān. Journal of ulūm-i Qurʾān wa Ḥadīth, no. 62.
- Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī & Muḥammad Ākhūndī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1365 Sh.
- Maʿrifat, Muḥammad Ḥādi. tārikh-i Qurʾān. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Samt, 1383 Sh.
- Nāsihiyan, ʿAlī Asghar, Jalāliyan, ʿAlī. Barrasī-yi didgah-i Ayatollah Maʿrifat dar nuzūl-i Qurʾān. Ilahiyat wa Huquq Journal, no. 26.