Mufassalat
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Mufaṣṣalāt (Arabic: المُفَصَّلات) are short Suras at the end of the Qur'an. They are also called Riyāḍ al-Qur'an. In these suras, abrogated verses can less be seen. Therefore, they are also called Muhkamat. Mufassalat end with the Qur'an 114; but, about the beginning of them, there are 12 different opinions. They are divided in three groups regarding the number of verses: Ṭiwāl (long suras), Awsāṭ (middle-size suras) and Qiṣār (short suras).
Meaning
In usages, Mufassalat refer to the suras at the end of the Qur'an which are short and are separated from each other with the verse "In the Name of God, the All-Compassionate, the Most Merciful".[1]
Other Names
Since abrogated verses are few in these suras, they are also called Muhkamat. In a narration in which Ibn Abbas has answered a question about Muhkam, he has interpreted it as Mufassal.[2] In some hadiths, these suras have been called Riyad al-Qur'an.[3]
Mufassalat in Narrations of the Prophet (s)
The term Mufassal exists in narrations of the Prophet (s) as well:
"Suras of Tiwal have been given to me instead of Torah, and suras of Sunan have been given to me instead of gospels and [surass of] Mathani instead of Zabur; and I was given superiority over them by the suras of Mufassal which are 68. And the Qur'an has dominance over books of other prophets (a)."[4]
There are other hadiths transmitted from the Prophet (s) such as the hadith of Wathila b. Asqa' about Mufassalat. In these hadiths, God has given the Prophet (s) superiority over other prophets (a) because of Mufassal suras.[5]
Characteristics
- They are separated from each other with the verse "In the Name of God, the All-Compassionate, the Most Merciful" due to their shortness.[6]
- They are mostly revealed in Mecca.[7]
Types
Mufassalat suras are divided to three groups based on the number of verses:
- Tiwal suras which are suras including Qur'an 49 or Qur'an 50 to sura Qur'an 78 or Qur'an 85.
- Awsat suras which are suras including Qur'an 86 to Qur'an 98
- Qisar suras which are suras including Qur'an 99 to Qur'an 114.[8]
Exegetes' Opinions about the first sura of Mufassalaat
The last sura of Mufassalat is Qur'an 114 as agreed by all, but there are 12 opinions about the first sura of Mufassalat: Qur'an 37, Qur'an 45, Qur'an 47, Qur'an 48, Qur'an 49, Qur'an 50, Qur'an 55, Qur'an 61, Qur'an 25, Qur'an 76, Qur'an 87 and Qur'an 93.[9]
Notes
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 1, p. 26; Rāmyār, Tārīkh-i Qurʾān, p. 595.
- ↑ Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, Musnad, vol. 4, p. 343.
- ↑ Sakhāwī, Jamāl al-qurāʾ, vol. 1, p. 89.
- ↑ Jurjānī, Jalāʾ al-adhhān, vol. 1, p. 5; Suyūṭī, al-Durr al-Manthūr, vol. 6, p. 101.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 1, p. 25.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 1, p. 25.
- ↑ Maʿrifat, ʿUlūm-i Qurʾānī, 83.
- ↑ Farhang nāma-yi ʿulūm-i Qurʾān, p. 2412.
- ↑ Sakhāwī, Jamāl al-qurāʾ, vol. 1, p. 89.
References
- Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal. Musnad. Edited by Muḥammad Shākir. Cairo: [n.p], 1375 AH.
- Group of Authors. Farhang nāma-yi ʿulūm-i Qurʾān. Qom: Pazhūhishgāh-i ʿUlūm wa Farhang-i Islāmī, 1394 Sh.
- Jurjānī, Ḥusayn b. al-Ḥasan al-. Jalāʾ al-adhhān. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Dānishgāh-i Tehran, 1377 Sh.
- Maʿrifat, Muḥammad Hādī. ʿUlūm-i Qurʾānī. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Farhangī-yi Tamhīd, 1380 Sh.
- Rāmyār, Maḥmūd. Tārīkh-i Qurʾān. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1387 Sh.
- Sakhāwī, ʿAlam al-Dīn al-. Jamāl al-qurāʾ wa kamāl al-aqrāʾ. Edited by Marwān al-ʿAṭīyya & Muḥsin Kharāba. Damascus-Beirut: Dār al-Maʾmūn li-l-Turāth, 1418 AH.
- Suyūṭī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Bakr. Al-Durr al-Manthūr fī tafsīr bi-l-maʾthūr. Qom: [n.p], 1404 AH.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān. Translated to Farsī by Muḥammad Bīstūnī. Mashhad: Āstān-i Quds-i Raḍawī, 1390 Sh.