Sura: Difference between revisions

Each sura of the Qur'an is named after the beginning words, or after the content and the massage of the sura; so the name of each sura is in accordance to its content, as sura al-Baqara (the Cow) is named after the mention of the cow which Banu Isra'il had been commanded to slay (2:67), or sura al-Nisa' (Women) is named because some rulings about women is mentioned in it.

Some suras of Qur'an have more than one name, for example al-Suyuti had mentioned 25 names for sura al-Hamd.

There's a disagreement about the names of suras being specified by Allah (being Tawqifi) or is specified by the companions (Ijtihadi). Al-Suyuti, al-Zarkashi, and some other Qur'an researchers consider it Tawqifi.

Ayatollah Jawadi Amuli, doesn't accept the names of suras being Tawqifi, and in contrast considers the common names of suras as names given to them by people and then the name became prevalent. He considers the usage of the names in some hadiths of Ahl al-Bayt because of the recognition of the sura with the name. He says: it's unlikely that a sura containing great knowledge, deep wisdom, and a lot of rulings being named after a cow; or a sura which contain 40 proofs for the unity of God being named after the cattle; or a sura with deep knowledge and the stories of many of the Prophets being named after the ants.