So long as men can live and eyes can see
So long lives this and this gives life to thee
The "Tadabbur-i-Qur’an"
is a monumental commentary of the Qur’an written by Amin Ahsan
Islahi.
Extending over nine volumes of six thousand pages, this masterful work
was completed in a span of twenty two years. If Farahi
founded the view that the Qur’an possessed structural and thematic nazm (coherence), it is Islahi
who established beyond doubt in this commentary that this was actually
correct.
He has presented conclusive evidence
that the Qur’an is divided
into seven discrete groups. Each group has a distinct theme. Every group
begins with one or more Makkan Surah and ends with one or more Madinan
Surah. In each group, the Makkan
Surahs always precede the Madinan
ones. The relationship between the Makkan Surahs and Madinan Surahs of each group
is that of the root of a tree and its branches. In every group, all the
phases of the Prophet’s mission are depicted.
Two surahs of each group form a pair so that each member of the pair complements
the other in various ways. Surah
Fatihah, however, is an exception
to this pattern: it is an introduction to the whole of the Qur’an as well as to the first group which begins with it. There are also
some surahs which have a specific
purpose and fall in this paired-surah scheme in a particular way.
Each surah has specific addressees and a central theme round which the contents
of the surah revolve. The central
theme highlights a particular aspect of the central theme of the group
of which the particular surah is
a part. Every surah has distinct
subsections to mark thematic shifts, and every subsection is paragraphed
to mark smaller shifts.
Following is a brief description of
the seven Qur’anic groups:
Group I {Surah
Fatihah (1) - Surah
Maidah (5)}
Central Theme: Islamic Law.
Group II {Surah
An`am (6) - Surah Tawbah
(9)}
Central Theme: The consequences
of denying the Prophet (sws) for the Mushrikin of Makkah.
Group III {Surah
Yunus (10) - Surah
Nur (24)}
Central Theme: Glad tidings
of the Prophet’s domination.
Group IV {Surah
Furqan (25) - Surah
Ahzab
(33 }
Central Theme: Arguments on
the Prophethood of Muhammad (sws) and the requirements of faith in him.
Group V {Surah
Saba (34) - Surah
Hujrat (49)}
Central Theme: Arguments on Tawhid and
the requirements of faith in it.
Group VI {Surah
Qaf (50) - Surah
Tihrim
(66)}
Central Theme: Arguments on
Aakhirah and the requirements
of faith in it.
Group VII {Surah
Mulk (67) - Surah Nas (114)}
Central Theme: Admonition (indhar)
to the Quraysh about their fate in the Herein and the Hereafter
if they deny the Prophet (sws).
This is just a brief introduction
of the thematic and structural coherence in the Qur’an as presented by Islahi in his "Tadabbur-i-Qur’an".
The masterpiece needs to be studied by every person who wants to understand
the Qur’an so that he may have
an idea of the giant leap forward it has brought about in the field of
Qur’anic Sciences.
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