The Discover Islam Project
The Qur’ân is the name given to Allah’s speech that He revealed to His servant and Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him); speech that is recited as an act of worship, is miraculous, and cannot be imitated by man. It is the name of Allah’s Book, and no other book is called by this name. The most common names for Allah’s Book are al-Qur’ân (the Recital) and al-Kitâb (the Book). This is an indication of how much care has been taken in its preservation, both in the memories of people as well as in written form. Each way of preserving it reinforces the other.
The Qur’ân is revelation from Allah
Revelation is where Allah imparts whatever knowledge He wills to those whom He chooses to receive it. Allah gives this knowledge to them in order for them to convey it to whomever else He wishes.
All the Messengers of Allah experienced revelation. Allah says:
Verily, We have sent Revelation to you (O Muhammad) as We have sent Revelation to Noah and the prophets who came after him. We had sent revelation to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, the Tribes, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon. And to David We gave the Psalms. And Messengers We have told you about before, and Messengers We have not told you about – and to Moses We spoke directly.
The possibility of divine revelation cannot be denied by anyone who believes in the existence of Allah and in His omnipotence. Allah maintains His creation in any manner that pleases Him. The connection between the Creator and his Creation is by way of His Messengers, and these Messengers only know what Allah wants from them by way of revelation, either directly or indirectly. The rational mind cannot dismiss the possibility of revelation, since nothing is difficult for the all-powerful Creator.
The Nature of Revelation
Revelation is not a personal experience that a Prophet brings forth from within himself. It is not a spiritual state that a person can attain by doing certain meditations or spiritual exercises. Quite the contrary, revelation is a communication between two beings: one that speaks, commands, and gives, and another who is addressed, commanded, and receives. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) – as with every Prophet – never confused himself with the One who gave the revelation to him. As a human being, he felt his weakness before Allah, feared Allah’s wrath if he should disobey, and hoped for Allah’s mercy.
He sought help from Allah, submitted to what he was commanded to do, and was on occasion even sternly reprimanded by Allah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) admitted his absolute inability to alter even one word of Allah’s Book.
Allah says:
And when Our clear signs are recited to them, those who hope not for a meeting with Us say: ‘Bring a Qur’ân other than this or change it.’ Say (O Muhammad): ‘It is not for me to change it of my own accord. I only follow what is revealed to me. I fear, if I were to disobey my Lord, the punishment of an awful day.’ Say: ‘If Allah had willed, I would not have recited it to you nor would He have made it known to you. I have lived with you a whole lifetime before it came to me. Have you no sense?’
This should make perfectly clear the difference between the essence, attributes, and ways of the Creator and those of His Creation.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) took great care to maintain a distinction between his own speech (the Hadîth) and the direct speech of Allah, though both were the result of revelation. For this reason, in the early period of revelation, he used to prohibit anything that he uttered to be written down except for the Qur’ân. This preserved for the Qur’ân its distinctiveness as being the very word of Allah, unmixed with the speech of people.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) would also make a distinction in his own speech between his own opinions and what came from Allah as revelation.
He said: “I am only a human being like yourselves. Opinions can be right or wrong. But, when I say to you that Allah said something, then know that I will never attribute something false to Allah.”
The Prophet (peace be upon him) had no hand in the revelation that he received. Revelation is a force external to the being of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He was not able to manipulate it in any way. This is supported by the fact that certain crises would befall the Prophet (peace be upon him) or one of those around him that required an immediate solution, but he found no verse of Qur’ân to recite to the people. He had to remain silent and wait, sometimes in desperation, until Allah, in His wisdom, revealed what was needed.
A good example of this is the time when `A’ishah, the wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was accused of adultery by some of the hypocrites, though she was innocent. People began to say things that were painful for the Prophet (peace be upon him) until his heart was about to burst. He was unable to prohibit this. All he could say was: “O `A’ishah, I have heard this or that. If you are innocent, then Allah will show your innocence, and if you fell into sin, then seek Allah’s forgiveness.”
A whole month passed like this before the revelation came down declaring `A’ishah’s innocence and exonerating the household of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
In brief, revelation has nothing to do with the choices and wishes of the one who receives it. It is an unusual, external occurrence. It is a force of knowledge, because it gives knowledge. It is free from error. It comes only with the truth and guides only to what is right.
How revelation comes to the angels and to the Messengers?
In the Qur’ān it is mentioned that Allah speaks to the angels. Allah says:
And (remember) wh