The order of Soorahs and Aayahs in the Qur’aan

 

Why are the sourates in Quran ordered are
they are ? (since the first sourate is the one which begins with "Iqraa")

Baraka Allah fikoum

Praise be to Allaah.

The fact there is scholarly consensus, and many
texts stating the order of aayahs in one soorah, that is very well known. The consensus
was reported by many scholars, including Al-Zarkashi in al-Burhaan and Abu
Ja’far, who said: “The order of the aayahs in their soorahs came about because
this is how it was instituted by the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) and there is no dispute among the Muslims with regard to this matter.”

The texts regarding this matter include the following:

The report narrated by Ahmad, Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa’i, Ibn Hibbaan and
al-Haakim from Ibn ‘Abbaas, who said: “I said to ‘Uthmaan, ‘What made
you put al-Anfaal which is one of the Mathaani, next to Baraa’ah
[al-Tawbah], which is one of the Mi’een? Why did you not put the line Bismillaah
ir-Rahmaan ir-Raheem in between them when you put it at the beginning of the rest of al-Sab’
al-Tiwaal [the long seven soorahs]?” ‘Uthmaan said: “The Messenger of
Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to receive revelation of
soorahs with many aayahs. When they were revealed, he would call his scribes and tell
them, ‘Put these aayahs in the soorah where such-and-such is mentioned.’ Al-Anfaal
was one of the first soorahs to be revealed in Madeenah, and Baraa’ah (al-Tawbah)
was one of the last parts of the Qur’aan to be revealed. Its stories were similar to
the stories mentioned in al-Anfaal, so it was thought that it was part of it. The
Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was taken [i.e.,
died] without explaining whether it was indeed part of it, so they were put next to one
another, and the line Bismillaahi ir’Rahmaan ir’Raheem was not written
between them, and it [al-Tawbah] was put among the Sab’ al-Tiwaal
[seven long soorahs].” (Al-Haakim said: its isnaad is saheeh, and al-Dhahabi agreed
with him. Al-Mustadrak, 2/330)

Ahmad narrated in al-Musnad (4/218) with a hasan
isnaad from ‘Uthmaan ibn Abi’l-‘Aas that he said: “I was sitting with
the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) when he fixed his
gaze on something, then lowered his gaze until he was almost looking at the ground, then
he gazed at something. He said, ‘Jibreel (peace be upon him) came to me and told me
to put this aayah in this place in this soorah:

“Verily, Allâh enjoins Al-‘Adl (i.e.
justice and worshipping none but Allâh Alone — Islâmic Monotheism) and Al-Ihsân
[i.e. to be patient in performing your duties to Allâh, totally for Allâh’s sake
and in accordance with the Sunnah (legal ways) of the Prophet in a perfect manner], and
giving (help) to kith and kin (i.e. all that Allâh has ordered you to give them, e.g.,
wealth, visiting, looking after them, or any other kind of help), and forbids
Al-Fahshâ’ (i.e. all evil deeds, e.g. illegal sexual acts, disobedience of parents,
polytheism, to tell lies, to give false witness, to kill a life without right), and
Al-Munkar (i.e. all that is prohibited by Islâmic law: polytheism of every kind,
disbelief and every kind of evil deeds), and Al-Baghy (i.e. all kinds of oppression). He
admonishes you, that you may take heed.” [al-Nahl 16:90 – interpretation of the
meaning].’”

Al-Bukhaari narrated in al-Saheeh (no. 4536) that
Ibn Abi Maleekah said: “Ibn al-Zubayr said: ‘I said to ‘Uthmaan, “This
aayah that is in al-Baqarah (interpretation of the meaning), ‘And those of
you who die and leave wives behind them … And those of you who die and leave behind
wives should bequeath for their wives a year’s maintenance and residence without
turning them out’ [al-Baqarah 2:234-240] has been abrogated by the other, so why
are you writing it down it down?” He said, “Leave it as it is, my nephew, I will
not change anything from its place.”’”

Muslim narrated (no. 1617) that ‘Umar said: “I
did not ask the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) about anything
more than I asked him about al-Kalaalah [those who die leaving neither ascendants
nor descendents as heirs], until he poked me in the chest with his finger and said,
“Is not aayat al-sayf [?] at the end of Soorat al-Nisa’ enough for you?”

There are also the ahaadeeth about the aayahs at the end
of Soorat al-Baqarah.

Muslim narrated (no. 809) from Abu al-Darda’ that
whoever memorizes the first ten aayahs of Soorat al-Kahf will be protected from the
Dajjaal; according to another version, whoever recites the last ten verses will be
protected.

The Prophet’s recitation of various soorahs in the
presence of his companions indicates that the order of their aayahs is something that was
instituted and commanded by him, and that the Sahaabah did not put the aayahs in a
different order from that in which the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) used to recite them. The reports to that effect reach the level of Mutawaatir.

Al-Qaadi Abu Bakr said in al-Intisaar: “The
order of the aayahs is something that is obligatory and binding. Jibreel used to say (to
the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)), ‘Put such and such an
aayah in such and such a place.’”

He also said: “What we think is that all of the
Qur’aan which Allaah revealed and commanded that it should be written down, and which
was not abrogated after being revealed, is that which is contained between the covers of
the Mus-haf of ‘Uthmaan, and that there is nothing lacking or added to it. Its
order is the same as that commanded by Allaah, may He be exalted, and instituted by the
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Nobody has moved any aayah
backwards or forwards. The Ummah learned from the Prophet
(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) the order of the aayahs of each soorah properly, just as they learned
from him the correct pronunciation and recitation.”

Al-Baghawi said in Sharh al-Sunnah: “The
Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to instruct his
companions and teach them what was revealed to him of the Qur’aan in the order in
which it appears in our Mus-hafs now, the order which Jibreel taught him. When each
aayah was revealed, Jibreel would tell him, this aayah is to be written after such and
such an aayah in Soorah such and such. Thus it is clear that the efforts of the Sahaabah
were limited solely to gathering the Qur’aan in one place, not to arranging its
order. The Qur’aan is written on al-Lawh al-Mahfooz in this order, then Allaah
sent it down in its entirety to the first heaven, whence it was revealed in stages as it
was needed, and the order in which it was revealed is not the order in which it is
recited.”

With regard to the order of Soorahs, was this also
instituted by the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), or was this
the ijtihaad of the Sahaabah? With regard to this question, there were differences among
the scholars. The majority of scholars, including Maalik and al-Qaadi Abu Bakr, according
to one of his two opinions, favoured the second opinion.

Ibn Faaris said: “There were two aspects to the
compilation of the Qur’aan. One was putting the soorahs in a certain order, such as
putting al-Sab’ al-Tiwaal (the seven long soorahs) first, and following them
with the Mi’een, which is what the Sahaabah did. The second aspect is the
compilation of the aayahs within the soorahs. This was instituted by the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who recited them as he was told to by
Jibreel, on the command of his Lord. On this basis the salaf differed as to the order in
which the soorahs should appear. Some of them put them in order of revelation, which was
the mus-haf of ‘Ali, which started with Iqra’ (al-‘Alaq),
then al-Muddaththir, then Noon (al-Qalam), then al-Muzzammil,
and so on. The Mus-haf of Ibn Mas’ood started with al-Baqarah, then al-Nisa’,
then Aal ‘Imraan, with other major differences. The Mus-haf of Ubayy
was similar.”

Al-Karmaani said in al-Burhaan: the order of the
soorahs as it is now is the same as that in al-Lawh al-Mahfooz which is with
Allaah. This is the order in which the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) used to review the soorahs of the Qur’aan he had received so far with Jibreel
each year. In the year in which he died, he reviewed it with him twice, and the last
aayahs to be revealed were (interpretation of the meaning): ‘And be afraid of the
Day when you shall be brought back to Allaah…’ [al-Baqarah 2:281]. Jibreel
commanded the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to put this between
the aayahs dealing with riba and those dealing with loans.”

Al-Zarkashi said in al-Burhaan: “The
difference between the two views is one of wording. Those who support the second view say
that it was taught to them so that they could learn the reasons of Revelation and the
sequence of the words. Hence Maalik said that they compiled the Qur’aan according to
what they had heard from the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), as
well as saying that the order of the soorahs was the product of their ijtihaad. He said
that the dispute boils down to one question which is: was this a verbal instruction of the
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), or were they merely referring to
what he used to do, which would give them room for ijtihaad.”

Al-Bayhaqi said in al-Madkhil: “At the time
of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), the soorahs and aayahs of
the Qur’aan were in this order, except for al-Anfaal and Baraa’ah
(al-Tawbah), as we see from the hadeeth of ‘Uthmaan referred to above.”

Ibn ‘Atiyah said: “The order of many of the
soorahs was known during the lifetime of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him), such as the seven long soorahs, those that begin with Ha’-Meem,
and al-Mufassal. With regard to the others, it may be the case that it was left for
the Ummah to determine their order after he died.”

Abu Ja’far said: “The reports support most of
what Ibn ‘Atiyah said, and a little is left which is open to debate, such as the
hadeeth, ‘Recite the two shining ones, al-Baqarah and Aal ‘Imraan.’”
(Reported by Muslim, no. 804).

Al-Bukhaari narrated (no. 4739) that ‘Abd-Allaah
ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “Bani Israa’eel (al-Israa’),
al-Kahf, Maryam, Ta-Ha and al-Anbiya’, these are among
the earliest and most beautiful soorahs and they are my treasures,” (meaning, these
are among the earliest I recited).

Abu Ja’far al-Nahhaas al-Mukhtaar said that the
soorahs were compiled in this order from the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) because of the hadeeth of Waathilah, “In place of the Tawraat
I was given the seven long soorahs.” He said: “This hadeeth indicates that the
order of the Qur’aan was taken from the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him).

Ibn Hajar said, “the fact that the soorahs , or
most of them, are in a given order does not contradict the idea that this was instituted
by the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). What proves that this was
instituted by the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is the report
narrated by Ahmad and Abu Dawood from Aws ibn Hudhayfah, who said: ‘We asked the
companions of the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in
the morning, “How did you write down the Qur’aan in chapters?” They said,
“We wrote it down in chapters of six soorahs, five soorahs, seven soorahs, nine
soorahs, eleven soorahs and thirteen soorahs, and the chapter of al-Mufassal, from
Qaaf until the end. This indicates that the order of the soorahs – as it appears in
the Mus-haf now – existed at the time of the Messenger of Allaah, or it is
possible that what was known in order at that time was Hizb al-Mufassal
specifically, which is not the case with the rest.”

See al-Itqaan fi ‘Uloom al-Qur’aan by al-Suyooti, 1/62-65).

And Allaah knows best.