Revelation outside the Qur’an

 

        Revelation outside the Qur’an

 

How do we understand the experience of revelation to the Prophet Muhammad in the Qur’an? The Qur’an is considered divine revelation to all who profess islam. Traditional sources state that Muhammad received the Qur’an  as well other revelations in addition to the holy writ.  The notion that the Prophet received non-Quranic revelations has been challenged by some modern thinkers who adopted a Quran-only ideology, a way of thinking that seems to believe the Qur’an is a self-contained document.  But is there really any evidence for the assumption that the Qur’an is self-contained?  We will examine some Quranic verses that indicate the Prophet received revelation outside of the Qur’an. Our research will show the Qur’an that is better to understand the Qur’an not as a self-contained book but a referential standard for revelation.

 

There seems to be an assumption among Muslims about the Qur’an in that the prophet Muhammad received revelation in the form of the Qur’an.  It is true that this is not an opinion from scholarly sources as the traditional view is that Muhammad received revelation in addition to the Qur’an.  Scholars classified non-quranic revelation as  wahi ghayri matlu.  Nevertheless assumptions that only the Quran was provided as revelation continues to dominate.  The growth of Qur’an only ideology has fed upon the assumption that the Prophet’s revelation was limited to the Qur’an. In it’s task to cleanse Islam of hadith, sunnah, etc.. Quranists have found it useful to deny revelation outside of the Qur’an and have thus amplified unwarranted assumptions of the mass of traditional oriented believers. I should say from the outset that the denial of outside revelation(from the quran) may not be a consensus among Quranists. There are some Quranists who admit outside revelation but downgrade it’s importance.

 

Our first study on revelatory phenomena stars with Surah Anfal. The eight Surah of the Qur’an revealed in regards to the Battle of Badr. This important event took place in 624 AD, or two years after hijra.  At Badr, the muslims won an important victory which also happened to be the first full scale engagement with the Quraish. It also initiated a long standing war between themselves and the Quraish that would go on for another six years.  Surah anfal was believed to be inspired to the prophet subsequent to the battle. We will limit our study to Surah 8:7 as this is enough for context.

“Recall that GOD promised you victory over a certain group, but you still wanted to face the weaker group. It was GOD's plan to establish the truth with His words, and to defeat the disbelievers.” (Surah 8:7)

 

Surah 8:7 inform is asking the believers to remember a past event. In the past God promised victory. This victory was evidently against one of two groups of people. Despite God’s promise, the believers wanted to engage the weaker of the two opponents.  The believers were hoping for a battle against a trade caravan led Abu Sufyan which was evidently easier to tackle. They were not looking to fight a giant army of Quraish folks led by Abu Jahl. God however had different intentions than the believers and found it in His wisdom to have the Muslims fight the stronger of the two groups, which in this case was the army of Quraish.

In summary we are asked to recall the promise that God made to the believers. Obviously, the promise was made at time prior to the actual battle of Badr. At this point the Prophet Muhammad told his followers that God would provide a victory to the people and they thus should not despair.  But where in the Qur’an do we find this promise that God made to the believers? Is there a verse with the promise mentioned that the Qur’an makes reference to?

 

There is absolutely no verse in the Qur’an that tells contains the initial promise that Surah 8:7 mentions.  Was the promise just something Muhammad said based on conjecture? No believer would take that position.  How would the Prophet Muhammad know there would there would be victory unless a revelation was sent to him? It is evident that the Qur’an is referring to a revelation that the Prophet Muhammad received. The revelation that the Prophet Muhammad received was given in the form of a prophecy about victory which the Muslims would enjoy over their opponents. Furthermore, this revelation was not in the Qur’an but given to the Prophet Muhammad outside of the Qur’an.

 

The Qur’an refers to the battle of Badr  elsewhere. “You told the believers,” GOD has granted you victory at Badr, despite your weakness. Therefore, you shall observe GOD, to show your appreciation. Is it not enough that your Lord supports you with three thousand angels, sent down?"(3:123-124) 3:124 is referring again to the promise the Prophet made in the past. We note that 3:124 specifies that the believers would receive divine assistance with an army of angels coming to their aide.  There is however no prophecy  in the Qur’an  where it is promised that angels would come to the rescue. The contents of the prophecy can only be found in history books. Yet we must believe it occurred if we are to believe the Qur’an.

 

The next verse we will look at comes from Surah Baqarah and concerns the changing of the Qiblah. When the Muslims went to Medina they prayed with the Jews in the same direction towards Jerusalem. After about 16 months the Prophet Muhammad received divine instructions to change the direction of prayer towards Mecca. This created a controversy with the Jews of Medina. 2:143  “We thus made you an impartial community, that you may serve as witnesses among the people, and the messenger serves as a witness among you. We changed the direction of your original Qiblah only to distinguish those among you who readily follow the messenger from those who would turn back on their heels. It was a difficult test, but not for those who are guided by GOD. GOD never puts your worship to waste. GOD is Compassionate towards the people, Most Merciful.”  (Please note that I do not consider R.K’s translation accurate here)

What is the verse telling us about the change in prayer direction? wa ma ja'alna l-qibla allati kunta alayha -We made your former prayer direction only so that we could know who would follow..(Kaskas) It is well known that the Muslims prayed towards Jerusalem as we said above.  Did the Muhammad randomly decide to just pray towards Jerusalem because the Jews did the same?  This not an option for a believer in the qur’an.  The verse 2:143 says “wa ma ja’alna liqbla” that We did not establish the Qibla..(except (illa…) to make evident who was following the truth.) It is clear from the Qur’an that God is attributing the initial command to pray towards Jerusalem to Himself. 

 

But where in the Qur’an does it say God ordered prayers towards Jerusalem? The answer is that no such verse exists.  The Qur’an thus referencing a commandment  to the believers through the Prophet Muhamad that is not listed inside the Qur’an. We have clear proof that Muhammad received commandments by God through revelation outside of the Qur’an. Now this was obviously a temporary commandment of God. The fact that the command had a time limited application should be good reason to show why the Qur’an did not include this abrogated commandment inside itself. And more could be discussed about the role of Qur’an and outside revelation in forming Islamic law. But for now let us limit our discussion to the point that a commandment came to Muhammad outside of the Qur’an.

 

Another situation that is well known is when the Prophet married his adopted son’s Zayd’s ex-wife. The marriage between the prophet and Zaynab became a source of controversy in later times. However the Qur’an criticizes the way the Prophet handled the situation: “Recall that you said to the one who was blessed by GOD, and blessed by you, "Keep your wife and reverence GOD," and you hid inside yourself what GOD wished to proclaim. Thus, you feared the people, when you were supposed to fear only GOD. When Zeid was completely through with his wife, we had you marry her, in order to establish the precedent that a man may marry the divorced wife of his adopted son. GOD's commands shall be done.” (33:37)

 

Surah Azhab informs us that God overturned the custom the Arabs had in which a man is unable to marry the wife of an adopted son.  The prophet however was fearful that people would criticized him for marrying Zayd’s ex-wife. The Qur’an therefor reprimands the Prophet for fearing people when he should have only feared God Almighty.  The Qur’an says about the incident “you hid inside yourself what God wished to proclaim” (wa tukhfi fee nafsika ma allahu mubdihi)  What was it that God intended to proclaim? The answer is of course that God permitted marriage between men and the  ex-wives of their adopted children.  But the reference in 33:37 to God’s proclamation can not be found anywhere in the Qur’an except this verse. Therefor the Qur’an is reference a revelation that was given to the Prophet Muhammad at an earlier time.

 

 Another incident in which the Qur’an makes reference to the Prophet being provided knowledge outside of the Qur’an itself is in Surah at Tahrim. The Surah was revealed during a situation in which the prophet was temporarily separated from his wives. “The prophet had trusted some of his wives with a certain statement, then one of them spread it, and GOD let him know about it. He then informed his wife of part of the issue, and disregarded part. She asked him, "Who informed you of this?" He said, "I was informed by the Omniscient, Most Cognizant." (66:3)   The Qur’an explains that the Prophet trusted his wives about something in confidence. Unfortunately they did not heed wisdom and instead conveyed the information where it was not supposed to be.  The Qur’an states that God let the Prophet know about what occurred.  Again, there is no verse in the Qur’an that informs the prophet of such details. We only know about it because the Qur’an makes a reference to the verse in past tense.