The Quran And Its Revelation

At one moment the Qur'an refers to its own revelation as: "inna anzalnahu fi Laylat ul-Qadr" (97:1), that we have revealed it, in the Qur'an, on the night of Qadr. Inzal is used. Another verse in Surah 'Isra, again refers to the revelation of the Qur'an, but in a different Arabic verb, it says: "Wa Qur'anan faraqana li taqrahu 'ala an-nas" (17:106) that we reveal the Qur'an in portions so you can read it to the people, "ala mukhthin" (17:106), read it slowly, read it in portions, read it in degrees. "Nazalnahu tanzilah" (17:106). We revealed it in a "tanzil" portion, meaning what? Degree by degree, portion by portion, little bit by little bit.

In one area inzal is used, in one area tanzil is used. What's the difference? Inzal is an immediate revelation, all at one time; tanzil is a gradual revelation. We know there's a whole discussion in 'Ulum al-Qur'an that talks about the idea that is the 27th of Rajab the first revelation or is the Night of Qadr the first revelation. Which one is it? We have just celebrated a month ago or so, the jawshan of the Beth'at of the Holy Prophet. Correct?

In that moment there was a revelation in the Cave Hira, of the first five verses of Surah al-'Alaq. We accept that, in the Shi'a Mad-hab as the first revelation of the Qur'an, others may not. At the same time we also accept: "inna anzalnahu fi Laylat ul-Qadr" (97:1), that surely the Qur'an was revealed on the night of Qadr.

So the kids ask: which one is it? Is it Rajab? Is it the month of Ramadhan? Whole discussion ulum al-Qur'an, ba'th has been done, pages has been written. And Allama Tabataba'i, Rahmat Allahi alayh, has a very beautiful reconciliation of these two discussions. He says it was both. One was a Dhahiri revelation, one was a batini revelation. One was an apparent revelation, one was an internal revelation.

Meaning what? The Prophet of Allah on the night of Qadr was revealed all the sciences, and the 'ulum and the beauty of the Qur'an, in one shot, Inzal. Across 23 years of his Prophethood, he was also revealed the apparent Qur'an, in a tanzil portion. My point of all this is the Qur'an itself is telling us the Qur'an has to be implemented inside of our lives in a very stage by stage, portion by portion, idea.

It's not just about reading one, Juz, you do it. Al-hamdulil-Lah, that's great. The lafdh of the Qur'an is highly, highly recommended in this month. At the same time, if you can spend a little bit of time on translation, then it would be a really fruitful month. I thought Javadi Amuli, may Allah protected him with a long life, has a very beautiful discussion, and I'll end with this inshaAllah.

He says that when it comes to preparation of our Imam, he says there are many things to do. One thing that we know for sure is that the constitution of the 12th Imam will be the Qur'an. No surprises there. He will lead his divine government using the Qur'an as a constitution. And Ayatullah Javadi says very beautifully, one of the most beautiful things that we could do in preparation for the Imam, is that before that government applies its constitution, you begin to allow the Qur'an to govern you and your family before the arrival of the Imam.

Meaning, before he brings his constitution, make it already a constitution inside your life already. Such that when that transition happens from us and post-Zuhoor of the Imam, it is a seamless transition. Remember, we are waiting for life under the Imam, not just this bang of Zuhoor. We're waiting for the fact that we are going to live inshaAllah if Allah gives us hayaat, under his Hukumat.

That requires a lot of sacrifice from us in the West, a lot of change from us in the West. Let's begin that change now. It is a month of Qur'an. Many of you have a beautiful habit of reciting one Juz of the Qur'an. I have heard that people recite several Qur'ans a month, it's amazing. It's amazing.

So much thawab. But if we can apply a little bit of the meaning in the ma'fum of a few verses, our lives will change, the lives of our family will change. And slowly but surely now, our four wall government inside of our home, four or five of us, its contitution becomes the Qur'an itself.