STATISTICAL ABSTRACT OF
THE HOLY QUR'AAN



I


            The Holy Qur'aan is the Word of Allaah - Kalam-ullah - and is guaranteed by Allaah to stay intact in its original purity of form and test. It satisfies two of the innate human desires - to see and to touch the object of their love and veneration. We cannot see the Almighty Allaah but we can surely satisfy our feelings by looking at His Word.


            There is hardly a Muslim home where the Holy Qur'aan in not to be found or a library worth the name where a copy of the Holy Book is not readily available.


            We have, therefore, undertaken to present our readers with a Statistical Abstract of the Holy Qur'aan, Insha Allaah. Meanings of the Arabic words are given in the Glossary at the end.


            By way of introduction we enumerate below, the principal and the primary units of the Holy Quran to provide an insight into the Book.


            The Holy Qur'aan consists of 114 chapters (surahs), 86 were revealed in Mecca and 28 in Madina. The surahs have between them 558 paragraphs (rukoo'at), 76,757 words), 6237 verses (ayaat), 76,757 words (kalimat), and 330,721 letters (huroof). The Book is divided into 30 parts. Another division thereof is by sections (manazil) and they are seven in number.


            The the subjects dealt with in the Holy Qur'aan could be classified in the following broad heads:



FAITH IN ALLAAH


            Besides enjoining Faith in the Almighty Allaah, the verses contain repeated references to the Holy and Sublime Attributes of Allaah, His Signs and Symbols and His Munificence.



FAITH IN THE HOLY PROPHET (S.A.W.)


            In addition to the outstanding character and moral strength and excellence of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W. ), his tests and trials, matters relating to the people of the Book, devotion and loyalty of companions of the Prophet (S.A.W. ), the attributes of the Holy Qur'aan and the veracity of its texts and teachings are also included.



PRECEPTS AND DIRECTIVES


            Besides directives and orders regarding the five fundamental principles of Islam, the verses contain certain guides for moral and social conduct, fundamental rights, good governance and management, words of advice, sermons and prayers for the Muslims, manner of approach and commerce, halal and haram, marriage and advice to non-believers, directives relating to trade, divorce, pardah, inheritance, will, etc., etc.



HISTORICAL NARRATIVES


            The Quran tells us of the earliest episodes involving Adam, Eve and the Satan, and of Prophets Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Lot, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and his brothers, Hoda and Saleh and their people, Shoaib and the people of Madyan and Ekka, David and Soloman, Moses and Haroon and Phero, Haman and Beni Israil, Qaroon, Jonah, Idrees, Ayoob, Zikriya and John, Alyasa', Zoolfiki, Ozair, Jesus and Mary, Luqman, Zoolqarnain, Queen Sheba, people of Ukhdood and Kahaf, people of Russ and of the Elephant.



LIFE IN THE HEREAFTER


            It gives an account of the Day of Judgment and Resurrection, mortality of man, description of life after death, signs of the Doomsday, coming of Jesus and emergence of Gog and Magog, the harrowing and heart-rending account of the Divine punishment, the safety and security of the believers,, dialogue with those cast in hell and their regret, Paradise and its benefits.



MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS


            The verses explain the law of nemesis, and cover such matters as pertain to the rendering of account, repentance, recording of deeds of mankind, call to the fold of Islam, simplicity of Islam, birth story of the universe, description of the nature of man, angels and their duties, the jinn, miracles, etc.


            Names of the surahs received last are Al-'Alaq (No. 96), and At-Taghabun (No. 64), respectively. The first and the last verses to be revealed are verses 1-5 of Surah Al-'Alaq (No. 96) and verse 3 of Surah Al-Maidah (No. 5).


            Five of the surahs contain reference by name to the Holy Prophet - S.A.W. - (including the one named after him, that is, No. 47), namely, Aal-Imraan (No. 3:144), Al Ahzab (No.33:40), Muhammad (No. 47:2), Al Fatah (No.48:29), and As-Saff (No. 61:6).


            A set of six surahs is known as Musabbehat as each of them begins with the praises of Almighty Allaah. They are surahs Nos. 57 (Al-Hadeed), 59 (Al-Hashr), 61-2 (As-Saff and Al-Jumua'), 64 (At-Taghabun) and 87 (Al-A'laa).


            The number of suras which contain Ayaat-i-Sajda, that is, such pointed reference to the Almighty or His Exalted Attributes as demand prostration in acknowledgment of His Greatness, is 14. The and names and serial numbers of the suras (the number of the verse concerned is given in brackets) are: Al-A'Ra'ad (7:206), Ar-Ra'd (13:15), An-Nahal (16:49-50), Al-Asra (17:107-9), Maryam (19:58), Al-Hajj (22;18 and77), Al-Furqan (25:60), An-Namal (27:25,26), As-Sajdah (32:15), Suad (38:24), Fussilat (41:37,38), An-Najm (53:62), Al-Inshiqaq (84:21), and Al-'Alaq (96:19). There are in all 15 Sajdet-e-Tilawat in the Holy Quran (including the one according to Imam Shafa'i, that is, 22:77).


            There are 29 suras which begin with an uncommon combination of different letters of the Arabic alphabet where each one is to be pronounced separately and independently, for example, Alif-Lam-meem. Seven of the twenty nine suras that is, 40 to 46, begin with the letter Ha and Meem and are referred to as Hawam-Meem. The serial numbers of the remaining suras are: 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19-20, 26-32, 36, 38, 50 and 68. Suras 2, 3 and 13 are Medani and the rest are Mecci. A list of such combinations is appended at the end of the Glossary.


            The number ofsuras which begin with a pointed reference to the Holy Quran is 32, of which three are Medani (that is, 2, 3 and 24) and the rest are Mecci (that is, 7, 10, 12, 14, 18, 20, 25-28,31-2, 36, 38-46, 50, 52, 55, 72, 96, and 97.



II


            Last time we had given certain facts and figures regarding the Holy Qur'aan. In this article we shall continue with the groupwise characteristics of the Chapters of the Holy Qur'aan.


            Of the 86 Chapters of the Holy Qur'aan revealed to the Holy Prophet in Mecca and 28 Chapters revealed to him in Medina, there is some difference of opinion in regard to 16 Chapters - 9 in the former group, namely, Yoonus (10), At-Tatfeef (83), Al-Qadr (97), At-Takaasur (102), Al-Ma'oon (107), Al-Kausar (108), Al-Ikhlas (112), Al-Falaq (113), An-Naas (114); and 7 in the latter group, namely, Ar-Ra'd (13), Al-Hajj (22), Ar-Rahman (55), Al-Hadeed (57), At-Taghaabun (64), Ad-Dahr (76) and Al-Bayyenah (98) , as to which of the two periods they belong to. The minimum number of verses (ayaat) contained in a Chapter (sura) of the Holy Qur'aan is 3, (vide Chapters Nos. 103, 108 and 110) and the maximum number of verses in a Chapter is 286, (vide Chapter No. 2).


            The Chapter with the shortest verse is No. 55 (Ar-Rahman) - the number of the verse is 64. The Chapter with the longest verse is No. 73 (Al Muzzammil) - the verse is No. 20, it makes up the entire Ruku' No. 2 of the said Chapter. The Chapter with the largest number of verses in a Ruku' is No. 37 (Was-Saffaat); the number of the Ruku' is 2 and the number of verses contained therein is 53.


            The total number of Chapters with one Ruku' each is 36, of those with 2 Ruku' at is 22 and of 3 it is 10. The arrangement with regard to the rest is that there are 6 Chapters of 4 Ruku'at and 5 of 5, 8 of 6, 5 of 7, 2 of 8, 4 of 9, 3 of 10, 2 of 11, 3 of 12 & 16, 2 of 20 & 24 and 1 of 40 Ruku'at.


            The total number of Chapters whose names begin with Alif is 13, with Ba & 'Ain is 5 each, with Ta, Ha & Fa is 7 each, with Jeem, Ra, Za, Sheen, Suaad, Kat, Lam and Ya is 3 each, with Dal, Seen and Ha is 2 each, with Zal, Zuad, Ghain, and Vao is 1 each. The number of Chapters beginning with Tua, Quaf, Meem and Noon is 4, 8, 14, & 10, respectively.


III


            In the first part of the series we had mentioned that the subjects dealt with in the Holy Qur'aan included the Historical Narratives containing the names and an account of some of the Prophets (peace be upon them). We shall give some facts regarding the Narratives in this article.


            The number of the Prophets mentioned by name in the Holy Qur'aan is 27 from Adam to Muhammad (Sallallaahu alaihi wasallam).


            The serial number of the chapters (Suras) of the Qur'aan in which references to each of the Prophets occur are given below in alphabetical order, in the brackets against each:-


Aaron (Haroon) (6 & 20)
Abraham (2, 3, 6, 9, 11, 15, 16, 19, 21, 24, 26, 29, 37, 51, 60 & 87)
Adam (2, 5, 7 & 20)
David (2, 6, 11, 34 & 38)
Elijah (Elias) (6 & 37)
Elisha (Elyasa) (6)
Hud (7, 9, 11, 26 & 46)
Idris (19 & 21)
Isaac (6, 21 & 37)
Ismail (2, 6, 9 & 21)
12. Al-Mu'izah - The Sermon
Jacob (2, 6 & 21)
Jesus (3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 19, 23, 43 & 61)
Job (Ayub) (6, 21 & 38)
John (3, 6, 19 & 21)
Jonah (Yunus) (4, 6, 10, 21, 37 & 68)
Joseph (12 & 40)
Lot (6, 7, 11, 15, 21, 23, 24, 27, 29, 37, 51, 54 & 66)
Moses (5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14,18,19,20,23,25,26,28,37,40,43,51,61 & 79)
Muhammad (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallum) & Ahmad (7, 47, 48 & 61)
Noah (6, 7, 10, 11, 21, 23, 26, 29, 37, 51,54, 59, 66 & 71)
Shoaib (7, 11 & 29)
Soloman (2, 6, 2,. 27, 34 & 38)
Talut (2)
Uzair (9)
Zakaria (3, 6, 19 & 21)
Zulkifl (21)



            An account of the 17 different people, (nations, etc.) is also to be found in the Holy Qur'aan along with that of their respective Prophets or separately. The names of the people, in alphabetical order, are: the people of 'Aad, Antakia, Ekka, Elephant, Garden, Hud, Israil, Khahaf, Lot, Madyan, Noah, Raqeem, Rass, Saba, Sabt, Thamud and Ukhdood.


            The names of other persons (Muslims and infidels) mentioned in the Holy Qur'aan are given below in the alphabetical order: Ba'l (a renegade infidel), Eve (Mother of mankind), Goliath (Jaloot), Habib Najjar (a Muslim), Habeel (son of Adam - Muslim), Haman (infidel), Haroot (an Angel), Lahab (an Arab infidel), Mary (Mother of Jesus), Maroot (an Angel), Pharoah (Fir'aun), Qabeel (an infidel son of Adam) and Zulqarnain (a mighty king).



IV


            This part provides certain interesting facts and figures regarding Paras (parts) of the Holy Qur'aan and Ruku'at (sub-divisions) thereof.


            The position of the 30 Paras of the Holy Qur'aan according to the number of ruku'at and the number of verses contained in each is set out below:-


  • There is one Para each of 21 and 39 ruku'at, that is No. 15 and 30.

  • There are 2 Paras of 14 and 22 ruku'at, that is Nos. 4 & 5, and 14 & 29, respectively.

  • There are 3 Paras with 18 and 20 ruku'at, that is Nos. 9, 22, 26 and 25, 27, 28, respectively.

  • There are 5 Paras each of 16 and 19 ruku'at, that is 1, 2, 11, 12, 20 and 7, 13, 19, 21, 24, respectively.

  • There are as many as 8 Paras with 17 rukyu'at, that is 3, 5, 8, 10, 16, 17, 18 & 23.

  • The lowest and the highest number of ruku'at contained in a Para is, respectively, 14 & 39.



According to the number of verses contained in a Para, the position is as under:-


There are two Paras (Nos. 2 and 6) each of which contains 111 verses. The rest of the paras contain a different number of verses, that is, from 123 to 564 the other numbers being 124, 125,128, 137, 141, 142, 148, 150, 155, 159, 163, 166, 169, 170, 175, 179, 185, 190, 195, 202, 226, 246, 343, 363, 399 & 431. Their serial nos. respectively are 4, 5, 3, 10, 28, 1, 8, 7, 11, 13, 9, 22, 20, 16, 12, 24, 21, 15, 17, 26, 18, 25, 14, 19, 23, 27, 29 & 30.


The highest number of verses contained in a Para is 564 (vide No. 30) and the lowest is 111 (vide Paras Nos. 2 and 6).


There are 12 ruku'at which contain from 1 to 53 verses each as detailed below:



There is a Ruku' of only 1 verse in Muzammil (No. 73),

of 27 verses in Mominoon (No. 23),

of 28 verses in Toor (No. 52),

of 31 verses of Muddassir (No. 74),

of 35 verses in Ma'arij (No. 70,

of 37 verses in Haaqa (No. 69),

of 38 verses in Waqi'a (No. 56),

of 39 verses in Saffaat (No. 37),

of 40 verses in Mursalat (No. 77),

of 42 verses in 'Abasa (No. 80),

of 44 and 53 verses in Saffaat, (No. 37).



There are 14 ruku'at of 3 verses each, that is,


  • 3 in Baqara (No. 2),

  • 2 in Nisa (No. 4) and

  • one each in A'raaf (No. 7), Hajj (No. 22), Noor (No. 24), Fatha (No. 48), Jumu'a (No. 62), Munafiqoon (No. 63), 'Asr (No. 103), Kausar (No. 108) and Nasr (No. 110).




The number of ruku'at of 13 verses each is also 14, that is:


  • 2 each in Baqara (No. 2), Taha (No. 20) and Room (No. 30) and

  • one each in Al-i-'Imran (No. 3), Yunus (No. 10), Nahal (No. 16), Kahaf (No.18), Qasas (No. 28), 'Ankaboot (No. 291), Momin (No. 40) and Dukhan (No. 44).




            There are 6 ruku'at each with 20 & 22 verses, one each of 20 verses in Hijr (No. 15), Yaseen (No. 39) Rahman (No. 55), Nooh (No. 71), Nazi'at (No. 79) and Balad (No. 90), and one each of 22 verses in Mominoon (No. 23), Zukhraf (No. 43), Qamar (No. 54), Waqi'a (No. 56), Dahr (No. 76) and Borooj (No. 86).


            There are 2 ruku'at each with 2, 23, 29, & 33 verses, that is, in Baqara (No. 2), Zurriaat (No. 51), Dukhan (No. 44), Takveer (No. 81), Rahman (No. 55) and Qalam (No. 68).


            There are 3 ruku'at each with 21 & 26 verses, and the number of ruku'at each with 24 & 30 verses is 5 each. these are, respectively in Saffat (No. 37), Toor (No. 52), Lail (No. 92), Mominoon (No. 23), Nazi'at (No. 79), Ghashia (No. 88), Taha (No. 20), Shu'ara (No. 26), Suaad (No. 38), Najam (No. 53), Qiaamah (No. 75), Naba (No. 86), Fajar (No. 89).


GLOSSARY


Ayaat
Verses of the Holy Qur'aan, sing. being ayat.


Ayaat-i-Sajda
Verses of the Holy Qur'aan on reading of or listening to which one as to go down n prostration as soon as possible.


Horoof
Words of the Holy Qur'aan, sing. being haraf.


Horoof-i-Muqatta'at
Uncommon combination of letters of Arabic alphabet where each letter is to be pronounced separately and independently. There are 14 in number. A list is appended.


Hawam-meen
A group of seven surahs of the Holy Qur'aan beginning with a combination of letters Ha and Meem is collectively termed as Hawam-Meem.


Kalamullah
Words of Allaah.


Kalimaat
Words of the Holy Qur'aan, sing. being Kalimah.


Manazil
Sections of the Holy Qur'aan, sing. being Manzil.


Mecci
Surahs and verses of the Holy Qur'aan revealed at Mecca are called Mecci.


Medani
Surahs or verses revealed at Medina are called Medini.


Musabbehat
A group of six surahs of the Holy Qur'aan beginning with the praises of Almighty Allaah.


Paaraas
Parts of the Holy Qur'aan, sing. being paara.


Rukooat
Sub-division of suras (like paragraphs) of the Holy Qur'aan, sing. being rukoo.


Suras
Chapters of the Holy Qur'aan, sing. being sura.




LIST OF HOROOF-I-MUQATTA'AT


Alif-laam-meen: occurs before six suras, namely: Al Baqara, Aal-I 'Imran, Al-'Ankaboot, Ar-Room, Luqman, and As-Sajdah (Nos, 2, 3, 29, 30, 31 and 32 respectively).


Alif-Laam-Meem-Raa Sura Ar-Ra'd (No. 13)


Alif-Laam-Raa Occurs five suras, namely, Yoonus, Hood, before Yusuf, Ibrahim and Al-Hijr (nos. 10 to 12, 14 and 15, respectively)


Alif-Laam-Meem-Suad
Sura Al-A'Raaf
(no.7)


Haam-Meem
Sixsuras namely, Al-Momin, Haam-Meem, Sijdah, Az-Zukhraf, Ad-Dukhan,
Al-Jasiah and Al-Ahqaaf
(nos. 40, 41, and 43 to 46 respectively).


Haa-Meem-'Ain Seen Suad
Sura Ashoora
(no. 42)


Kaaf-Ha-Ya 'Ain Suad
Sura Maryam
(no. 5)


Noon
Sura Al-Qalam
(no. 68)


Quaaf
Sura Quaaf
(no. 50)


Suaad
Sura Suaad
(no. 38)


Twaa-Ha
Sura Twaa-Ha
(no. 20)


Twaa-Seen
Sura An-Namal
(no. 27)


Twaaseenmeem
Sura Ashshoa'araa
(no. 26)


Yaa-Seen
Sura Yaaseen
(no. 26)




(Courtesy: Yaqeen International)


End

 

 

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