Asbab al-nuzul Asbâb al-nuzûl, an Arabic term meaning "occasions/circumstances of revelation", is a a secondary genre of Qur'ânic exegesis (tafsir) directed at establishing the context in which specific verses of the Qur'ân were revealed. Though of some use in reconstructing the Qur'ân's historicity, asbâb is by nature an exegetical rather than a historiographical genre, and as such usually associates the verses it explicates with general situations rather than specific events. Contents
[edit] Etymology
Asbâb is the plural of the Arabic word sabab, which means 'cause', 'reason', or 'occasion', and nuzûl is the verbal noun of the verb root nzl, literally meaning to descend or send down, and thus (metaphorically) reveal, as when Allah sends down scripture to his prophets. Though technical terms within Qur'ânic exegesis often have their origins in the book itself (e.g. naskh), sabab/asbâb is not one of them. Despite the appearance of the stem sbb over 11 times in the Qur'ân (Q.2:166, , Q.18:84, Q.18:85 Q.18:89, Q.22:15, Q.38:10, Q.40:36-37), "none of the verses seem the least bit connected to a statement concerning revelatory procedure" (Rippin, BSOAS 48, p. 14). Within exegetical literature, the use of sabab in a technical sense did not occur until relatively late: the material which would be later culled by asbâb writers used alternate phraseologies to introduce their reports, such as al-âya nazalat fî hâdhâ-
"the verse was revealed about such and such"- or fa-anzala allâh- "so God revealed/sent down". The first sustained use of the word occurs in the tafsir of al-Tabarî and the naskh work of al-Nahhâs (d. 950), where it can be seen solidifying into its later technical sense (Rippin, BSOAS 48, p. 14). [edit] Asbâb Literature
No asbâb works from earlier than the 11th Century are known, and it is unlikely that this genre of exegetical literature existed before then. Though there is a section titled Nuzûl al-Qur'ân in Ibn al-Nadîm's 10th Century bibliographical catalog Kitâb al-Fihrist (including one Nuzûl al-Qur'ân attributed to the semi-legendary Ibn 'Abbâs as transmitted through 'Ikrima), there is no evidence to believe that most of these works ever existed, or that their ambiguous titles signify texts within the asbâb al-nuzûl genre. In Rippin's detailed examination of pre-18th Century exegetical literature (BSOAS 48, pp. 2-12), only the following four works qualify as belonging to the asbâb genre: - Kitâb asbâb al-nuzûl (Book of occasions of revelation) by al-Wâhidî
(d. 1075). The first instance of the asbâb genre and still among the most popular. It examines verses from a total of 83 different suras, with the majority of asbâb as traditional hadith reports with isnad chains of transmission.
- Asbâb al-nuzûl wa qisas al-furqâniyya by Muhammad ibn As'ad al-'Irâqî (d. 1171). Contains sabab reports mixed with qisas al-anbiyâ (stories of the prophets) material. The former seem independent of al-Wâhidî's compilation and are isnad-less. Exists in two manuscripts copies, one at the Chester Beatty Library (Manuscript 5199).
- A manuscript (Berlin Staatsbibliothek, Catalog no. 3578). ascribed to al-Ja'barî, probably pseudepigraphicaly. Consists of sabab and naskh material interspersed, with the former containing very abbreviated isnads
where only the first authority is listed. According to its final page this manuscript was written in 1309.
- Lubâb al-nuqûl fîq asbâb al-nuzûl by al-Suyûtî (d. 1505). A re-working of al-Wâhidî's Kitâb asbâb al-nuzûl, covering 102 suras in total. Cites a broad range of hadith, sunna, and tafsir material, with isnads containing only the last authority. A very popular instance of the genre, having gone through many printings and currently available within Tafsîr al-Jalâlayn.
Though al-Wâhidî
may thus be considered the father of this genre (a view consistent with his rather self-serving depiction of asbâb al-nuzûl as the key to all exegesis), al-Suyûtî made significant contributions to it as well, introducing such refinements as limiting reports to only those contemporaneous with the revelation itself (reports related to events described by the verse were reclassified as akhbâr) and developing a sabab selection criterion different from al-Wâhidî's rather mechanistic one of scanning for a select few "marker" introductory phrases (Rippin, BSOAS 48, p. 15). It should be noted, though, that sabab-material did not originate with the asbâb al-nuzûl genre. The chief innovation of the genre was organizational (i.e. the collection of asbâb-material within one text) and to a lesser
degree methodological, and so while no work prior to al-Wâhidî's Kitâb may be properly called an instance of asbâb al-nuzûl, material of equivalent function exists in the earliest hadith and tafsir. This distinction will be maintained here by the use of the term sabab-material for an occasion of revelation which does not necessarily come from a work of asbâb al-nuzûl, and sabab only for one that does. The reasons for asbâb 's status as a secondary genre are implicit in this bibliographical overview. Its late emergence (well into the classical period) plus its reliance on earlier tafsir works even for its raw material prevented asbâb al-nuzûl 's emergence as a major, independent approach to Qur'ânic interpretation. Indeed Rippin posits for asbâb literature the following
rather homely milieu: - The primary (i.e., predominant) function of the sabab in the exegetical texts is not halakhic [juridicial]... the essential role of the material is in haggadic [narratological] exegesis... I would tentatively trace the origins of this material to the context of the qussâs, the wandering story-tellers, and pious preachers and to a basically popular religious worship situation where such stories would prove both enjoyable and edifying.
- BSOAS 51, p. 19
This contrasts with Wansbrough's assertion in Quranic Studies that the sabab originated in legal (or what he terms "halakhic", but which in an Islamic context may more appropriately be called hukmic) exegesis. [edit] Function
One function of the sabab report is theological. As Rippin notes: - Such reports are cited... out of a general desire to historicize the text of the Qur'ân in order to be able to prove constantly that God really did reveal his book to humanity on earth; the material thereby acts as a witness to
God's concern for His creation [ ar-Rahman ]. Indeed al-Suyûtî cites this as one of his understandings of the function of the sabab.
- BSOAS 51, p. 2
The occasion of revelation's primary function, though, is exegetical, and by enumerating its various uses within Qur'ânic interpretation we visit nearly all the problems of concern for classical Muslim exegetes. These problems span the hermeneutical spectrum, from the most basic units of linguistic meaning to such technical intellectual disciplines as law and philosophy and all points in between. A major underlying difficulty encountered at all levels is the Qur'ân's lack of structure. This extends beyond the question of temporal ordering to one of basic unity of thought and _expression_: - It has often been remarked that the Qur'ân lacks an overall cohesive structure... and does not provide within itself many keys for interpretation. One of the very basic problem is that it is often impossible to tell where one pericope ends and the next
one begins.
- BSOAS 51, p. 8
The various levels of interpretation along with their typical problems are listed below in order of increasing hermeneutical complexity: - Lexical: What is the meaning of a particular word?
- Intra-Versal/Sentential: Who or what is the referrent of a particular pronoun?
- Inter-Versal/Pericopal: What is the relation between verses? Do they constitute a single meaning/unit of thought, or are they distinct?
- Narratological ("Qissaic"): What is the story being told? Why do the characters in it react in the way they do?
- Historical/Ethnological: What events or personages are being described? What cultural practices are being reported and how do they relate the jâhilî scene?
- Legal ("Hukmic"): What are the legal implications of a particular verse and how do these relate to the remaining corpus of Islamic holy law? Is the ruling limited in scope to the circumstances or even unique instant in which it was revealed, or does it define a general principle with broad applicability?
A detailed examination of the function of asbâb at several of these levels follows. Unless otherwise noted examples all come from Rippin's The function of asbâb al-nuzûl in Qur'ânic exegesis (BSOAS 51). Quotations from the Qur'ân are taken from the Abdullah
Yusuf `Ali translation. [edit] Lexical/Sentential
A demonstration of the two lowest-level functions of the sabab may be seen in the exegesis of verse 2:44 : - 2:44 Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (To practise it) yourselves, and yet ye study the Scripture? Will ye not understand?
A sabab put forward by both al-Wâhidî (Kitâb 22) and al-Suyûtî (Lubâb 19) claim this verse was revealed about those Jews of Medina who urged their converted relations to obey Muhammed's example even while they hypocritically
refused to do so themselves (such Jewish hypocrisy being a common Qur'ânic polemical motif). The sabab thus fixes the meaning of the pronoun "ye", and also provides a gloss for the word "right conduct" (birr) as the sunna of Muhammed. [edit]
Pericopal
One theory of Qur'ânic verse arrangement proposes a thematic/topical ordering of ayat. This, combined with the Qur'ân's allusive literary style (e.g. "the Qur'ânic 'they' which is frequently left ambiguous in the text" [BSOAS 51, p. 6]) makes establishing pericopal boundaries difficult, however. Does one verse continue the unit of meaning begun by preceding verses, or does it initiate a new one? Sabab-material was used to both erect and pull down such boundaries, as their use with respect to verses 2:114-2:115 illustrate: - 2:114 And who is more unjust than he who forbids that in places for the worship of Allah,
Allah's name should be celebrated?-whose zeal is (in fact) to ruin them? It was not fitting that such should themselves enter them except in fear. For them there is nothing but disgrace in this world, and in the world to come, an exceeding torment.
- 2:115 To Allah belong the east and the West: Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of Allah. For Allah is all-Pervading, all-Knowing.
One report "suggests this verse [Q.2:115] is a continuation of Q.2:114 which concerns the destruction of mosques and thus that this verse, 115, intends that the destruction of mosques does not mean that one can no longer face a qibla" (BSOAS 51, p. 12). Most sabab-material, however, locate Q.2:115 in the context of prayers not delivered in the
direction of the qibla under various extenuating circumstances, thus dividing it from Q.2:114 . [edit] Narratological
The function of asbâb is most straightforward at the narratological level, where the context given identifies the characters of a story, their motivations, and ambient circumstances which influence their behavior. An extensive example of this is the sabab attributed to Ibn Ishâq (al-Wâhidî, Kitâb 22) for verses Q.2:258,
Q.2:260 : - 2:258 Hast thou not Turned thy vision to one who disputed with Abraham about his Lord, because Allah had granted him power? Abraham said: "My Lord is He who giveth life and death." He said: "I give life and death". Said Abraham: "But it is Allah that causeth the sun to rise from the east: Do thou then cause him to rise from the West." Thus was he confounded who (in arrogance) rejected faith. Nor doth Allah give guidance to a people unjust.
- 2:260 When Abraham said: "Show me, Lord, how You will raise the dead", He replied: "Have you no faith?" He said "Yes, but just to reassure my heart." Allah said, "Take four birds, draw them to you, and cut their bodies to pieces. Scatter them over the mountain-tops, then call them back. They will come swiftly to you. Know that Allah is mighty, wise."
The sabab sets the overall scene for Q.2:258, identifying Nimrod as Ibrahim's interlocutor, and also adding the entertaining narratological "sugar" of Nimrod's impiously proving his power over life and death by executing one man and pardoning another. As Ibrahim has not actually seen God restore life to the dead, he poses a different challenge to Nimrod, that of making the sun rise in the west, and
so confounds the king. Later, apparently still troubled by the encounter, Ibrahim asks God for proof of His power over life and death- with results as described in Q.2:260- and then reports the miracle to Nimrod. Thus the sabab not only explicates the two verses, but also weaves them together into a single narrative thread. Note, though, that according to the sabab identification criterion established by al-Suyûtî, this report qualifies as an instance of akhbâr, rather than asbâb, since it explicates the story told in the verse, not why the verse was revealed itself. [edit] Historical/Ethnological
For Muslims the definition of the jâhiliyyah scene (i.e. Arabia's pre-Islamic age of "ignorance" and "barbarism") was an important concern, but complicated by their religion's competing claims to be both a stark break with this past as well as a continuation of practices begun by "Islam" in its pre-Qur'ânic, ur-religion manifestations, as in worship at the Kaaba. Many "ethnological" asbâb exist for this
purpose, with those put forward for Q.2:158 particularly illustrative of their function at this level of interpretation: - 2:158 Behold! Safa and Marwa are among the Symbols of Allah. So if those who visit the House in the Season or at other times, should compass them round, it is no sin in them. And if any one obeyeth his own impulse to good,- be sure that Allah is He Who recogniseth and knoweth.
The verse concerns the ritual practice of circumambulating between the hills of
Safa and Marwa; the two asbâb cited by al-Wâhidî both describe the controversy regarding this ritual (Q.2:158's occasion of revelation) by reference to the jâhilî scene. The first sabab states that the pagan Arabs practiced this (ur-Islamically sanctioned) ritual, but that they so adulterated it with idolatry that the first Muslims pressed to abandon it until Q.2:158 was revealed. The second sabab provides
conflicting ethnological data, stating that the practice was instituted by Muhammed in opposition to the pagans' sacrifices to their idols (Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices ISBN 0415045193, pp. 10-11). These asbâb have no legal incidence; they function merely to settle a matter of curiosity (BSOAS 51, p. 10) as well as to contrast the Islamic dispensation with what came before, obviously to the benefit of the former. This imperative, plus the fact that much of the material is contradictory (highly indicative that it was not just being altered, but actually fabricated) make such asbâb useful only for reconstructing the development of Islamic ideology and identity, rather than the pre-Islamic Arabian past. [edit] Legal
Legal exegesis is the most hermeneutically complex level of interpretation for several reasons. One is that every ruling must be considered with respect to the corpus of Islamic holy law. If the ruling contradicts some other one, does it abrogate/mitigate its foil, or is it itself abrogated/mitigated? Note that the foil may not always be a particular verse or pericope, but a principle synthesized from multiple rulings. The second, even more basic, complexity resides in determining which verses have legal content. A seemingly
proscriptive verse may be made merely polemical by interpretation, while a seemingly non-proscriptive verse may have actual legal import. Lastly there is the issue of juridical inflation/deflation (the latter termed takhsîs) where the scope/applicability of the ruling may be radically increased or decreased by exegesis. The asbâb surrounding Q.2:115 have already shown how legal consequences may be injected into a seemingly non-hukmic verse. The asbâb for Q.2:79 demonstrate the opposite: - 2:79 Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say: "This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.
Here the reports agree the verse is directed against the Jews, and
so a proscription with seemingly broad applicability is almost completely deflated into a polemical filip about Jewish alteration of holy scripture (tahrîf). Lastly, as an example of juridical inflation, is Q.2:104: - 2:104 O ye of Faith! Say not (to the Messenger) words of ambiguous import [râ'inâ], but words of respect; and hearken (to him): To those without Faith is a grievous punishment.
The asbâb put forward by the exegetes cannot establish the meaning of the probably-transliterated word râ'inâ, but they generally identify it as some sort of curse or mock which the Jews tricked the Muslims into incorporating
into their own greetings. In any case: - Al-Jassâs sees the legal significance of the verse as going beyond merely not saying râ'inâ; the Jews (or the Arabs) said the word to mock others, according to the sabab- therefore mockery is not permitted; nor are double entendres permitted.
- BSOAS 51, p. 18
As these examples amply demonstrate, supporting exegetical literature (e.g. hadith, sabab-material) are often decisive in fixing the legal meaning of a particular Qur'ânic verse/pericope. Appealing to the raw, unmediated text of the Qur'ân as proof of consensus within traditional Islamic law for or against some practice is thus almost always a futile exercise. [edit] References
- Andrew Rippin (2002) The Qur'ân and its interpretative tradition, Variorum. ISBN 0860788482
- Andrew Rippin (1985). The exegetical genre asbâb al-nuzûl: a bibliographical and terminological survey. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 48: 1-15.
- Andrew Rippin (1988). The function of asbâb al-nuzûl in Qur'ânic exegesis. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 51: 1-20.
Asbâb al-nuzûl, an Arabic term meaning "occasions/circumstances of revelation", is a a secondary genre of Qur'ânic exegesis (tafsir) directed at establishing the context in which specific verses of the Qur'ân were revealed. Though of some use in reconstructing the Qur'ân's historicity, asbâb is by nature an exegetical rather than a historiographical genre, and as such usually associates the verses it explicates with general situations rather than specific events.
Contents |
[edit]
Etymology
Asbâb is the plural of the Arabic word sabab, which means 'cause', 'reason', or 'occasion', and nuzûl is the verbal noun of the verb root nzl, literally meaning to descend or send down, and thus (metaphorically) reveal, as when Allah sends down scripture to his prophets. Though technical terms within Qur'ânic exegesis often have their origins in the book itself (e.g. naskh), sabab/asbâb is not one of them. Despite the appearance of the stem sbb over 11 times in the Qur'ân (Q.2:166, , Q.18:84, Q.18:85 Q.18:89, Q.22:15, Q.38:10, Q.40:36-37), "none of the verses seem the least bit connected to a statement concerning revelatory procedure" (Rippin, BSOAS 48, p. 14).
Within exegetical literature, the use of sabab in a technical sense did not occur until relatively late: the material which would be later culled by asbâb writers used alternate phraseologies to introduce their reports, such as al-âya nazalat fî hâdhâ-
"the verse was revealed about such and such"- or fa-anzala allâh- "so God revealed/sent down". The first sustained use of the word occurs in the tafsir of al-Tabarî and the naskh work of al-Nahhâs (d. 950), where it can be seen solidifying into its later technical sense (Rippin, BSOAS 48, p. 14).
[edit]
Asbâb Literature
No asbâb works from earlier than the 11th Century are known, and it is unlikely that this genre of exegetical literature existed before then. Though there is a section titled Nuzûl al-Qur'ân in Ibn al-Nadîm's 10th Century bibliographical catalog Kitâb al-Fihrist (including one Nuzûl al-Qur'ân attributed to the semi-legendary Ibn 'Abbâs as transmitted through 'Ikrima), there is no evidence to believe that most of these works ever existed, or that their ambiguous titles signify texts within the asbâb al-nuzûl genre. In Rippin's detailed examination of pre-18th Century exegetical literature (BSOAS 48, pp. 2-12), only the following four works qualify as belonging to the asbâb genre:
- Kitâb asbâb al-nuzûl (Book of occasions of revelation) by al-Wâhidî (d. 1075). The first instance of the asbâb genre and still among the most popular. It examines verses from a total of 83 different suras, with the majority of asbâb as traditional hadith reports with isnad chains of transmission.
- Asbâb al-nuzûl wa qisas al-furqâniyya by Muhammad ibn As'ad al-'Irâqî (d. 1171). Contains sabab reports mixed with qisas al-anbiyâ (stories of the prophets) material. The former seem independent of al-Wâhidî's compilation and are isnad-less. Exists in two manuscripts copies, one at the Chester Beatty Library (Manuscript 5199).
- A manuscript (Berlin Staatsbibliothek, Catalog no. 3578). ascribed to al-Ja'barî, probably pseudepigraphicaly. Consists of sabab and naskh material interspersed, with the former containing very abbreviated isnads where only the first authority is listed. According to its final page this manuscript was written in 1309.
- Lubâb al-nuqûl fîq asbâb al-nuzûl by al-Suyûtî (d. 1505). A re-working of al-Wâhidî's Kitâb asbâb al-nuzûl, covering 102 suras in total. Cites a broad range of hadith, sunna, and tafsir material, with isnads containing only the last authority. A very popular instance of the genre, having gone through many printings and currently available within Tafsîr al-Jalâlayn.
Though al-Wâhidî
may thus be considered the father of this genre (a view consistent with his rather self-serving depiction of asbâb al-nuzûl as the key to all exegesis), al-Suyûtî made significant contributions to it as well, introducing such refinements as limiting reports to only those contemporaneous with the revelation itself (reports related to events described by the verse were reclassified as akhbâr) and developing a sabab selection criterion different from al-Wâhidî's rather mechanistic one of scanning for a select few "marker" introductory phrases (Rippin, BSOAS 48, p. 15).
It should be noted, though, that sabab-material did not originate with the asbâb al-nuzûl genre. The chief innovation of the genre was organizational (i.e. the collection of asbâb-material within one text) and to a lesser
degree methodological, and so while no work prior to al-Wâhidî's Kitâb may be properly called an instance of asbâb al-nuzûl, material of equivalent function exists in the earliest hadith and tafsir. This distinction will be maintained here by the use of the term sabab-material for an occasion of revelation which does not necessarily come from a work of asbâb al-nuzûl, and sabab only for one that does.
The reasons for asbâb 's status as a secondary genre are implicit in this bibliographical overview. Its late emergence (well into the classical period) plus its reliance on earlier tafsir works even for its raw material prevented asbâb al-nuzûl 's emergence as a major, independent approach to Qur'ânic interpretation. Indeed Rippin posits for asbâb literature the following
rather homely milieu:
- The primary (i.e., predominant) function of the sabab in the exegetical texts is not halakhic [juridicial]... the essential role of the material is in haggadic [narratological] exegesis... I would tentatively trace the origins of this material to the context of the qussâs, the wandering story-tellers, and pious preachers and to a basically popular religious worship situation where such stories would prove both enjoyable and edifying.
- BSOAS 51, p. 19
This contrasts with Wansbrough's assertion in Quranic Studies that the sabab originated in legal (or what he terms "halakhic", but which in an Islamic context may more appropriately be called hukmic) exegesis.
[edit]
Function
One function of the sabab report is theological. As Rippin notes:
- Such reports are cited... out of a general desire to historicize the text of the Qur'ân in order to be able to prove constantly that God really did reveal his book to humanity on earth; the material thereby acts as a witness to
God's concern for His creation [ ar-Rahman ]. Indeed al-Suyûtî cites this as one of his understandings of the function of the sabab.
- BSOAS 51, p. 2
The occasion of revelation's primary function, though, is exegetical, and by enumerating its various uses within Qur'ânic interpretation we visit nearly all the problems of concern for classical Muslim exegetes. These problems span the hermeneutical spectrum, from the most basic units of linguistic meaning to such technical intellectual disciplines as law and philosophy and all points in between. A major underlying difficulty encountered at all levels is the Qur'ân's lack of structure. This extends beyond the question of temporal ordering to one of basic unity of thought and _expression_:
- It has often been remarked that the Qur'ân lacks an overall cohesive structure... and does not provide within itself many keys for interpretation. One of the very basic problem is that it is often impossible to tell where one pericope ends and the next
one begins.
- BSOAS 51, p. 8
The various levels of interpretation along with their typical problems are listed below in order of increasing hermeneutical complexity:
- Lexical: What is the meaning of a particular word?
- Intra-Versal/Sentential: Who or what is the referrent of a particular pronoun?
- Inter-Versal/Pericopal: What is the relation between verses? Do they constitute a single meaning/unit of thought, or are they distinct?
- Narratological ("Qissaic"): What is the story being told? Why do the characters in it react in the way they do?
- Historical/Ethnological: What events or personages are being described? What cultural practices are being reported and how do they relate the jâhilî scene?
- Legal ("Hukmic"): What are the legal implications of a particular verse and how do these relate to the remaining corpus of Islamic holy law? Is the ruling limited in scope to the circumstances or even unique instant in which it was revealed, or does it define a general principle with broad applicability?
A detailed examination of the function of asbâb at several of these levels follows. Unless otherwise noted examples all come from Rippin's The function of asbâb al-nuzûl in Qur'ânic exegesis (BSOAS 51). Quotations from the Qur'ân are taken from the Abdullah
Yusuf `Ali translation.
[edit]
Lexical/Sentential
A demonstration of the two lowest-level functions of the sabab may be seen in the exegesis of verse 2:44 :
- 2:44 Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (To practise it) yourselves, and yet ye study the Scripture? Will ye not understand?
A sabab put forward by both al-Wâhidî (Kitâb 22) and al-Suyûtî (Lubâb 19) claim this verse was revealed about those Jews of Medina who urged their converted relations to obey Muhammed's example even while they hypocritically
refused to do so themselves (such Jewish hypocrisy being a common Qur'ânic polemical motif). The sabab thus fixes the meaning of the pronoun "ye", and also provides a gloss for the word "right conduct" (birr) as the sunna of Muhammed.
[edit]
Pericopal
One theory of Qur'ânic verse arrangement proposes a thematic/topical ordering of ayat. This, combined with the Qur'ân's allusive literary style (e.g. "the Qur'ânic 'they' which is frequently left ambiguous in the text" [BSOAS 51, p. 6]) makes establishing pericopal boundaries difficult, however. Does one verse continue the unit of meaning begun by preceding verses, or does it initiate a new one? Sabab-material was used to both erect and pull down such boundaries, as their use with respect to verses 2:114-2:115 illustrate:
- 2:114 And who is more unjust than he who forbids that in places for the worship of Allah,
Allah's name should be celebrated?-whose zeal is (in fact) to ruin them? It was not fitting that such should themselves enter them except in fear. For them there is nothing but disgrace in this world, and in the world to come, an exceeding torment.
- 2:115 To Allah belong the east and the West: Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of Allah. For Allah is all-Pervading, all-Knowing.
One report "suggests this verse [Q.2:115] is a continuation of Q.2:114 which concerns the destruction of mosques and thus that this verse, 115, intends that the destruction of mosques does not mean that one can no longer face a qibla" (BSOAS 51, p. 12). Most sabab-material, however, locate Q.2:115 in the context of prayers not delivered in the
direction of the qibla under various extenuating circumstances, thus dividing it from Q.2:114 .
[edit]
Narratological
The function of asbâb is most straightforward at the narratological level, where the context given identifies the characters of a story, their motivations, and ambient circumstances which influence their behavior.
An extensive example of this is the sabab attributed to Ibn Ishâq (al-Wâhidî, Kitâb 22) for verses Q.2:258,
Q.2:260 :
- 2:258 Hast thou not Turned thy vision to one who disputed with Abraham about his Lord, because Allah had granted him power? Abraham said: "My Lord is He who giveth life and death." He said: "I give life and death". Said Abraham: "But it is Allah that causeth the sun to rise from the east: Do thou then cause him to rise from the West." Thus was he confounded who (in arrogance) rejected faith. Nor doth Allah give guidance to a people unjust.
- 2:260 When Abraham said: "Show me, Lord, how You will raise the dead", He replied: "Have you no faith?" He said "Yes, but just to reassure my heart." Allah said, "Take four birds, draw them to you, and cut their bodies to pieces. Scatter them over the mountain-tops, then call them back. They will come swiftly to you. Know that Allah is mighty, wise."
The sabab sets the overall scene for Q.2:258, identifying Nimrod as Ibrahim's interlocutor, and also adding the entertaining narratological "sugar" of Nimrod's impiously proving his power over life and death by executing one man and pardoning another. As Ibrahim has not actually seen God restore life to the dead, he poses a different challenge to Nimrod, that of making the sun rise in the west, and
so confounds the king. Later, apparently still troubled by the encounter, Ibrahim asks God for proof of His power over life and death- with results as described in Q.2:260- and then reports the miracle to Nimrod. Thus the sabab not only explicates the two verses, but also weaves them together into a single narrative thread. Note, though, that according to the sabab identification criterion established by al-Suyûtî, this report qualifies as an instance of akhbâr, rather than asbâb, since it explicates the story told in the verse, not why the verse was revealed itself.
[edit]
Historical/Ethnological
For Muslims the definition of the jâhiliyyah scene (i.e. Arabia's pre-Islamic age of "ignorance" and "barbarism") was an important concern, but complicated by their religion's competing claims to be both a stark break with this past as well as a continuation of practices begun by "Islam" in its pre-Qur'ânic, ur-religion manifestations, as in worship at the Kaaba.
Many "ethnological" asbâb exist for this
purpose, with those put forward for Q.2:158 particularly illustrative of their function at this level of interpretation:
- 2:158 Behold! Safa and Marwa are among the Symbols of Allah. So if those who visit the House in the Season or at other times, should compass them round, it is no sin in them. And if any one obeyeth his own impulse to good,- be sure that Allah is He Who recogniseth and knoweth.
The verse concerns the ritual practice of circumambulating between the hills of
Safa and Marwa; the two asbâb cited by al-Wâhidî both describe the controversy regarding this ritual (Q.2:158's occasion of revelation) by reference to the jâhilî scene. The first sabab states that the pagan Arabs practiced this (ur-Islamically sanctioned) ritual, but that they so adulterated it with idolatry that the first Muslims pressed to abandon it until Q.2:158 was revealed. The second sabab provides
conflicting ethnological data, stating that the practice was instituted by Muhammed in opposition to the pagans' sacrifices to their idols (Rippin, Muslims: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices ISBN 0415045193, pp. 10-11).
These asbâb have no legal incidence; they function merely to settle a matter of curiosity (BSOAS 51, p. 10) as well as to contrast the Islamic dispensation with what came before, obviously to the benefit of the former. This imperative, plus the fact that much of the material is contradictory (highly indicative that it was not just being altered, but actually fabricated) make such asbâb useful only for reconstructing the development of Islamic ideology and identity, rather than the pre-Islamic Arabian past.
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Legal
Legal exegesis is the most hermeneutically complex level of interpretation for several reasons. One is that every ruling must be considered with respect to the corpus of Islamic holy law. If the ruling contradicts some other one, does it abrogate/mitigate its foil, or is it itself abrogated/mitigated? Note that the foil may not always be a particular verse or pericope, but a principle synthesized from multiple rulings. The second, even more basic, complexity resides in determining which verses have legal content. A seemingly
proscriptive verse may be made merely polemical by interpretation, while a seemingly non-proscriptive verse may have actual legal import. Lastly there is the issue of juridical inflation/deflation (the latter termed takhsîs) where the scope/applicability of the ruling may be radically increased or decreased by exegesis.
The asbâb surrounding Q.2:115 have already shown how legal consequences may be injected into a seemingly non-hukmic verse. The asbâb for Q.2:79 demonstrate the opposite:
- 2:79 Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say: "This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.
Here the reports agree the verse is directed against the Jews, and
so a proscription with seemingly broad applicability is almost completely deflated into a polemical filip about Jewish alteration of holy scripture (tahrîf).
Lastly, as an example of juridical inflation, is Q.2:104:
- 2:104 O ye of Faith! Say not (to the Messenger) words of ambiguous import [râ'inâ], but words of respect; and hearken (to him): To those without Faith is a grievous punishment.
The asbâb put forward by the exegetes cannot establish the meaning of the probably-transliterated word râ'inâ, but they generally identify it as some sort of curse or mock which the Jews tricked the Muslims into incorporating
into their own greetings. In any case:
- Al-Jassâs sees the legal significance of the verse as going beyond merely not saying râ'inâ; the Jews (or the Arabs) said the word to mock others, according to the sabab- therefore mockery is not permitted; nor are double entendres permitted.
- BSOAS 51, p. 18
As these examples amply demonstrate, supporting exegetical literature (e.g. hadith, sabab-material) are often decisive in fixing the legal meaning of a particular Qur'ânic verse/pericope. Appealing to the raw, unmediated text of the Qur'ân as proof of consensus within traditional Islamic law for or against some practice is thus almost always a futile exercise.
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References
- Andrew Rippin (2002) The Qur'ân and its interpretative tradition, Variorum. ISBN 0860788482
- Andrew Rippin (1985). The exegetical genre asbâb al-nuzûl: a bibliographical and terminological survey. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 48: 1-15.
- Andrew Rippin (1988). The function of asbâb al-nuzûl in Qur'ânic exegesis. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 51: 1-20.
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