*Bismillah Hir Rahmaan Nir Raheem* *Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu* ** *Division of Qur'an* Qur'an has been divided into units, portions and sections, according to the convenience of the readers who wish to complete it in a given time and according to the subject matter. The Arabic terms used for this division are Manzil, Juz, surah, Hizb, ruku and ayah. There are different interpretations in different translations for these Arabic terms, but there are a few terms which we will use as they are in Arabic, like the words ayah and surah.
* - Ayah* Ayah is the unit of Qur'an. It is guidance from Allah to Mankind and it is therefore not at all surprising to find that its smallest divisions are called 'signs'(ayat) i.e. signs of the Wisdom of Allah. The terms sentence and verse are not appropriate to use in place of the word ayah, as the Qur'an is not a Book of poetry. The size of an ayah varies in different surahs. The smallest ayah in the Qur'an comprises of only two letters i.e. 'Ha-Mim'. On the other hand an ayah can be as big as Ayat-ul-Kursi, which is one of the biggest ayat of the Qur'an. So the division or the length of an ayah is not based on any principal of Arabic grammar, rather it was accepted as Prophet Muhammad(Peace be upon him) told us. As far as the count of ayat of the Qur'an are concerned, there is a difference of opinion in this matter, but it is known that there are atleast 6500 ayat in the Glorious Qur'an. *- Surah* Surah, plural Suwar, literally means 'row' or 'fence'. In technical language, it is the passage-wise division of the Qur'anic text. The Qur'an has 114 surahs of unequal length, the shortest consisting of three ayat(Al-Asr) &(Kauther)and the longest of 286 ayat (Al-Baqarah). The surahs are not divided into topics or subjects, quite unlike the books we are accustomed with and the reader also encounters abrupt transitions between one subject matter into another within a surah, that is what makes Qur'an a unique Book. Likewise, a surah does not contain any chapters or paragraphs, thus these terms cannot be interchanged with the Arabic word 'surah'. * - Ruku* The surahs are further divided into sections called ruku. These divisions were not present at the time of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) or during the days of his Companions (May Allah be pleased with them all). They were later added on for the convenience of the readers, under the leadership of Hajjaj bin Yusuf. Rukus are indicated by the Arabic letter 'Ain' and a number on it. *- Juz* The Qur'an is also divided into thirty well know 'Juz' of approximately equal length for easy recitation during the thirty nights of a month, especially of the month of Ramadan. Usually they are indicated by the word and the number of it given alongside. This division of the Qur'an was present at the time of the Companions (May Allah be pleased with them all), as indicated by the hadith: Aws bin Hudhayfah said, he asked the Companions (May Allah be pleased with them all) of the Prophet(Peace be upon him), during his lifetime about how they used to divide the Qur'an, they said, "A third, a fifth, a seventh, a ninth, oneeleventh, one thirteenth and the Mufassal 7 until the end"8. * - Hizb* The Qur'an has each Juz subdivided into four Hizb. Each hizb is again subdivided into quarters, the division is as follows, Rub'u (one-fourth), Nisf (half), and Sulus (one-third). * - Manzil* The Qur'anic text is also divided into seven parts of approximately equal length, called Manzil. It is indicated by the word 'manzil' and the respective number in the margin. This arrangement was done by the Companions (May Allah be pleased with them all) of the Prophet(Peace be upon him), to enable them to recite the whole Qur'an in the course of a week. First manzil contains three surahs, excluding Al-Fatihah, second has five, third seven, then nine, eleven, thirteen and the seventh Manzil contains sixty-five surahs. * - Pairs* Some surahs in the Qur'an form pairs, like surah Al-Baqarah and surah Al- Imran. Similarly the surahs Bani Israel and Al-Kahf form a pair. They form pairs because of the similarities of the subject addressed in them. There are also some unique surahs which do not form a pair with any surah like surah Yasin. *- Makkan and Madinan Division* As part of studying the revelation of the Qur'an, scholars have categorized the surahs of the Qur'an according to the time or era of their revelation. This is the subject that came to be known as the Makkan and Madinan division of Qur'an. The surahs revealed before Hijrah are known as Makkan surahs and those revealed after Hijrah are called Madinan surahs. The Makkan surahs are 85 and Madinan surahs number 28, which are divided into seven Makkan- Madinan groups. There is a scholarly consensus on the categorization of the Makkan and the Madinan surahs except for a few, where not all the ayat in a surah are of the same category, e.g. Surah Hajj. Some say it is Makkan and others say it of the Madinan origin, both opinions are correct, as it contains some ayat of the Makkan phase as well as from the Madinan period. Source: http://www.tanzeem.org/online/Dorah/001-Introduction.pdf [COURTESY-FARAAZ] -- *Surah Isra 17 verse 80 Say: "O my Lord! let my entry be by the Gate of Truth and Honor and likewise my exit by the Gate of Truth and Honor; and grant me from Thy Presence an authority to aid (me)." Ameen Transliteration :Wa qur rabbi adkhilni mudkhala sidqiw wa akhrijni mukhraja sidqiw wa-j'al li mil ladunka sulta_nan nasira_(n). Al-Tirmidhi HadithHadith 2482 Narrated by AbuHurayrah (May Allah be pleased with him) Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) used to say, " O Allah, grant me benefit in what Thou hast taught me, teach me what will benefit me, and increase my knowledge. Praise be to Allah in all circumstances. I seek refuge in Allah from the state of those who go to Hell." Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, Tirmidhi saying this is a tradition whose isnad is gharib. Ameen * [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
