It is well known that the Holy Qur’an was not revealed to our master Muhammad, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, in one batch. Rather, it was revealed in a mine in twenty-three years.

Although the essence of this struggle revolves around the Book of God Almighty; For the Qur’an - at the same time - was a dialogue text coexisting with all the experiences of the new society being built, and it is almost intertwined with everything they felt; In addition to the events that occurred to them.

It was a struggle full of troubles and problems; In the first place, the Messenger (PBUH) strove to summarize man from the darkness of slavery to other human beings, and he strived to transfer a society (what their fathers were warned) from darkness to light; They lived in ignorance, ignorant, far from the purpose for which they were created.

Our Prophet began the struggle of faith and belief with a small group of believers; He exposed them to campaigns of denial, torture, degrading and stubbornness, and the Holy Qur’an shows them that this path that the Messenger and his companions live is a continuation of what the previous prophets and their faithful companions lived.

And so on; The experiences and accidents that took place with them throughout that time - in Mecca and afterward in Medina - were experienced by revelation; It established among the believers their identity identical to that of the believers who stood with the prophets throughout human history.

The Noble Qur’an addressed polytheists who were very confident - or arrogant - with their strength, their minds and their arts, so that it reminds them of the nations that preceded them throughout history and were stronger than them and were more powerful and mighty; But when they were immoral, disbelieved, and wronged, torture brought them to them in a way they did not feel, and their destiny was annihilation.

The stories in the Noble Qur’an tell and describe the actions of both unbelievers and believers throughout history, and when we read these stories we feel as if they tell about what is happening in our time; As it is not limited to its time only, and we see the reactions of the unbelievers mentioned in the Noble Qur’an are repeated in our time. The polytheists were rejecting guidance and faith. Saying: What is our relationship to this? This is the first two legends! {And when they are said to them, “When did your Lord descend?” They said, “My legend of the first two.” (Surat Al-Nahl / Verse: 24) Let us pay close attention to this reaction, because it is very important, and we will build upon it the words.

The Holy Qur’an described idols that idolaters worshiped, and showed them that these idols - which they share with God Almighty in worship - do not benefit them - not even for themselves - benefit or harm. He showed them that they were nothing but stones, which they and their fathers named and placed around the Kaaba, and made it part of their culture and belief.

The acceptance that every Quranic verse has a reason or story about its descent, and the abundance of narratives about the reasons for the descent, constitute a tributary that feeds most of the claims of the owners of what they call "the historical understanding of the Qur'an"; They repeal some of the provisions contained in the Quranic texts on the pretext that they were brought down to people who had lived in the past, or that they were specific to the social life of the Arabs who lived in that era

This reaction - meaning their saying: {My legacy is the first two} and the rejection of true faith and belief; Under the pretext that it is not part of their inherited culture - a reaction that has been repeated and repeated throughout history. As the polytheists did the time of our Prophet (PBUH); We see the western world today that the history of non-western peoples is considered worthless or unimportant, and it describes non-western peoples as "people without history", and the motivation behind this characterization is an "ideology" that sees themselves as very enlightened.

The verses of the Noble Qur’an were consistent and responsive to incidents experienced by Muslims during the period of downloading the Qur’an, hence the science of “the reasons for descent”. It is known that "the reasons for the descent" is an important field of interpretation, but the knowledge of the descending stories related to some verses led to a general belief that all verses of the Qur’an were revealed following a specific reason; Meaning that each verse has a specific reason for going down.

This acceptance that each Quranic verse has a reason or story about its descent, and the large number of narratives about the reasons for the descent, constitute a tributary that feeds most of the claims of the owners of what they call "historical understanding of the Qur'an"; They repeal some of the provisions contained in the Quranic texts on the pretext that they were brought down to people who had lived in the past, or that they were specific to the social life of the Arabs who lived in that era.

These “historians” keep other things from the Noble Qur’an they call “historical”. Such as the righteousness of parents, feeding the poor, and preventing unjust killing ... etc. Until it was up to some of them to say: The Qur’an is a word from heaven and also from earth. They mean that the Qur'an was revealed because of historical actions that took place in a time and place other than ours and ours.

From their point of view, it is understood that there is a dialectical relationship between the revelation of God Almighty and the reality of people's lives at the time of the revelation of the Noble Qur’an. For this reason, they claim that the Holy Qur’an does not address us but rather the people who descended in their time and on their land. They see that what is required of us from the Qur’an is only some moral directives, and they disrupt the jurisprudence provisions in the Book of God Almighty.

But; There is a problem related to the science of "the reasons for descending", which is that not every verse of the Qur'an is known to have a reason for descending, and even if we know the time of its descent, we cannot know the reasons for its descending all. In fact, The verses that teach the story of the reason for its descent are very few.

The book that is in our hands is really the words of God Almighty and its rulings that have been revealed to the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace for twenty-three years, and have responded to the events experienced by the Messenger and those who believed in him, and the polytheists who used him and fought him as well.

Originally; This thought - I mean the necessity of linking the descent of the verse for some reason - urges us to revise Imam al-Ghazali's conception of the concept of relativity and its objections to it. According to this view (the opinion of Imam Ghazali); It is not necessary to think that we attribute each verse to the reason for the descent, because this thinking will lead us to serious problems, and the imams interpreted this.

God Almighty’s appreciation for downloading this book or verses within twenty-three years is a divine blessing and kindness; To allow people to understand it better within the limits of their human capabilities. But their thinking that God Almighty - who created the causes and consequences, and knows what was and what will be and what will be - needs a reason in order to download His verses is not a way to know God Almighty.

There is no doubt that knowing the historical and social context in which the verses were revealed is of value in understanding the meaning; When these events and their context are well understood, the language the revelation speaks is also better understood, so that its intent is closer.

The right belief of a believer is that the divine revelation - as a whole, including events that appear to be a reason for descending - was inevitably descending with God Almighty’s appreciation, and this is the belief and the most correct and peaceful thinking of the believer. This thought should lead us to God Almighty kindness and generosity that He sends his revelation with the incidents that appear to be a reason to descend; To make it easier for believers to understand the revelation

All knowledge and science that grows on the banks of the Qur’anic text - of linguistic, historical, and grammatical knowledge - is undoubtedly valuable, but the problem is that we make revelation dependent on the environment and the events in which it descended, and that it is interpreted according to this understanding. And if we think like these - and God forbid - it means that the words of God Almighty came as reactions and answers for any person who asks any question, and this means that if these events, problems and questions were not found, it would not have been a revelation.

In this case, i.e., if various other events occurred during the time of the Messenger; The text of the Holy Qur’an that we have has a completely different content according to these events, and this leads to the saying: This book came as a coincidence according to the events of that era that they lived, and therefore these words deny the descending of the verses and the wall that they are appreciation from God, and it denies the words of God Almighty - which we read - the adjective of eternity.

This thinking is not a way to know God Almighty; And it leads to corruption in the faith because its glory is not linked to any cause. On the contrary; It is - the majesty of His Majesty - the first and the last, and it is the cause of all causes.

In contrast; It is worth noting that there are many accounts according to which many verses and chapters were revealed with divine discretion, without being related to a specific incident or direct cause, in the sense that revelation was not always revealed in response to a question, or after a specific incident, but rather the revelation is often revealed in divine appreciation other than Linked to a specific place, time or accident.

The proper belief of the believer is that the divine revelation - as a whole, including the events that appear to be a reason for descending - was inevitably descending with the appreciation of God Almighty, and this is the belief and the most correct and peaceful thinking of the believer. This thought should lead us to God Almighty kindness and generosity that He sends his revelation with the incidents that appear to be a reason to descend; To make it easier for believers to understand the revelation.

This revelation was revealed by the Creator in harmony with incidents that God Almighty has determined to be experienced by the Creature. Some of the verses speak about special situations. But this speech contains lessons and guidance for all people, and the general phrase is not about the cause. As a result of all the events to which the revelation responded; Today, these verses continue to tell us the most vital and effective way to respond to our reality, without having to consider the reason for its descent.

  • Source: Al-Jazeera