Tanzil

''Tanzil'' (), ''anzal'' (), and ''nuzul'' (), and other words based on the Arabic triconsonantal root (, 'downward movement'), refers to the Islamic belief in the descent of God's message from heaven to Earth as speech, and sometimes visual, revelations to the Islamic prophet Muhammad with Gabriel as the conveyor, and occasionally God himself.

In the Quran forms of these words are found in verse Q 17:105:
*"And with the truth We have sent it .e., the Qur’āndown, and with the truth it has descended." (Arabic: وَبِالْحَقِّ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ وَبِالْحَقِّ نَزَلَ ''wa-bi-l-ẖaqqi `anzalnahu wa-bi-l-ẖaqqi nazal'').

Process

The Quran refers to its original source as the “mother of the book” (''umm al-kitab'') which is located in the presence of Allah (God). The Quran itself also calls this a “well-guarded tablet” (''lawh mahfuz'') a “concealed book” (''kitab maknun''). It describes the revelation to Muhammad as being dictated by the angel Jabril, not by Allah himself, and Muhammad as a messenger of Allah. While the Quran descends, in the Quran Allah himself is never described as coming down, but is sometimes mentioned in ''hadith'' as going from higher to lower heavens.

It is thought that the basic units of revelation of the Quran were short passages or verses ('' ayat''). Later these ayat were arranged into surahsWatt, William Montgomery, and Richard Bell. (1997). Introduction to the Qur’an. Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press.Merrill, John E. (1947). “Dr. Bell’s Critical Analysis of the Qur’an,” The Muslim World 37, 2: 134–48.Rippin, Andrew. (1992). “Reading the Qur’an with Richard Bell.” J.A.O.S. 112, 4: 639-47. Abdul-Rahim, "Demythologizing the Qur’an Rethinking Revelation Through Naskh al-Qur’an", ''GJAT'', 7, 2017: p.64 under (Muslims believe) divine guidance.

In his tafsīr, Ibn Kathīr cited a hadith from Abd Allah ibn Abbas:

Ibn ʿAbbās and others have said, "Allāh sent the Qurʾān down all at one time (''jumlah wāḥidah'') from the Preserved Tablet (''al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ'') to the House of Might ('' Bayt al-ʿIzzah''), which is in the heaven of this world. Then it came down in parts to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ based upon the incidents that occurred over a period of twenty-three years."

Therefore, the Quran descended in two stages. Firstly, the Qurʾān descended (''inzāl)'' from the '' Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ'' (Preserved Tablet) to the ''Bayt al-ʿIzzah'' in the lowest heaven (''al-samāʾ al-dunyā).'' It happened in the Night of Destiny (''Laylat al-qadr''). Secondly, the Qurʾān descended (''tanzīl'') from ''Bayt al-ʿIzzah'' to the worldly realm to be revealed to Muhammad by Gabriel piecemeal in stages (''mufarriqan'' or ''tafsilan'') over 23 years until the whole Quran was completely revealed.

According to Ṭabāṭabāʾī ''inzāl'' is "a sudden act of sending down at once" and ''tanzīl'' is "a gradual act of sending."

Muhammad's first encounter with the archangel Gabriel produced the first five verses of the ninety-sixth chapter of the present Quran, the chapter of The Clot (''Surat al-‘Alaq'') Abdul-Rahim, "Demythologizing the Qur’an Rethinking Revelation Through Naskh al-Qur’an", ''GJAT'', 7, 2017: p.62-3

One quranic verse replies to those who ask why the Quran was revealed over time and not all at once:

Some commentators believe that the Quran was revealed to Muhammad twice. In addition to the gradual 23 year revelation until his death, there was an 'immediate revelation' that happened on the ''Laylat al-Qadr''. This is based on an understanding of sura Al-Qadr:1 as referring to descent of the Quran in its entirety. `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas reports that, "… descended in Ramadan, on the Laylat al-Qadr in one lay down (jumlah, Ar. جملة), …"

Asbab al-nuzul

According to hadith, the circumstances that verses were sent down in, and the study of why and how a particular verses was revealed is known as '' Asbab al-nuzul'' (‘occasions of revelation’). Abdul-Rahim, "Demythologizing the Qur’an Rethinking Revelation Through Naskh al-Qur’an", ''GJAT'', 7, 2017: p.65-6 Abu al-Hassan Ali bin Ahmad al-Wahidi an-Naisaburi (d. 1075), has been called the father of the field of ''asbab al-nuzul'', he argued that understanding the reasons/circumstances for a given revelation was crucial to resolve apparent inconsistencies in the Quran.

According to the scholar al-Suyuti who wrote a book on ''Asbab al-nuzul'', revelations came down for two basic reasons:
#"divine initiative", i.e. because God decided to send and reveal something. Examples being the first revelation to Muhammad at Hira’, or the ayat calling for the Fast of Ramadan
#To address some situation "directly and immediately", or to respond and answer a question someone had raised.Al-Suyuti, ‘Abd al-Rahman Jalal al-Din. (1963). ''Asbab al-Nuzul'', volume 1 of 4 vols. Cairo: Dar al-Tahrir, page28 An example being the sura ‘The Spoils’ (''al-Anfal'') that came down concerning the situations in the aftermath of the Battle of Badr.

According to a number of scholars the ''asbab'' (occasion) of revelation can only properly be determined through "direct transmission from those who actually witnessed the event of revelation" (Abu al-Hassan Ali bin Ahmad al-Wahidi an-Naisaburi), and cannot be left to independent reasoning ( ijtihad), nor legal consensus ( ijma‘) (al-Zarkashi).al-Zarkashi, 1968, 4; al-Itqan, v.1,
31) which means in effect hadith reports coming from the canons of hadith or available in works of Islamic historiography, or works of tafsir. Unfortunately "very frequently" ahadith on asbab contradict each other and this "calls into question the reliability of the asbab
genre". Abdul-Rahim, "Demythologizing the Qur’an Rethinking Revelation Through Naskh al-Qur’an", ''GJAT'', 7, 2017: p.67

See also

* Wahy

References

Citations

Books, articles, etc.

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{{Quranic qira'ates

Islamic texts
Quran
Sufi philosophy
Islamic eschatology
Islamic terminology
Revelation