Originally posted on the Light of the Furqān blog.

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In a previous post I introduced “Al-Itqān fī ‘Ulūm al-Qurān” by al-Suyūṭī. I have recently been reading through some chapters of the book and have found many interesting discussions. What follows is a summary of al-Suyūṭī’s discussion on Meccan and Medinan chapters.

Importance of Knowing the Location of Revelation

Many scholars have attested to the importance of knowing the location of revelation of the chapters of the Qurān, particularly for an exegete. This is because knowing where a chapter was revealed can aid one in knowing when the chapter was revealed. This in turn can assist one in determining if that chapter has verses that can act as abrogating verses for other verses. This is according to the view that abrogating verses must come after the verses that they abrogate.

It should be noted that al-Suyūṭī only mentions a few benefits for studying the location of revelation of different chapters. Perhaps the most important reason to study the location of revelation of different chapters is that such knowledge provides necessary context when interpreting different verses. Many verses can be understood very differently if taken to have been revealed later on in the Prophet’s life versus earlier on in his life. In short, any sort of added context aids in the understanding of a text.

Definitions of Meccan/Medinan

To begin with, it should be noted that the words, “Meccan” and “Medinan” have been defined in 3 different ways. That is there are three different understandings of what these words mean which are as follows.

1. Meccan chapters are those that were revealed before the migration (hijrah) of the Prophet to Medina and Medinan chapters are those that were revealed after his migration. This is regardless of whether the chapter was actually revealed in Mecca such as during the conquest of Mecca, which occurred after his migration, or if it was revealed during any trips he may have made to other locations while in Mecca or Medina. It should be noted that according to this view, anything revealed to the Prophet during his migration from Mecca to Medina is considered to be Meccan.
2. Meccan chapters are those that were revealed in Mecca and Medinan chapters are those that were revealed in Medina. Mecca is also inclusive of the areas around it such as ‘Arafāt, Minā and Ḥudaybīyah. Medina is also inclusive of the areas around it such as Uḥud or Badr. The only problem with this view is that there may be some locations where the Qurān was revealed that are neither Meccan nor Medinan such as Tabūk.
3. Meccan chapters are those that were addressed to the people of Mecca and Medinan chapters are those that were addressed to the people of Medina.

Locations of Revelation

There are multiple narrations discussing where the different chapters of the Qurān were revealed. Many of these narrations may contradict each other. Below is a list of the chapters of the Qurān about which there are differences of opinion in regards to their location of revelation.

Al-Fātīḥah, Yūnus, al-Ra’d, al-Ḥajj, al-Furqān, Yāsīn, Ṣād, Muḥammad, al-Hujurāt, al-Raḥmān, al-Ḥadīd, al-Ṣaff, al-Jum’ah, al-Taghābun, al-Mulk, al-Insān, al-Muṭaffifīn, al-A’lā, al-Fajr, al-Balad, al-Layl, al-Qadr, al-Bayyinah, al-Zalzalah, al-‘Ādīyāt, al-Takāthur, al-Mā’ūn, al-Kawthar, al-Ikhlāṣ, al-Falaq, al-Nās

These are all the chapters that al-Suyūṭī mentions as having differences of opinions about their location of revelation. There are differences of opinions on other chapters as mentioned in other exegetical works. Some interesting notes, as mentioned by al-Suyūṭī, about the differences of opinions in relation to some of these chapters are as follows.

Al-Fātiḥa

Most scholars agree that al-Fātiḥah was revealed in Mecca although some believe it was revealed in Medina. This is to the extent that some believe it was revealed twice. Others believe that one half of it was revealed in Mecca whilst the other half was revealed in Medina¹.

Yūnus

The difference of opinions on this chapter has occurred because there are two narrations both from Ibn ‘Abbās where one mentions the chapter as being Meccan whilst the other one claims that it is Medinan. The popular view is that the chapter is Meccan.

Al-Ḥadīd

Most scholars believe this chapter to be Medinan. However there is a narration claiming that ‘Umar, who became a Muslim in Mecca, saw a verse from this chapter written on a piece of paper which caused him to become Muslim. Some scholars use this narration to argue that the chapter must be Meccan.

Verses Revealed in Places Other than their Chapter

In some cases certain verses have been revealed in a different location than the chapter that they were originally a part of. Below is a list of verses for which there have been claims that they were revealed in a location other than where the rest of their chapter was revealed.

Table of Verses Revealed in Places Other than their Chapters
Chapter			Verse		Notes
Number	Name	Claimed Location of Revelation	Number	Claimed Location of Revelation
1	Al-Fātiḥah	Mecca	Second half	Medina	It is claimed that the second half of the chapter was revealed in Medina, al-Suyūṭī claims that there is no proof for this claim
2	Al-Baqrah	Mecca	109	Medina
			272	Medina
6	Al-An’ām	Mecca	20	Medina
			93-94	Medina
			114	Medina
			151	Medina
			151-153	Medina	Al-Suyūṭī argues that these verses are possibly the only authentic exceptions from the chapter, particularly because there are narrations indicating that the chapter was actually revealed all at once
7	Al-A’rāf	Mecca	163	Medina	Some claim that only verse 163 was revealed in Medina
			163-172	Medina	Others claim that all of the verses from verse 163 until 172 were revealed in Medina
8	Al-Anfāl	Medina	30	Mecca
			64	Mecca
9	Barā’ah	Medina	128-129	Mecca
			113	Mecca	Some claim this verse was revealed in relation to something that the Prophet said to Imam ‘Alī
10	Yūnus	Mecca	94-95	Medina
			40	Medina
			40-109	Medina	Some have mentioned that the chapter is Meccan until the beginning of the 40th verse and then the rest is Medinan. This has been mentioned by al-Sakhāwī
11	Hūd	Mecca	12	Medina
			17	Medina
			114	Medina
12	Yūsuf	Mecca	1-3	Medina	Abū Ḥayyān seems to be only notable authority to have mentioned this view and Al-Suyūṭī largely discredits it.
13	Al-Ra’d	Medina	31	Mecca	There is a difference of opinions concerning where al-Ra’d itself was revealed. According to each view there are different verses that have been mentioned as having been revealed elsewhere
		Mecca	8-13	Medina
14	Ibrāhīm	Mecca	28-29	Medina
15	Al-Ḥijr	Mecca	87	Medina
16	Al-Naḥl	Mecca	126-128	Medina
			41-128	Medina
17	Al-Isrā	Mecca	85	Medina	There is a narration indicating that this verse was revealed in response to a question asked by a Jew about the soul
			73-81	Medina
			88	Medina
			60	Medina
			107	Medina
18	Al-Kahf	Mecca	1-8	Medina
			28	Medina
			107	Medina
19	Maryam	Mecca	58	Medina
			71	Medina
21	Ṭaha	Mecca	130	Medina
			131	Medina
21	Al-Anbīyā	Mecca	44	Medina
22	Al-Ḥajj	Mecca	19	Medina	Most scholars are in agreement that this chapter consists of a mixture of Meccan and Medinan verses
		Medina	52-55	Mecca
23	Al-Mu’minūn	Mecca	64-77	Medina
25	Al-Furqān	Mecca	68-70	Medina
26	Al-Shu’arā	Mecca	224-227	Medina	These verses were revealed in Medina according to a narration attributed to Ibn ‘Abbās
			197	Medina	This verse was revealed in Medina according to a narration narrated by Ibn al-Faras
28	Al-Qaṣaṣ	Mecca	52-55	Medina	Apparently these verses were revealed
			85	Medina
29	Al-‘Ankabūt	Mecca	11	Medina
31	Luqmān	Mecca	27-29	Medina
32	Al-Sajdah	Mecca	18-20	Medina
			16	Medina
34	Saba	Mecca	6	Medina
36	Yāsīn	Mecca	12	Medina
			47	Medina
39	Al-Zumur	Mecca	53-55	Medina	Al-Ṭabrānī has narrated that these verses were revealed about the man who killed Bilāl, the companion of the Prophet, which occurred after the Prophet’s migration.
			10	Medina
			23	Medina
40	Ghāfir	Mecca	56-57	Medina
42	Al-Shūrā	Mecca	24-27	Medina
			39-41	Medina
43	Al-Zukhruf	Mecca	45	Medina or the skies	Some believe this verse to have been revealed within the skies and not upon the earth
45	Al-Jāthīyah	Mecca	14	Medina
46	Al-Aḥqāf	Mecca	10	Medina	Apparently this verse was revealed in Medina when ‘Abd Allah bin Salām became Muslim, although other scholars have argued against this and asserted that this verse was also revealed in Mecca just like the rest of the chapter.
			15	Medina
			35	Medina
50	Qāf	Mecca	38	Medina
53	Al-Najm	Mecca	32	Medina
			33	Medina
54	Al-Qamar		45	Medina
			54-55	Medina
55	Al-Raḥmān	Mecca	29	Medina
56	Al-Wāqi’ah	Mecca	39-40	Medina
			75-82	Medina
57	Al-Ḥadīd	Mecca/Medina		Medina	The majority believe that this chapter was revealed in Medina but those who believe it was revealed in Mecca believe that there are definitely some Medinan verses within the chapter
58	Al-Mujādilah	Mecca	7	Medina
64	Al-Taghābun	Mecca/Medina	Ending	Medina	Those who believe that this chapter was revealed in Mecca believe that the end of it was revealed in Medina
66	Al-Taḥrīm	Mecca	1-10	Medina
67	Al-Mulk	Mecca		Medina	3 verses from this chapter have been reported to have been revealed in Medina
68	Al-Qalam	Mecca	17-33	Medina
			48-50	Medina
73	Al-Muzzammil	Mecca	10-11	Medina
			20	Medina
76	Al-Insān	Mecca	24	Medina
77	Al-Mursalāt	Mecca	48	Medina
83	Al-Muṭaffifīn	Mecca	1-6	Medina
90	Al-Balad	Medina	1-4	Mecca
92	Al-Layl	Mecca	1	Medina
107	Al-Mā’ūn	Medina	1-3	Mecca

The above is a short summary of my notes from Al-Suyūṭī’s discussion on Meccan and Medinan chapters. I hope that it introduces questions and new thoughts. In the future I hope to introduce more interesting discussions from this book.