6.3: Surah 96
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- 98533
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Surah 96: The Clot (96:1-5)
This short passage consists of the very first words that were revealed to Muhammad in the cave outside of Mecca. When Muhammad was forty years old, he went to Mt. Hira, outside of Mecca, to have a spiritual retreat by himself. During the night, the Angel Gabriel appeared to him and spoke these words to him. In the Hadiths, which collect stories about Muhammad, he told others that he heard the words but also felt like the words were being seared into him and that it was a physically and mentally difficult process to receive the revelation. After Muhammad received this revelation, he raced home to his wife Khadija and told her what had happened. She believed his story and suggested he speak to her cousin, Waraqa, who was a Christian. When Waraqa heard the story, he told Muhammad that there had been other revelations in the past, and it sounded like God wanted him to be a prophet to the Arab people.
The angel Gabriel told Muhammad to “read,” which is important for Muslims, because Muhammad was illiterate and told Gabriel that he could not read, but Gabriel pressed on with the second line, commanding him to “read” again. Muhammad’s illiteracy is also important to Muslims because they insist that Muhammad did not have the education to be able to come up with the Quran himself. This passage also states that God “taught by the pen,” which is another reference to the previous revelations that God gave and were recorded in the Jewish and Christian sacred texts.
This passage also showcases another feature of the Quran, which is that it is not ordered chronologically. As you can see, this is from Surah 96, and there are only 114 surahs in the entire Quran. So the very first revelation is placed almost at the end of the Quran. The order of the Quran is believed to have been a revelation in itself that Muhammad received from God near the end of his life after all the revelations had been given. So the ordering is believed to be perfect. Additionally, there are multiple revelations in each Surah – this Surah, Surah 96, contains this revelation
Surah 96: The Clot
Read: In the Name of your Lord who created.
Created man from a clot.
Read: And your Lord is the Most Generous.
He who taught by the pen.
Taught man what he never knew.
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