Whatever the respected author had said about the revelation of the Qur’an, it fell within the context of several Qur’anic Verses and the traditions of the Prophet. God said in the Qur’an that Ramadhan was the month in which Qur’an was revealed. This Verse told us that the Qur’an was revealed in one of the twelve months of the year i.e. in Ramadhan.

However, it was mentioned at another place that it was revealed during a celebrated night. At another place, it was declared that it was revealed during the night of Qadr (determination or power).

These Verses gave us a clue to determine the complete time frame of its revelation. It had reached within the night of Qadr from the Guarded Tablet to Baitul Mamoor (Populous or Delightful House) and from there it was transmitted in stages to the Prophet through Gabriel, in accordance with the requirements of the time, and it continued over another twenty years. It was said,

فَإِنَّهُ نَزَّلَهُ عَلَىٰ قَلْبِكَ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ

“…for he (Gabriel) brings down the (revelation) to thy heart by Allah's will” (2:97).

It was mentioned in Tafsir Al-Qummi on the authority of Imam Musa Al-Kadhim (‘a), who said: “God transferred Qur’an from the Guarded Tablet to the Populous House during the night of Qadr and then its transmission to the Prophet was completed in twenty years.”

It was narrated in Usul al-Kafi on the authority of Hafs Ibn Ghias that he asked Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq (‘a) in relation to the Qur’anic Verse, which stated that the Qur’an was revealed in the month of Ramadhan. Imam replied that the whole Qur’an was transmitted in one go from the Guarded Tablet to the Bait-ul-Mamoor. Thereafter it took twenty years to reach the Prophets in required stages. There were several similar narrations in Shi’a literature and bulks of Shi’a scholars accepted the same view.

Clearance Of Two Doubts

First Doubt

Altogether, it was very strange to say that some scholars on the basis of some far-fetched and baseless doubts had refused to accept the transmission of the Qur’an in one night from the Guarded Tablet to the Bait-ul-Mamoor. They quoted a few Qur’anic Verses, which suggested that it was revealed according to the circumstances and requirements of the time e.g. God quoted a statement of the infidels,

قُلُوبُنَا غُلْفٌ

“Our hearts are enveloped” (4:155).

Or, as the polytheists said when they rejected the invitation to Islam,

سَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا لَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا أَشْرَكْنَا وَلَا آبَاؤُنَا

“They who are idolaters will say: Had Allah willed, we had not ascribed (unto Him) partners neither had our fathers” (6:148).

Similarly, on the issue of Zihar (when a person declared his wife to be like his mother), God said,

قَدْ سَمِعَ اللَّهُ قَوْلَ الَّتِي تُجَادِلُكَ فِي زَوْجِهَا

“Allah has heard the statement of the woman, who was arguing with you regarding her husband” (58:1).

Therefore, how was it possible that the Qur’an might be collected in advance at one place, when it commented on issues that took place at a later date?

Rebuttal

There was no doubt that the reasons for the revelation of Qur’an were subject to the prevailing conditions, and this situation remained over twenty years, when it got the credentials of completion in the form of:

الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ

“Today, We have completed your religion” (5:3).

However, where was it proven that God was ignorant of these episodes in advance? Is there any Muslim, who could be a party to such a thought, when the entire Ummah believed that God knew clearly about all things, before and after their happening?

This immoral view was the product of Greek philosophy, which suggested that God was ignorant of things before the actual incidents or He had only partial information. Islamic theologians have rebutted this view with strong arguments. When, it was established that God had the knowledge of all things, irrespective of any time frame, then there was no problem in accepting that the Qur’an was present in its completed form.

Second Doubt And Its Rebuttal

If it was assumed that before its apparent revelation, the Qur’an was present in the completed form, then the antagonist’s view of – Kalam an-Nafs (inner voice of God’s essence or being), would be authenticated. Therefore, to assume that the Qur’an was ever present in the completed form before its visible transmission was incorrect.

Disregarding, what could not be the meaning of the phrase Kalam an-Nafs, which was neither understood by those who advocated it nor they could make us understand that what they really meant by this term. In fact, this phrase had become an enigma for all kind of intellectuals. Those who accepted this expression, claimed it to be eternal like God. Since, no one is eternal other than God, according to our view, this concept therefore was incorrect so far as Shi’as are concerned. This was so because it proposed eternity for more than one being.

However, if the presence of whole of the Qur’an was accepted to be present in the Guarded Tablet or the House of Delight, then it did not tantamount as being an eternal, because a true eternal was the one who had no beginning. However, if something had a beginning, even if it might be thousands or hundreds of thousands of years ago, it could not claim eternity.

Besides, when the Guarded Tablet and the Bait-ul-Mamoor were both probable entities, then how could a thing that was contained within those boundaries be eternal. That is why the respected author had used the terminology of – Eternal - for God alone, as being the originator and guardian of the Qur’an, who spoke through it. These facts disclosed to us that to deny an already proven thesis was a wasteful exercise for a believer.

Warning

It should not remain hidden from one’s mind that the comments, which the respected author had made, regarding the Qur’anic Verse:

وَلَا تَعْجَلْ بِالْقُرْآنِ

“And do not make haste with the Qur’an” (20:114).

Were in accordance with the prophetic stature, and this was supplemented by some Ahadith as well. Its other elaborations were unacceptable due to those being in opposition to the prophetic eminence.

In the text, there appeared to be some contradiction regarding the time frame of Qur’anic revelation. Some references suggest a period of twenty years, while others spoke of twenty-three years.

If we critically examined this point then there was no contradiction between the two views, because the first three years of the prophetic mission were completely secret and the transmission of the Qur’an was very scanty, but the process of revelation had started. It hastened after three years. Therefore, if a critical examination of the revelations was carried out then it amounted to twenty-three years of Prophet’s life time and if we ignored the first years of secrecy then the time frame of twenty years was correct.