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The descent of the Qur'an: sending down and gradual descent

نزول القرآن: الإنزال والتنزيل

Sha'rawi holds that the Qur'an had two descents: a sending down, all at once, to the lowest heaven on the Night of Power, and a gradual descent to the Prophet ﷺ over twenty-three years as events required. He holds that the Torah and the Gospel came down once, and that the gradual descent was to steady the Prophet and to teach the community 1 2 3.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Development of law, theology and institutions

Summary

Sha'rawi holds that the Qur'an had two descents: a sending down, in one piece, to the lowest heaven on the Night of Power, and a gradual descent to the Prophet over twenty-three years as events required 1 2.

Sending down and gradual descent

He says the Torah and the Gospel came down once, while the Qur'an came down gradually and in step with events. The verses that join the two verbs, he holds, show the two descents 2.

Steadying and teaching

He holds that the gradual descent steadied the Prophet's heart, opened the way for the believers to ask, and corrected their mistakes as they arose 3.

Not yet checked

The theory of two descents is Sha'rawi's reading and has not been checked against the classical exegesis of the Qur'an's descent. His criticism of the word-origin of Torah and Gospel has not been checked in its sources. The academic view and any non-Sunni view have not been checked.

People and things also explored

Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)· Justice and uprightness (adl)· Contagion (adwa)· Pardon (afw) in purity, worship, contracts and penalties· Covenant (ahd) and the duty to keep it; oath by the covenant of God· Term, deadline (ajal)· Hired worker (ajir)· Stranger, outsider (ajnabi)

Sources

  1. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1263
  2. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1264
  3. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1265
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The descent of the Qur'an: sending down and gradual descent”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/quran-descent-modes/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Wing

Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)

In the lexicon, add is gripping a thing with the teeth and holding it. If a person bites another without right and a wound results, the biter must pay the damages for the wound, assessed as a just award by experts. If one man bites another's hand and the bitten man pulls it free so that the biter's front teeth fall out, most jurists hold that there is no liability, relying on a prophetic judgement in such a case; the Shafi'is limit this to a bitten man who chose the easiest means of release, and the preferred Maliki view requires compensation.