THE QUR’ANIC CHAPTERS

Abstract

The Qur’an is divided into chapters (surah) and chapters into verses (ayat). According to a prevalent opinion among the scholars (ulama) there are 114 chapters of varying length. A part of scholars maintains there are 113 because they combine two chapters, not separated by the Bismillah (“the beginning”), into one (the chapters 8 and 9). Each chapter has its name, sometime two or more, which do not always reflect their content. The chapters in the Qur’an are not ordered chronologically or by their length. The ordering is prescribed through revelation (tewqifi), and opinions differ regarding the names of some chapters. The length of the chapters varies, some are longer and some shorter. The shortest chapter is The Kewser, with three short verses, and the longest one is The Cow with 286 verses. This chapter contains the largest number of long verses as well as the longest verse - the one about debt. Between these two extremes, there are long, medium and short ones, the length of which was not decided by any human, not even by Muhammad s.a.w.s., but only by Allah s.w.t. Muslims are obliged to obey the ordering of chapters in the Qur’an whenever they transcribe the Qur’an, regardless of whether that is the command of Allah s.w.t. or the formed opinion (ijtihad) of the Messenger’s s.a.w.s. or his apostles (ashab). Rather, this is because the ordering was commonly accepted by the apostles (ashabi ijma) and by all Muslims. Reciting the Qur’an following this ordering is something that is commendable (mendub), though not a strict obligation (vajib).