Asbāb an-nuzūl

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As Asbāb an-nuzūl ( Arabic أسباب النزول `` Occasions of coming down '' or `` occasions of revelation '') are those reports in the Koran exegesis that specify the historical occasion ( sabab , Pl. Asbāb ) for the revelation of a given Koran section, usually a verse of the Koran . A prophet's companion appears as the reporter , and as with hadiths , the report is usually preceded by a chain of narrators .

Asbāb-an-nuzūl reports, which form one of the most important parts of the text of traditional Qur'an commentaries , name the event in the life of the Prophet that is said to have led to the revelation of the verse in question, often supplemented by details of specific people and places who were related to it in Relationship. Some of these reports are narrative very strong, which is due to the influence of the early Islamic "storytellers" ( quṣṣāṣ ). At the end of the report there is usually a formula like: "Then God revealed ..." followed by a shortened quote from the relevant verse.

Birgit Krawietz mentions asbāb an-nuzūl as part of the iǧtihād of Mu Gefährammad 's companions. This iǧtihād was an autonomous method of finding the right law, whereby the knowledge of the occasion of revelation, in addition to the maqāṣid and general knowledge of the Koran and the Sunna (especially the nuṣūṣ), was a basic prerequisite for finding law and norms. According to Krawietz, Ṣaḥāba and tābiʿūn left their mark on the later tafsīr works through their special knowledge of the language, legal competence and their knowledge of the asbāb an-nuzūl, especially in the explanation of the Koran and Sunna . In more comprehensive commentary works such as that of at-Tabarī , a large number of Asbāb-an-nuzūl reports with different chains of narrators are often cited for the individual verses. It happens that the reason for the revelation of a verse is stated differently in the various reports. This has led to discussions among Muslim scholars on how to deal with such contradicting Asbāb-an-nuzūl traditions. Ibn Taimīya says in his "Introduction to the Basics of Koranic Exegesis" that in this case the different reports could still be true because there is a possibility that the verse in question was revealed twice.

From the 11th century onwards, Muslim scholars began to bring together the Asbāb-an-nuzūl accounts in special works devoted to this subject. One of the first scholars to do this was ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Wāḥidī (dated 1075) from Nishapur with his book "Reasons for the Revelation of the Koran" ( Asbāb nuzūl al-Qurʾān ). This is considered the classic Asbāb al-nuzūl work, but it only deals with 83 suras of the Koran. It differs from an ordinary commentary on the Koran in that it only contains the material relating to the instigation of the revelations. For al-Wāḥidī, it is precisely the occasions of revelation that are a basic requirement for an understanding of the Koran: "An interpretation of the verse is not possible without knowledge of its text and the occasion of its revelation". Andrew Rippin historically relates the growing interest in the Asbāb-an-nuzūl to the rise of Islamic traditionalism in the 11th century. The later Asbāb-an-nuzūl works by Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 1449) and as-Suyūtī (d. 1505), which provided additional material from the classical Tafsīr and hadith works, also enjoyed great popularity .

Asbāb-an-nuzūl reports also fulfill an important function in the legal exegesis of the Koran. They serve to determine the exact legal basis that leads to the application of a given Koranic norm. However, it is questionable to what extent the norm given in the Koran can be detached from the specific historical context. Basically, in the premodern there was a tendency to emphasize the general validity of these norms. It is expressed in the following sentence, which serves as a maxim in many legal-theoretical contexts: "The general wording is decisive, not the particular (revelation) occasion" ( al-ʿibratu bi-ʿumūmi l-lafẓi lā bi-ḫuṣūṣi s-sabab ). Ibn Taimīya writes about this in his "Introduction to the Basics of Koranic Exegesis":

“Even though there is an argument about whether the general wording that is uttered on a particular occasion should be restricted to the occasion, none of the Muslim scholars asserts that the general statements of the Koran and the Sunna relate only to the related person. The utmost assertion is that they are limited to the type of that person and generally include any other person who corresponds to them. [...] If the verse, which has a specific reason, represents a commandment or prohibition, it includes that person and the person with whom it is analogous. "

literature

Arabic Asbāb-an-nuzūl literature (in chronological order)
  • ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Wāḥidī: Kitāb asbāb nuzūl al-Qurʾān . Ed. Aḥmad Ṣaqr. Cairo 1969.
  • ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad al-Wāḥidī: Kitāb asbāb nuzūl al-Qurʾān . Ed. Kamāl Basyūnī Zaghlūl. Beirut 1991.
  • Shihāb ad-Dīn Ibn Ḥaǧar al-ʿAsqalānī: al-ʿUǧāb fī bayān al-asbāb . Ed. Aḥmad Farīd al-Mazīdī. Beirut 2004.
  • Ǧalāl ad-Dīn as-Suyūṭī: Lubāb an-nuqūl fī asbāb an-nuzūl . Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-ʿUlūm 1978.
Studies
  • Andrew Rippin, "The exegetical genre asbāb al-nuzūl. A bibliographical and terminological survey" in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (BSOAS) 48 (1985) 1-15.
  • Andrew Rippin: "Al-Zarkashī and al-Suyūṭī on the“ occasion of revelation ”material" in Islamic Culture 59 (1985) 243-58.
  • Andrew Rippin: "The function of asbāb al-nuzūl in qurʾānic exegesis" in BSOAS 51 (1988), 1-20
  • Andrew Rippin: "Occasions of Revelation" in Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.): Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an . 6 vols. Leiden 2001-2006. Vol. 3, pp. 569-573.
  • Hans-Thomas Tillschneider: Types of historical-exegetical tradition. Forms, functions and genesis of the asbāb al-nuzūl material. Ergon, Würzburg 2011, ISBN 3-899-1386-19 .
  • Birgit Krawietz: Hierarchy of Legal Sources in Traditional Sunni Islam. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-428-1030-25 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans-Thomas Tillschneider: Types of historical-exegetical tradition. Forms, functions and genesis of the asbāb al-nuzūl material. P. 228f.
  2. ↑ Birgit Krawietz: Hierarchy of Legal Sources in Traditional Sunni Islam. Duncker & Humblot: Berlin 2002, p. 29.
  3. ↑ Birgit Krawietz: Hierarchy of Legal Sources in Traditional Sunni Islam. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2002, p. 37.
  4. ↑ Ibn Taimīya: al-Muqaddima fī uṣūl at-tafsīr Ed. Maḥmūd M. Maḥmūd an-Naṣṣār. Cairo: Dār al-Ǧīl li-ṭ-ṭibāʿa or DS 61.
  5. ↑ Quoting from al-Wāḥidī in al-Wāḥidī: Kitāb asbāb an-nuzūl, al-maktaba al-ʿaṣrīya: Beirut, 2007, p. 5.
  6. ↑ al-Wāḥidī: Article in EQ .
  7. ↑ Hans-Thomas Tillschneider: Types of historical-exegetical tradition. Forms, functions and genesis of the asbāb al-nuzūl material. P. 324.
  8. ↑ Al-Muqaddima fī uṣūl at-tafsīr . P. 59f. The translation largely follows Tillschneider 375, who quotes the passage from as-Suyūṭī.