Page 10 - Ulum Al Quran An Introduction To The Sciences Of The Quran

'We have sent thee INSPIRATION, as We sent it to Noah and the messengers after him: We
sent INSPIRATION to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob and the tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah,
Harun and Solomon, and to David We gave the Psalms. Of some apostles, We have already
told the story, of others We have not and to Moses God spoke direct apostles who gave good
news as well as warning, that mankind after (the coming) of the apostles should have no
plea against God: for God is exalted in power and ways' (4: 163-5).

The two words italicized (capitalized) in the above translation are both derived from the Arabic root 'wahy'.

The Meaning of Wahy
The word awha, from which 'wahy' (revelation) is derived, occurs in a number of shades of meaning in the Qur'an, each
of them indicating the main underlying idea of inspiration directing or guiding someone. In each example below, the
italicised words in the translation are forms of the root word wahy in the original text of the Qur'an:

 Guidance in natural intuition:
'so we sent this inspiration to the mother of Moses . . .' (28: 7)

 Guidance in natural instinct:
'and thy Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees and in (man's) habitations' (16:
68)

 Guidance by signs:
'So Zakaria came out to his people from his chamber: he told them by signs to celebrate
God's praises in the morning and in the evening' (19: 11)

 Guidance from evil:
'Likewise did we make for every messenger an enemy evil ones among men and jinns,
inspiring each other with flowery discourses by way of deception ...' (6: 112)

 Guidance from God:
'Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message) ...' (8: 12)

Means of Revelation

Wahy in the sense of 'revelation' is guidance from God for His creation, brought by the Prophets, who received the word
from God through one of the means mentioned in the following Qur'anic verse:
'It is not fitting for a man that God should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind
a veil, or by sending of a messenger to reveal with God's permission what God wills: for He is
Most High, Most Wise' (42: 51)

Means of revelation are:

 Inspiration, e.g. in a dream (see 37:102, where it is related that Ibrahim receives guidance in a vision, while
asleep, to sacrifice his son).

 Speech hidden away (see 27:8, where it is related that God spoke to Musa from the fire).

 Words (speech) sent through a special messenger from God (see 2:97, where it is related that God sent the
Angel Gabriel as the messenger to Muhammad to reveal His message).

The Qur'an revealed to Muhammad

Prophet Muhammad, the last of God's messengers, received the revelation of the Qur'an through a special messenger
sent by God for this purpose: the Angel Gabriel, who recited to him God's words exactly.

The Descent of the Qur'an

According to Suyuti' [al Itqan fi ulum al quran, Beirut, 1973, Vol. I pp. 39-40] on the basis of three reports from 'Abdullah
Ibn 'Abbas, in Hakim, Baihaqi and Nasa'i, the Qur'an descended in two stages: