Page 43 - Ulum Al Quran An Introduction To The Sciences Of The Quran

 The historical situation at the time of the Prophet and the development of the early Muslim community.

Example:
'To God belong the East and the West: whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence of God, for God is all-pervading, all-
knowing' (2:115).

Without knowing the sabab (reason), one might easily conclude that this revelation permits the Muslim to face any
direction when performing prayer, while it is well known that to face Qiblah is one of the conditions without which prayer
becomes invalid. The circumstances in which this revelation occurred explains its implications:
According to Wahidi [op. cit. pp. 20-21] a group of Muslims traveled on a dark night and they did not know where the
qibla was, so they later realized that they had prayed in the wrong direction. They asked the Prophet about it and he kept
silent until the above verse was revealed. '

[Based on a report from Jabir b. 'Abdullah. Wahidi also informs us about some other situations when the aya reportedly
applied:
- That one may pray voluntary prayer on one's riding camel, in whichever direction it may turn (based on Ibn 'Umar).
- That the Companions of the Prophet asked why they were ordered to pray for the dead Negus of Abyssinia, who had
prayed towards a different qibla than their own (based on Ibn 'Abbas and 'Ata').
- That the Jews asked, why the qibla of the Muslims had been changed from bait al-maqdis (based on Ibn Abi Talha).

See Wahidi, op.cit., p.21. All this supports the view (to which in particular K. Murad drew my attention) of Suyuti based
on Zarkashi (Suyuti, Lubab an nuzul, Tunis, 1981, p.7.) that when the suhaba of the Prophet spoke about an aya of the
Qur'an, saying 'It was revealed concerning ...'(nazalat fi kadha) they do not restrict themselves to narrating a single
'cause' for the revelation of an aya but rather refer to the 'situations' to which particular verses where found applicable
during the lifetime of the Prophet while the occasion of the first revelation of the aya may have been much earlier. In this
lie great avenues for understanding and tafsir of the Qur'anic message.]

Taking into account this reason for the revelation one cannot come to the wrong conclusion that it is unimportant where
to turn in prayer. The scholars say however that this verse excuses the mistake of those who un-willingly and under
adverse circumstances fail to observe the correct qibla.

How it is Known

The well-known asbab al-nuzul have been related to us by the reliable Companions of the Prophet Muhammad. Only
reports which are sahih can be considered fully reliable, as is the case in the science of hadith generally. A particular
condition here is also that the person who relates it should have been present at the time and occasion of the event (the
revelation). [Wahidi. p.4.] Reports from tab'iun only, not going back to the Prophet and his Companions are to be
considered weak (da'if). Hence one cannot accept the mere opinion of writers or people that such and such verse might
have been revealed on such and such occasion. Rather one needs to know exactly who related this incident, whether he
himself was present, and who transmitted it to us.
Kinds of Reports

There are two kinds of reports on asbab al-nuzul:

 Definite reports.

 Probable reports.

In the first kind (definite) the narrator clearly indicates that the event he relates is the sabab al-nuzul.

Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: the verse 'Obey Allah and obey the apostle and those of you (Muslims) who
are in authority ...' (4: 59) was revealed in connection with 'Abdullah bin Hudafa bin Qais bin 'Adi when
the Prophet appointed him as the commander of a sariyya (army detachment). [Bukhari, VI, No. 108.]
In the second kind (probable) the narrator does not indicate clearly that the event narrated is the sabab al-nuzul, but
suggests this probability.

In the second kind (probable) the narrator does not indicate clearly that the event narrated is the sabab al-nuzul, but
suggests this probability.