En‘âm Sûresinin Nüzulü: Rivayet ve Metin Eksenli Bir Değerlendirme
The Revelation of Sūrat al-Anʿām: A Narration and Text Based Evaluation

Summary/Abstract: It is narrated in the classical sources on tafsīr narrations that Sūrat al-Anʿām was revealed collectively at once at the end of the Meccan period. However, there are asbāb al-nuzūl narrations indicating that some verses of the sūrat were revealed at different times. Similarly, it is emphasized in the narrations that some of its verses are also Medinan. The different narrations lead to a contradiction regarding whether Sūrat al-Anʿām has been revealed at once or gradually over a period of time. It is important to ascertain the nature of the revelation of the Sūrat and consequently to resolve this contradictory circumstance. The purpose of this study is to examine the process of the sūrat’s revelation by evaluating the intra-textual and extra-textual context of Sūrat al-Anʿām. Thus, it is aimed to determine whether the sūrat was revealed gradually over a period of time or at collectively at once. When we talk about the extra-textual context, we’re talking about the historical background that forms around the narrations that claim the sūrat was revealed all at once or in parts throughout time for different reasons. Intra-textual context, on the other hand, refers to textual features that emerge through the structural and content-related characteristics of the Sūrat al-Anʿām. In this manner, both the narrations regarding the revelation of the sūrah and its textual features have been scrutinized. Comparative analysis has been used to evaluate the specific solutions put out by commentators on this matter. Modern commentators have placed significant emphasis on this issue. Related commentators on this topic have focused on the textual integrity of the sūrat, the nature of asbāb al-nuzūl narrations about surah verses, and the technical and content study of the narrations. Based on its sened and the existence of contrary narrations, several commentators have rejected the narratives claiming that it was revealed at once as inauthentic. However, the majority of them have suggested that it is more plausible that the surah was revealed at once. They criticized these narrations for not being included in reliable hadith sources, and they accepted them as later aṣbāb al-nuzūl interpretations that were made in order to explain the meaning of the verse. Additionally, they have attempted to elucidate the issue in light of well-known procedural occurrences such as the postponement of judgment and the recurrence of revelation. The textual integrity of the sūrat has been also considered in this context. Indeed, in Sūrat al-Anʿām, it is seen that are answered the objections of the polytheists against the Prophet and every principle of the religion he preached, and that are rejected their ignorant customs and traditions. It is highly likely that Sūrat al-Anʿām was revealed at once when one considers the textual integrity of the sūrat, which is evident from the first to the last verse, the historical background that runs parallel to it, and the narrations claiming that the sūrat was revealed at once.

• Details
• Contents