Munasabat al-Ayat wa al-Suwar
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Journal of the Islamic University of Madinah
Munasabat al-Ayat wa al-Suwar (The Interrelations of Quranic Verses and Chapters) is a scholarly treatise in the Quranic sciences authored by Ahmad Hasan Farhat while serving as an instructor at the Secondary Institute of the Islamic University in Medina. The work examines the arrangement of the Quranic text and evaluates the doctrinal and methodological positions of Islamic scholars concerning structural and thematic coherence (munasabat).
Arrangement of Verses and Surahs
Farhat posits that the study of munasabat is intrinsically dependent on whether the ordering of the Quranic text is divinely dictated (tawqifi) or arrived at through human scholarly reasoning (ijtihadi).
Regarding the arrangement of individual verses within each surah, Farhat highlights the scholarly consensus (ijma') and textual evidence affirming that it is strictly tawqifi, received by the Prophet ﷺ via Gabriel and conveyed directly to the Companions. He cites reports transmitted from Zayd ibn Thabit, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, and 'Uthman ibn Abi al-'As detailing explicit instructions by the Prophet ﷺ on the placement of revealed verses, alongside the Prophet's regular recitations of specific complete surahs during congregational prayers.
Regarding the arrangement of the surahs themselves, Farhat upholds the mainstream position of early scholars (al-salaf) that it is likewise divinely mandated (tawqifi), citing opinions from Malik ibn Anas, al-Baghawi, Ibn al-Hassar, Abu Bakr Ibn al-Anbari, and al-Kirmani. He addresses alternative opinions—such as those attributing surah ordering to the Companions' ijtihad (Abu Bakr al-Baqillani, Ibn Faris, and tendencies in Ibn 'Atiyyah or al-Bayhaqi)—and counters them using narrations like the hadith of Wathilah regarding the structural categories of revelation (the Tiwal, Mi'un, Mathani, and Mufassal) and the hadith of Aws ibn Hudhayfah on the Companions' established division of surahs into portions (tahzib). He also resolves the report concerning 'Uthman's juxtaposition of Surat al-Anfal and Surat Bara'ah (al-Tawbah), noting that it reflected 'Uthman's view that they constituted a single theme rather than an arbitrary human arrangement.
Scholarly Trends on Coherence
Farhat identifies and examines multiple trends among Muslim scholars regarding the study of coherence:
- The First Trend (Denial of Coherence): Exemplified by Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Shawkani in his exegesis Fath al-Qadir, who argued that seeking interrelations between verses in their compiled order is an artificial, forced exercise (takalluf and ta'assuf) based on prohibited personal opinion (ra'y). Al-Shawkani reasoned that since verses were revealed piecemeal across twenty-plus years in response to disparate historical occasions, and since their compiled order differs from their chronological order of descent, the compiled text should be viewed like disparate speeches or poems rather than a tightly connected narrative. Farhat refutes al-Shawkani's assertions, emphasizing that divine text differs fundamentally from fragmented human utterances, and that the revelation of verses according to chronological occasions (tanzilan) does not negate an underlying divine wisdom (hikmah) governing their canonical compilation.
- The Third Trend (Affirmation of Coherence): Upheld by the majority of exegetes and scholars of Quranic sciences, including Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Abu Bakr ibn al-'Arabi in Siraj al-Muridin, and Walid al-Din al-Mallawi al-Hindi. They argue that the Quranic text forms an interconnected whole whose subtlest rhetorical meanings and wisdoms are embedded within the transitions and relationships between verses and surahs.
- The Fourth Trend (Comprehensive Order - Nizam): Represented by Hamid al-Din al-Farahi in Dala'il al-Nizam and supported by Muhammad 'Abd Allah Draz in al-Naba' al-'Azim. This view regards standard munasabah as merely a constituent element of an overarching structural system (nizam), asserting that every surah constitutes a unified organic composition organized around a central thematic pillar ('amud), where verses and sections interlock in a deliberate structural hierarchy.
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