Tazkiratul Hilal with Sheikh Ahmad Ata'illah

 The First and Last Revelation of the Quran

The first revelation that was sent down to Muhammad occurred in the Cave of Hira on Mount Nur near Mecca, on a Monday, either on the 17th, 24th, or 21st day of Ramadan in the year 610 CE, or the 27th day of Rajab according to Shia tradition. According to a narration from Aisha bint Abu Bakr, which is confirmed by the two Sahih collections of Bukhari and Muslim, and which the Shia disapprove of much of its content, the first revelation was: "Read in the name of your Lord who created - created man from a clinging substance. Read, and your Lord is the most generous - who taught by the pen - taught man that which he knew not".

After that incident, the revelation to Muhammad stopped for a period of time. It is said to have been three years, although some say it was less than that. Al-Bouti favored what Al-Bayhaqi reported, that the period was six months, ending with the revelation of the beginning of Surah Al-Muddaththir. Then the revelation began again and continued for a period of twenty-three years until his death. The first part of the Quran that was revealed after the first Surah Al-Alaq was Surah Al-Qalam, followed by Al-Muddaththir, Al-Muzammil, Ad-Dhuha, Al-Layl, and others. Scholars differ in determining the first part of the Quran that was revealed, as Surah Al-Muddaththir was revealed in its entirety before the complete Surah Al-Alaq, of which only the first verses were revealed first. However, the majority and most likely opinion is that Surah Al-Alaq was the first Surah revealed. Some scholars reconciled the two opinions by saying that the first part of the prophethood that was revealed was the beginning of Surah Al-Qalam, and the first part of the message that was revealed was Surah Al-Muddaththir. The revelation continued to descend upon Muhammad in Mecca for thirteen years, and the number of Surahs revealed there was 83 or 85, with the first being Surah Al-Alaq and the last being Surah Al-Mu'minun or Al-Ankabut. When the persecution of Muhammad and his followers by the Meccans became severe, they migrated north to the city of Yathrib, which was later called Medina. There, the revelation continued to come down to him continuously. The number of Surahs revealed in Medina was 31 or 29, with the first being Surah Al-Mutaffifin and the last being Surah At-Tawbah. In the explanation of Al-Bukhari by Ibn Hajar, they agreed that Surah Al-Baqarah was the first Surah revealed in Medina, while in the interpretation of An-Nasafi from Al-Waqidi, the first Surah revealed in Medina was Surah Al-Qadr.

After the Muslims settled in the city of Medina and its people embraced Islam, the Prophet Muhammad asked some of his companions to memorize the Quranic revelations and spread them among the people, teaching them the laws, rulings, and virtues contained in them. Many of the companions were illiterate, but there were several people in Medina from the Aws and Khazraj tribes who could write in Arabic, and a few who could write in Hebrew, which they had learned from the Jews. Some of the prisoners of war were also able to write but did not have the means to ransom themselves. So, the Prophet made a ransom deal with seventy of them in the Battle of Badr, in which each one would teach ten of the boys in Medina how to write. In this way, many of the Muhajirun and Ansar learned how to read and write and recorded the divine revelations that were sent down to Muhammad. These individuals were described by scholars as "the scribes of revelation". According to Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, with its chain of narration from Ibn Abbas, when the verses with numerical values were revealed to the Prophet, he would call one of those who wrote with him and say, "Put this in the Surah that mentions such and such," and when the verses were revealed to him, he would say: "Put these verses in the Surah that mentions such and such." According to Islamic sources, the revelation indicated the location of the verses in the Surah, and one of the hadiths that is relied upon in this regard is what is mentioned in the Tafsir al-Durr al-Manthur: "Ahmad reported from Uthman bin Abu al-Aas who said: 'I was sitting with the Messenger of Allah when he rubbed his forehead, then he rubbed it again until it almost stuck to the ground. Then he rubbed his forehead again and said: 'Gabriel came to me and commanded me to put this verse in this place in this Surah: "Verily, Allah enjoins justice and kindness, and giving to relatives, and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded".'" The scribes would write the revelations on wooden or fired clay tablets, as well as on broad bones and palm leaves. The revelation was not written on paper and compiled into a single book until after the death of the Prophet in 632 CE.

Scholars have differed regarding the last revelation that was sent down to Prophet Muhammad. One group said that the last verse was the verse about usury, which reads, "O you who have believed, fear Allah and give up what remains [due to you] of interest, if you should be believers." Another group said that it was the following verse, "And fear a Day when you will be returned to Allah. Then every soul will be compensated for what it earned, and they will not be treated unjustly." Yet others said that it was the verse about debt, which is verse number 282 of Surah Al-Baqarah. These three narrations were combined to suggest that these verses were revealed in one batch, as they are arranged in the Quran, and each person narrated a part of what was revealed as the last revelation. The most commonly held opinion among people is that the last verse was, "This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion." There are other opinions, such as the one that the last verse was the verse about the she-camel. Some scholars have stated that these opinions do not have anything directly attributed to Prophet Muhammad, and it is possible that the person who suggested them did so based on their own reasoning and assumptions. It is also possible that each person reported the last thing they heard from Prophet Muhammad on the day he died or shortly before his illness. Moreover, it is possible that this last verse was revealed along with other verses, and the order of recording them was based on the order in which they were revealed, leading some to believe that it was the last revelation.