The study of coherence and cohesion with reference to the tradition of the exegesis of the Holy Quran in South Asia was first formally introduced with theory and praxis by Maulana Hamid ud Din Farahi. His Nizalul Quran is one of the finest blends of theory and practice with reference to the discovery of coherence and cohesion in the Quran. Maulana Hamid Din Farahi further explained his understanding of the coherence and cohesion of Quran in his book Rasail Hamid ud Din Farahi, which is a collection of tracts that he wrote on the subject. Under the influence of Hamid ud Din Farahi, Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi produced one of the most academically engaging exegesis of the Quran, titled Tadaburul Quran, which again emphasises on the study of coherence/cohesion for the holistic understanding of the Quran. Tafheemul Quran by Syed Abul Ala Maududi does also fall in the same tradition, though the Maulana does not explicitly talk about this aspect. Long before Hamid ud Din Farahi, Makhdoom Ali Mahaimi also partially tried to interpret the Quran by using the linguistic tools of coherence and cohesion.
Needless to mention, according to Maulana Hamid ud Din Farahi and the school of thought that emerged after him (Islahi), such a theory regarding the Quran nullifies the Orientalist claim that the Quran is an unorganised text and there is nothing called coherence and cohesion in the same. With due regard to our great tradition of reading the chapters of the Quran, I would, in this short write-up, present a reading of the Surat ul Qadr so that some of the aspects of semantic coherence of the Quran could be explicated.
One of the ways to see and understand the coherence in the Holy Quran is to read a particular chapter with reference to what comes before and after it. A close reading of the Quran reveals to a well trained reader that the Quranic chapters are well connected and related to each other, thematically as well as semantically. Then there is this well established principle that parts of the Quran appearing at a certain place are explained by parts of the Quran appearing at some other place. In his tracts on the theory of Nazm, Imam Hamid ud Din Farahi provides a good number of examples of this nature and illustrates practically such an important aspect of the Quran. In fact, he demonstrates how the Quranic discourses are like a necklace in which individual chapters and ayat are like well organised and interrelated diamonds.
Surat ul Qadr appears in part 30 of the Holy Quran. It has five ayat (signs). It talks about the Lailat ul Qadr (Night of Destiny) which according to tradition is one of the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadn. Another tradition has it that it could be any of the nights of the month of Ramadan. According to this chapter of the Quran, the Holy Quran was revealed upon the Prophet on this very night. The Quran describes the month of Ramadan as the month of the Quran and believers are directed to keep fasts from dawn to dusk and observe Qiyam al lail (long sessions of prayers) during the nights of this month. Muslims, throughout the world, observe shabbedari (nocturnal awakening) during the last ten nights or the last five odd nights or on 27th night of this month. Let’s see how this chapter appears in the Quran and attempt a coherent reading of the same.
Prior to Surat al Qadr, there appears the Surat al Alaq; after the Surat al Qadr, there appears the Surat al Bayyina. The Surat al Alaq begins with this ayat: “Iqra bismirabbi kalazikhaqa”(Read with the name of your Lord who created…) and ends with this ayat: “kalla la tuti huwas judwaqtarib” (Never not follow him and (always) bow before Allah and come closer to Him). The chapter that follows Surat ul Qadr begins with this ayat: “lammyakunillazeenakafaru min ahlilkitab wal mushrikeen amun fakkeen ahattatatiya humulbayinnat” (Those who negate the truth from amongst the people of the Book and the polytheists will stick to the same belief system until comes to them something that clarifies).
The Surat ul Qadr emphasises the fact that this night is the night of destiny because of the fact that the Quran was revealed on this night. It is again emphasised that the prayers/contemplation in this night are better than the prayers of one thousand months. If this very important theme of the chapter is read in association with the first and the last ayat of the Surat ul Alaq, what one infers is that if this night is full of blessings, it is because the Quran was revealed upon the Prophet on this night, and how the destiny of man is changed has been revealed in the surat that precedes it when Allah says to Prophet Mohammad “Iqra”, that is, “Read”. Needless to mention, this is the first ayat that Prophet Mohammad received from Allah. So the Quran changes the destiny of man but it can’t change the destiny of man if it is not read with proper understanding and contemplation, which Allah talks about in so many other chapters of the Quran.
The subject of thematic and semantic coherence demands that the text of the Quran is read not in isolation but with due regard to what precedes and follows an ayat or a chapter. Qadr (destiny), Quran and Reading are, therefore, three very important key expressions that unfold multiple associations between the three chapters here. The title of the Surat ul Qadr needs to be read in relation with the Quran. Its explanation by the Prophet is for understanding the semantic implications of the word Qadr (to keep the things where they belong or destination).
Similarly, when the following chapter asserts that those who negate the truth from the people of the Book and that polytheists would continue to insist on following falsehood until something that explains comes, it is once again a direct reference to 1) the arrival of a Prophet and 2) the revelation of a Book. The Prophet is the person who explains and teaches the Book. Once again, from a semantic reading, the three suras are to be read in relation to each other so that connections between Reading (emphasised in Surat ul Alaq), the Quran (the revelation of which is emphasized upon in Surat ul Qadr) and the Prophet who teaches and explains the Quran, are established for a coherent meaning of the three chapters and subsequently of the whole Quran.
By widening the horizons of these readings, the finest linguistic aspects of the Quran and wisdom therein are revealed to the reader. Reading the ayat and chapters in isolation most of the times creates misunderstandings.
Surat ul Qadr has five ayats. Some scholars are of the opinion that this is because the night of the destiny is to be discovered by believers in the last five odd nights of the month of Ramadan. This is just an opinion, not a necessary principle. However, people have tried to establish a connection between the number of ayats and the number of odd nights in which believers keep nocturnal vigil for its discovery. The word Lailat ul Qadr has been repeated three times in this chapter and it has been finally described as the night of Peace and Blessings in which angels and the archangel come down by the order of the Lord for showering blessings upon those who keep awake and seek the forgiveness of Allah and really want change in their life through the reading/ contemplation and deep understanding of the Quran and its practice. Doesn’t the whole Quran actually revolve around the same, though with hundreds of other major and sub-themes?
In conclusion, the exegesis mentioned in the first paragraph would be helpful for South Asian readers to read the Quran with an eye on its semantic and thematic coherence. The title of this Sura is Qadr, which means to keep the things where they deserve to be placed, a form of destiny. This destiny is related with the Quran and the Quran is related with reading with deep contemplation and sincere teaching. These three aspects highlighted in these three chapters do find reverberation throughout the text of the Quran and so emerges the relationship of ayat with ayat and sura with sura. According to Imam Hamid ud Din Farahi, readings of the Quran with due regard to its nazm would help us in resolving many discords among ourselves, particularly the sectarian tendencies among Muslims, and so would such an approach help even the biased readers of the Quran in comprehending the truth as the truth and the reality as the reality.
Needless to mention, the relationship between Qadr, reading, and Prophet as a teacher, guide and mentor, if read in the light of these three Suras, would be quite revealing for the reader of the Quran and would guide him or her to an awareness of a different world altogether.

[email protected]

Ameen Fayaz