Regarding the quality of the revelation of the Quran, two types of verses can be classified:
1.
Verses that indicate the revelation of the Quran on the Night of Power and the month of Ramadan; such as verse 185 of Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 3 of Surah Al-Dukhan, and verse 1 of Surah Al-Qadr.
2.
Verses that indicate the gradual revelation of the Quran over a period of 20 to 23 years; such as verse 106 of Surah Al-Isra’ and verse 32 of Surah Al-Furqan. Here, one may ask: How can we reconcile these two groups of verses and how is the time of the Prophethood acceptable with the statement that the Quran was revealed on the Night of Power?
The answers given by Sunni and Shiite scholars are as follows:
1. Most Sunnis and some Shiite scholars (such as Sheikh Mufid, Sayyid Murtaza, and Ibn Shahr-e-Ashhub) have answered: The meaning of the revelation of the Quran on the Night of Power is the beginning and commencement of the revelation, which was in the month of Ramadan; Because every event can be attributed to the time of its beginning. See: Muhammad Hadi Maraf, Al-Tamhid, Vol. 1, p. 113. Therefore, according to this group, the first group of verses does not stand in opposition to the provisions of the second group.
2. Some have said: What is meant by “Ramadan” is not Ramadan of a specific year; rather, it is its type; that is, on every Night of Power of every year, the Quran was revealed to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him and his family) according to the needs of the people, and Gabriel recited it to his Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him and his family) in times of need, by the command of Allaah. Fakhr al-Razi has given this possibility. See: Al-Tafsir al-Kabir, Vol. 5, p. 85. It is obvious that with this assumption, the first group is opposed to the second group.
3. According to some: The meaning of the first group is that the verses of the Quran were revealed in the month of Ramadan, and in this regard, attributing the revelation of the Quran to the month of Ramadan is correct. See: Sayyid Qutb, In the Shadow of the Quran, Vol. 2, p. 79.
4. Some - including Sheikh Saduq - believe that the Quran was revealed in its entirety on one night of Qadr - in Bayt al-Izzah or Bayt al-Ma’mur. Then it was revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) gradually over a period of 20 or 23 years. This view is derived from some narrations. For example, Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) says: “The Quran was revealed at one time in Bayt al-Ma’mur. Then it was revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) over a period of twenty years.” See: Saduq, Al-I’tiqadat, p. 101; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 18, p. 250. 5. Some other Shiite scholars (such as Fayz Kashani, Tafsir al-Safi, vol. 1, p. 41, and Abu Abdullah Zanjani, Tarikh al-Quran, p. 10) have said: The meaning of the revelation of the Quran is not the descent of its words; Rather, it refers to its truths and concepts, and also to the descent of the Quran to the heart of the Messenger of God, which is referred to in narrations as “Bayt al-Ma’mur.”
6. Allamah Tabatabayi, may God have mercy on him, distinguishes between the gradual and the sudden descent: “Anzal” is the sudden descent that includes the stage of concepts and truths and the level of rulings, and “Tanzil” is the gradual descent that includes the stage of pieces and the level of detailing the Quran. This view is derived from some Quranic evidence, including: “A book whose verses are wise, then they are explained in detail by a wise, knowledgeable person”; Hud (11), verse 1.
Allamah Tabatabayi, may God have mercy on him, has explained the reason for the need for the sudden descent as follows: “The Holy Quran has a sublime truth, an inner spirit, and a simple existence; Just as it contains a truth that has been detailed and analyzed in the form of words and phrases. Once, the same simple truth and the universal spirit, the closed and sublime Quran, from the Preserved Tablet - which is a level of divine knowledge - was revealed to the soul and spirit of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) in a temporary form; because the one who is a teacher, a mentor, a herald, a warner and a mercy for the worlds, must know the main points, purposes and objectives of the call and the heavenly message and his book in a general and comprehensive way and become aware of the great divine teachings and the religion of guidance and the supreme truths of creation and the secrets of existence. For more information, see:
A. Al-Mizan, Vol. 2, pp. 15 and 18, Vol. 18, p. 139, Vol. 14, pp. 231 and 232.
B. Abdullah, Javadi Amoli, Quran in Interpretation, Tafsir Mozhozi, pp. 72-74..
Therefore, the reason for the partial revelation of the Quran is to become aware of the goals, plans, guidance and truths in a general and general way. It is necessary that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) benefited from this unseen knowledge and grace; although the gradual revelation and in accordance with the events and needs has a great effect on stabilizing the heart of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family), and the order of the revelation of the divine verses is very helpful and useful for guiding mankind and providing a model for the formation of an Islamic civilization.
Among the above statements, the view of Allamah Tabataba'i has theological support; However, some researchers of Quranic sciences do not consider the late scholar's arguments complete and believe that what can be accepted as certain is only the gradual revelation and the virtue of the blessed month of Ramadan is the beginning of the revelation of verses from the Quran in it - as a book of human guidance. See: Muhammad Hadi, Ma'rifat, Al-Tamhid, Vol. 1, pp. 101-121.
