Tanzël (), inzÃÂl (), and nuzà «l (), and other words based on the Arabic triconsonantal root (, 'downward movement'), refers to the Islamic belief in the descent of God's message from heaven to Earth as speech, and sometimes visual, revelations to the Islamic prophet Muhammad with Gabriel as the conveyor, and occasionally God Himself.
In the Quran forms of these words are found in verse Q 17:105:
The Quran refers to its original source as the âÂÂmother of the bookâ () which is located in the presence of Allah (God). The Quran itself also calls this a âÂÂwell-guarded tabletâ () a âÂÂconcealed bookâ (). It describes the revelation to Muhammad as being dictated by the angel Jabril, not by Allah himself, and Muhammad as a messenger of Allah. While the Quran descends, in the Quran Allah himself is never described as coming down, but is sometimes mentioned in ḥadëth as going from higher to lower heavens.
It is thought that the basic units of revelation of the Quran were short passages or verses (ÃÂyÃÂt). Later these ayat were arranged into surahs under (Muslims believe) divine guidance.
In his tafsër, Ibn Kathër cited a hadëth from Abd AllÃÂh ibn ÿAbbÃÂs:
Ibn ÿAbbÃÂs and others have said, "AllÃÂh sent the QurþÃÂn down all at one time (jumlah wÃÂḥidah) from the Preserved Tablet (al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfà «áºÂ) to the House of Might (Bayt al-ÿIzzah), which is in the heaven of this world. Then it came down in parts to the Messenger of Allah based upon the incidents that occurred over a period of twenty-three years."
Therefore, the Quran descended in two stages. Firstly, the QurþÃÂn descended (inzÃÂl) from the Lawḥ al-Maḥfà «áº (Preserved Tablet) to the Bayt al-ÿIzzah in the lowest heaven (al-samÃÂþ al-dunyÃÂ). It happened in the Night of Destiny (Laylat al-qadr). Secondly, the QurþÃÂn descended (tanzël) from Bayt al-ÿIzzah to the worldly realm to be revealed to Muhammad by Gabriel piecemeal in stages (mufarriqan or tafṣëlan) over 23 years until the whole Quran was completely revealed.
According to ṬabÃÂá¹ÂabÃÂþë inzÃÂl is "a sudden act of sending down at once" and tanzël is "a gradual act of sending."
Muhammad's first encounter with the archangel Gabriel produced the first five verses of the ninety-sixth chapter of the present Quran, the chapter of The Clot (Surat al-âÂÂAlaq)
One quranic verse replies to those who ask why the Quran was revealed over time and not all at once:
Some commentators believe that the Quran was revealed to Muhammad twice. In addition to the gradual 23 year revelation until his death, there was an 'immediate revelation' that happened on the Laylat al-Qadr. This is based on an understanding of sà «rah Al-Qadr:1 as referring to descent of the Quran in its entirety. ÿAbd AllÃÂh ibn ÿAbbÃÂs reports that, "⦠descended in Ramaá¸ÂÃÂn, on the Laylat al-Qadr in one lay down ( ), â¦"
According to ḥadëth, the circumstances that verses were sent down in, and the study of why and how a particular verses was revealed is known as AsbÃÂb al-nuzà «l (âÂÂoccasions of revelationâÂÂ). Abu al-Hassan Alë bin Ahmad al-Wahidë an-Naisabà «rë (d. 1075), has been called the father of the field of asbÃÂb al-nuzà «l, he argued that understanding the reasons/circumstances for a given revelation was crucial to resolve apparent inconsistencies in the Quran.
According to the scholar al-Suyà «á¹Âë who wrote a book on AsbÃÂb al-nuzà «l, revelations came down for two basic reasons:
According to a number of scholars the asbÃÂb (occasion) of revelation can only properly be determined through "direct transmission from those who actually witnessed the event of revelation" (Abà « al-Hassan ÿAlë bin Ahmad al-Waḥidë an-Naisabà «rë), and cannot be left to independent reasoning (ijtihÃÂd), nor legal consensus (ijmÃÂÿ) (al-Zarkashë). which means in effect ḥadëth reports coming from the canons of ḥadëth or available in works of Islamic historiography, or works of tafsër. Unfortunately "very frequently" aḥÃÂdëth on asbÃÂb contradict each other and this "calls into question the reliability of the asbÃÂb genre".