METHODOLOGY FOR STUDY OF THE QUR'AN
by Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein
What Allah causes to be forgotten!
Although Maulānā made no mention of it when he answered me on that memorable day, we may add for the benefit of readers, that only ‘part’ of that which was sent down by Allah Most High on Nabī Muhammad (s) constituted revelations of the Qur’ān. There was much that was sent down on him which did not form part of the Qur’ān. Muslims are well aware, for example, that there are many Ahādīth which contain the direct speech of Allah Most High, and are known as Hadīth al Qudsī, which do not form part of the Qur’ān. It is with reference to such divine inspiration sent to mankind, including Prophets of Allah, and to Nabī Muhammad (s) himself, that the Qur’ān has revealed that Allah can cause such a person to forget whatever Allah chooses to have forgotten:
“We shall teach you, and you will not forget [anything of what you are taught],
(87:6)
“Save what Allah may will [you to forget]– for, verily, He [alone] knows all that is open to [man’s] perception as well as all that is hidden [from it].”
(Qur’ān, al-’Ala, 87:6-7)
This ‘forgetting’ does not at all apply to the revelation of verses of the Qur’ān.
The Qur’ān has, in fact, recorded an event in which Allah did cause the Prophet (s) to forget an item of knowledge that was sent down to Him through Angel Gabriel, but which did not form part of the Holy Book. The reader can find it in the commentary to Sūrah al-Kahf, 18:23-24.
It is possible that Allah first teaches something to a special servant of his, such as a Prophet, and then causes that knowledge to be forgotten, because, in His wisdom, He wants that knowledge to be subsequently presented in a new form appropriate to a new stage in the historical process. And Allah Knows best!
to be continued .....
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