Who Arranged the Surahs? Tawqifi or Companion Ijtihad — Both Columns, As-Is

The Book That Begins Near Its End

By the agreement of the classical sources, the first word of the Quran to come down was a single command in the cave of Hira: "Iqra" — Read. Open any printed mushaf today and the Book does not begin with that word. It begins with al-Fatiha, seven verses of prayer, and then al-Baqara — the longest surah of all, revealed in Madinah more than a decade after the cave. And the surah that carries "Iqra," Surah al-Alaq? It stands at number 96, a few pages from the end. The last revelations sit near the front; the first revelation sits near the back. Someone arranged the Book this way. The question the classical scholars of Islam asked — and answered against each other in their own books — is simple to state: was the order of the 114 surahs fixed by the Prophet at the command of revelation (tawqifi), or arranged after him by the judgment of his companions (ijtihadi)? Both camps are Muslim. Both argue from the same books. This article lays out their evidence exactly as the books record it.

This article does not mock any religion. It will do what we always do: open the books, present the texts exactly as they are — both columns, side by side. The verdict, as always, is yours.