Introduction The Makkee and the Madanee Verses

The Qur’aan has been preserved to an extent that is unrivalled by any other book.
This is no surprise to a Muslim, for Allaah I Iimsell has promised to safeguard it. The Quran says.

( إِنَّا نَحْنُ نـزلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ )

Verily, it is We who have sent clown the Rememhrance. and of a surety. We will guard it (from corruption.
The Quran has been preserved so carefully that not only has the actual text been safeguarded, but also all related knowledge that is needed to understand it.

Among these aspects is the science of categorising those verses and soorahs which are male and those which are madanee.

The Prophet  did not specifically remark whether a verse was malice or madanee, but the Companions understood the importance of this topic and carefully preserved this knowledge, as it is essential in understanding the Quran. Ibn Mas’ood:
said: “I swear by Allaah, besides whom there is no other god, there is no soorah in the Quran except that I know where it was revealed.

And there is not a single verse in the Quran except that I know the reason behind its revelation. And if there were any person that knew more about the Quran than I did, and it was possible for me to reach him. I would ride (on my camel) towards him (to get this knowledge).

The Knowledge of Makkee and Madanee Verses:

There are two ways of knowing whether a verse or Surah is malice or Madanee.

The first way is by relying upon reports from the Companions; in other words, a Companion specifically states the place and/or time ol revelation, or gives some external information from which the time of revelation can be inferred. The second way is by personal reasoning, or ijtihaad. In this method, a scholar will take the verses’ meaning and style into account ami try to ‘presume’ whether the verse is malice or Madanee. These two methods are not equivalent in acceptability.

The Definition of Makkee and Madanee

There are three methodologies by which the mal{l{ec and madanee revelations are defined.
The first definition relies upon the time of revelation, taking the Prophet’s hijrak as the division factor.

According to this definition, if a verse was revealed before the hijrah, it is considered mace, and if revealed after the hijral), it is considered madanee.

This definition ignores the actual place of revelation. Therefore, those verses revealed at the Farewell Pilgrimage (8 A.H.), or the Conquest of Makkah (10 A.H.), would be considered madanee by this definition, even though the actual place of revelation was Makkah.

The criterion according to this definition, once again, is the time of revelation, not place. This is the strongest of the three definitions, since it is the most beneficial, and is therefore the one primarily utilised by the scholars of Islaam.