The noble Quran has dealt, in the
folds of its Surahs, with a number of different topics among them
are: legislations rituals, ethics, beliefs, Quranic stories and
others.
But what we now want to highlight is a theme
which has occupied a broad space in the pages of the holy Quran
in a vivid, dramatic narration and pretty details which now we
term as "The Quranic Stories"
Linguistically, a story is telling news about
a case ranging in subsequent stages but the Quranic stories are
stories or anecdotes which have been narrated in the holy Quran
talking about the bygone nations, prophets and the messengers and
what was going on between them and their communities in addition
to mentioning the important personalities in the human history
and what has been synchronizing with them of events through long
spans and eras extending from the descending of Adam (P.B.U.H) on
earth until the commission of the Prophet Muhammad which is
a very long time, being lived through by many nations peoples
estimating according to some accurate statistical data to tens of
thousands of years.
What is the Objective behind the
Quranic Stories?
"Relate to them the stories so
that they may contemplate" (Al-Araf: 176)
1. To
make Muslims aware of the history of the ancient nations and
stories of the prophets and messengers of the ancestors and
predecessors and what happened to them since man's creation as
well as the descending of Adam (P.B.U.H.) on earth up to the Seal
of the Prophets Muhammad bin Abdullah.
(P.B.U.H.)
2. To
warn them of committing the same mistakes made by the ancient
nations such as: acts of disobedience to their prophets and
falsification of their beliefs and receiving the divine painful
torment of the temporal world before that of the hereafter in a
course of real events which have recurrently taken place across
long periods of history.
3. Implying lessons, wisdoms and sermons which
undoubtedly enrich the moral side of the Islamic and human
society and thus enhance their didactic element in the individual
across time.
4. Stating and demonstrating the common principal
bases between the Islamic religion and the former divine
religions in a way that can enhance the faith of Muslims in Allah
and in the Prophet-hood of Muhammad as a descended prophet from
Allah, the Almighty as complementary to the march of prophets and
messengers.
5. Presenting now and then the element of
suspense and surprise during the recitation of the Quran which
takes away from the reader the feeling of boredom, tiredness and
monotony of recitation especially the excessive
reader.
6. There
are stories whose events have occurred during the time of the
Prophet himself and which were mentioned in the holy Quran like
the story of the one who was "conversing with her husband" in the
(Surah of Al-Mujadalah) or that story in
which:
"He asked about a real torment
which befell" in the Surah of Al-Ma'arij and that which enhanced
faith in Allah, the Almighty and strengthened the verification of
the descending of the holy Quran on account of narrating
incidents which undeniably coincided before their naked eyes and
how so many were there who astonishingly wondered how the Prophet
(P.B.U.H.) got to know the details? before declaring his
Islam.
Stories of the
Quran
The stories which have been
narrated in the holy Quran are so many that it is greatly
difficult to count - among which some are so long and pregnant
with interrelated events that one can't easily grasp the diverse
and complicated situations and implications at one go –like the
story of Joseph (P.B.U.H.) and what happened to him with his
brothers in his childhood, then how it was destined by Allah to
him until he got to be (Dear to the people of
Egypt)
Next to Joseph's story in length
and significance comes the "The Companions of the Cave" namely:
those young people who believed in their Lord and Allah, the
Almighty has, in turn, increased their guidance.
They were the most intimate royal
attendants of the ruler Ducius and the issue of their long sleep
in the cave for three centuries, together with the stories that
relate to the Prophet Moses (P.B.U.H.) with his people on the one
hand and with Pharaoh on the other hand.
In order to have a full image of
this theme, we have to adduce to you ample instances by touching
upon the shorter stories - like stories of some prophets such as:
the prophet: Lut (P.B.U.H.) and his problem with his people or
the story of Adam's descending to earth and the story of Abraha
Al-Habashi in the Surah of Al- Feel or the story of the wife who
had a dialogue with her husband," as mentioned in the Surah of
Al-Mujadalah, and the like.
Let us now deal, in brief, with
simple details of some significant stories as narrated in the
holy Quran.
Sun -
22 Jamadilawal 1446H -
