Surah 44:3
"Surely We sent it down on a blessed night – surely We were warning –"
Revelation of the Quran: Stages or All at Once
Supporting Verses
Surah 12:111 → "Certainly in their accounts (there is) a lesson for those with understanding. It is not a forged proclamation, but a confirmation of what was before it, and a distinct setting forth of everything, and a guidance and mercy for a people who believe."
Surah 16:89 → "On the Day when We raise up in every community a witness against them from among them, and bring you as a witness against these (people) [. . .]. We have sent down on you the Book as an explanation for everything, and as a guidance and mercy, and as good news for those who submit."
Surah 2:185 → "The month of Ramaḍān, in which the Qur’ān was sent down as a guidance for the people, and as clear signs of the guidance and the Deliverance: so whoever of you is present during the month, let him fast in it, but whoever of you is sick or on a journey, (let him fast) a certain number of other days. God wishes to make it easy for you, and does not wish any hardship for you. And (He wishes) that you should fulfill the number (of days), and that you should magnify God for having guided you, and that you should be thankful."
Surah 3:3 → "He has sent down on you the Book with the truth, confirming what was before it, and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel"
Surah 43:4 → "And surely it is in the mother of the Book, with Us, most high indeed, wise."
Surah 97:1 → "Surely We sent it down on the Night of the Decree."
Opposing Verses
Surah 17:106 → "(It is) a Qur’ān – We have divided it, so that you may recite it to the people at intervals, and We have sent it down once and for all."
Surah 25:32 → "Those who disbelieve say, ‘If only the Qur’ān were sent down on him all of one piece.’ (It has been sent down) in this way, so that We may make firm your heart by means of it. We have arranged it very carefully."
Does the Quran state that it was revealed in stages or all at once? Some verses indicate that the Quran was divided and sent down gradually at intervals over time, while other verses state that it was sent down entirely during the month of Ramadan, specifically on a single blessed night (the Night of Decree).
Timing of Divine Decrees and Predestination
Supporting Verses
Surah 44:4 → "during which every wise command was divided out,"
Surah 97:3 → "The Night of the Decree is better than a thousand months."
Opposing Verses
Surah 17:13 → "And every human – We have fastened his fate to him on his neck, and We shall bring forth a book for him on the Day of Resurrection, which he will find unrolled."
Surah 57:22 → "No smiting smites in the earth or among yourselves, except that it was in a Book before We brought it about – surely that is easy for God –"
Does the Quran state that fates and events are pre-recorded before creation or decreed on a specific annual night? Some verses state that everything is already written in a Book before it happens, or that an individual's fate is fastened to their own neck. Other verses state that divine commands and decrees are divided out during a specific blessed night, known as the Night of Decree.