Ulum ul Quram

Br. Sheikh Umar Farooq

The knowledge of 'Ulum al-Qu'ran, or 'The Sciences of the Qur'an', deals with the knowledge of those sciences that have a direct bearing on the recitation, history, understanding and implementation of the Qur'an. It is, therefore, a vast field of Islamic scholarship, and one that if of primary importance. Thus, for example, with regards to recitation, 'Ulum al-Qu'ran deals with the science of pronunciation (tajwid), the different methodologies of reciting the Qur'an (the qira'at), the blessings of reciting the Qur'an, and the etiquette of its recitation. With regards to the history of the Qur'an, 'Ulum al-Qu'ran deals with the stages of revelation of the Qur'an, the compilation of the Qur'an, the art and history of writing the Qur'anic script (rasm al-masahif), and the preservation of the Qur'an. With regards to its understanding and implementation, 'Ulum al-Qu'ran covers the causes of revelation (asbab an-nuzul), the knowledge of maki and madani revelations, the knowledge of the various forms (ahruf) it was revealed in, the understanding of its abrogated rulings and verses (nasikh wal-mansukh), the knowledge of the various classifications of its verses (muhkam and mutashabih, 'am and khas, mutlaq and muqqayad, etc.), the knowledge of its interpretation (tafsir), the grammatical analysis of the Qur'an ('Irab al-Qur'an) and the knowledge of those words whose usage has become uncommon over time (gharib al-Qur'an).