Understanding the Qur'an

The fourth reason: understanding the Qur'an. There are some āyāt in the Qur'an that are independent of the circumstances of revelation, like the āyāt of al-riqāq, the verses about the Hereafter — these are independent of circumstances. But then there are some āyāt dealing with events that were happening in the time of Muhammad (peace be upon him). So there are some āyāt revealed prior to an event, some āyāt revealed concurrent with an event, and some āyāt revealed after an event. Sīrah gives us the explanation of these āyāt. For example, Sūrat al-Aḥzāb: many āyāt in Sūrat al-Aḥzāb were revealed regarding the Battle of al-Aḥzāb. Many āyāt in Sūrat Āl ʿImrān relate to events that happened in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). A major section of Sūrat Āl ʿImrān is a dialogue between Muslims and Christians, based on the Christian delegation that came from Najrān to visit the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) — these āyāt were revealed to support the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in his dialogue with the Christians. And then the latter part of Āl ʿImrān deals with Ghazwat Uḥud. Now, the details of the ghazwah are not mentioned in the sūrah, so how are these āyāt to be understood? By going to sīrah.