Where Sūrat al-Barāʾah Was Placed

That covers the verses of this part. A few points may now be made briefly about Sūrat al-Barāʾah. ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās approached ʿUthmān — for it was in ʿUthmān's time that the Qur'an was written out in script and gathered together. Until then many of the Ṣaḥābah had their own collections and their own memory, and it was upon these that they relied. But in ʿUthmān's time, when many were being killed in various regions, and particularly when some of the ḥuffāẓ were killed, it was decided that seven copies should be written out and sent to the great centres of Islam about the world. This ʿUthmān did; and it is there that the final ordering of the sūrahs came together — of the greater part of them. There are numerous books upon the subject. There is an excellent one, Asrār al-Tartīb al-Qurʾān, in which the author treats of it at length, and there are many others besides. Those among the ʿulamāʾ who wish to look into it may consult them.

The matter is this. There is a narration which shows that ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās came to ʿUthmān after he had compiled the Qur'an, having placed Sūrat al-Anfāl before Sūrat at-Tawbah. Sūrat at-Tawbah seems to sit there well enough; that is no difficulty. But Sūrat al-Anfāl does not appear to fit in respect of the number of its verses: it has very few beside the sūrahs that surround it. As has been said, it has only seventy-five verses, which is very few beside the hundred and more of the other long sūrahs. So ʿUthmān said: this Sūrat al-Barāʾah was revealed last. Sūrat al-Anfāl was revealed early; Sūrat al-Barāʾah was revealed last. And we were unable to ask the Prophet (peace be upon him) where this sūrah should be placed.

Which shows that for all the other sūrahs the Prophet (peace be upon him) had told them — they had enquired; the writers of the waḥy had enquired where the sūrahs were to go and where the āyāt were to go. All of those are what is called in Arabic tawqīfī: directly sanctioned by the Prophet (peace be upon him). But in this one case the Prophet (peace be upon him) had departed this world, and they did not know where to put it. There was moreover the question whether it was in truth a part of Sūrat al-Anfāl, the theme being so similar. It is on account of that uncertainty — that is one of the reasons — that no Bismillah was added here. It is one of the reasons the Bismillah is not written: is this truly a separate sūrah, or is it a part of Sūrat al-Anfāl? Is it one sūrah? And since they did not know with complete certainty, they left them as two separate sūrahs, but did not write the Bismillah.

Another reason given for the absence of the Bismillah is that the theme of the sūrah is war, and warning, and the like. When one begins with Bismillāhi al-Raḥmāni al-Raḥīm, one invokes the mercy of Allah; whereas this is a place of the majesty and the might of Allah, rather than of His showing mercy at that moment. Allah knows best; but many have been curious as to why a Bismillah should be missing here, the omission being so plain. That is why so many wonder at it; and this may be the reason, and Allah knows best. It tells us at least this much: that they kept the matter entirely clear.