❖ The Meaning of ﴿عَلَّمَ الْقُرْاٰنَ﴾ and the Order of Human Creation
Source: Ahkam wa Masail – Tafsir ka Bayan, Vol. 1, Page: 483
❀ The Question
In Surah al-Rahman, Allah ﷻ says:
﴿اَلرَّحْمٰنُ – عَلَّمَ الْقُرْاٰنَ – خَلَقَ الْاِنْسَانَ ﴾
“The Most Merciful – He taught the Qur’an – He created man.”
This verse mentions the teaching of the Qur’an before the creation of man. Does this mean there was a creation before mankind to whom the Qur’an was taught?
❀ The Answer
Alhamdulillah, was-salatu was-salamu ‘ala Rasoolillah, amma ba‘d!
◈ In the verse ﴿عَلَّمَ الْقُرْاٰنَ﴾ and ﴿خَلَقَ الْاِنْسَانَ﴾, there is no word indicating that the teaching of the Qur’an occurred before the creation of man.
◈ Simply because the mention of “He taught the Qur’an” comes before “He created man” in sequence, it cannot be concluded that the teaching preceded creation in time.
❀ Qur’anic Examples Clarifying the Principle
① ﴿اِنَّ لَنَا لَلْاٰخِرَۃَ وَالْاُوْلٰی﴾
In this verse, the Hereafter is mentioned before the worldly life, although in reality the worldly life comes first.
② ﴿خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَیَاۃَ﴾
Here, death is mentioned before life, whereas life occurs first and then death.
③ ﴿نَمُوْتُ وَنَحْیَا﴾
In this verse too, death is mentioned before life, which is contrary to the chronological order.
❀ On the Principle of Creation
While the verse does not clarify chronological order, it is established in principle that angels and jinn were created before mankind, as this has been confirmed and explained in detail elsewhere.
❀ Conclusion
Thus, sequence of mention in a verse does not prove sequence of occurrence in reality. Therefore, one cannot conclude from this verse that the teaching of the Qur’an occurred before the creation of man, merely based on the order of words.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
(This is what I hold, and Allah knows best what is correct.)
