Book 4 Critical Thinking and the Chronological Quran in the Life of Prophet Muhammad

Description

The Year 4 of the Revelation Muharram 1-Dhu al-Hijja 30, 10 BH ca. November 1, 612 CE-October 21, 613 CE Each Lesson begins with a critical thinking (furqan) standard, strategy or Quranic moral trait. It is important to note that when learning HOW to think, which the Quran teaches, there is no specifically correct answer. It is going through the process of Quranic understanding that we learn HOW to think. The Lessons in Book Year 1 through Book Year 24, including Book Year 4 presented here, are numbered consecutively in order of the revelation of a Quranic chapter. Here, in Book Year 4, we begin with a Prelude based on 26:214 when the Prophet is commanded to stand up and warn his nearest of kin. A dinner is organized for them. The lessons themselves begin with Lesson 39, that is, Quran Chapter 7 is the 39th Chapter revealed, followed by Quranic Chapters 72, 36 and, finally, Chapter 25, the 42nd Chapter revealed. The chronological order of the chapters of the Quran that follow throughout the series is based on the list accepted by al-Azhar University in Cairo and is considered to be the official order. It differs greatly from the chronological order developed by Western scholars over the centuries and is much more detailed. Quranic signs or verses (ayat) of each section (ruku) in a particular Quranic chapter are given in each lesson followed by a commentary, an analysis of the signs that answer three questions: Who is God?, How are the signs directed towards Prophet Muhammad?, and How are the signs directed towards the Community? Following these questions, there is a section called Example of How Critical Thinking works. A short paragraph describes the Eight Elements of Reason and then a paragraph titled Example of How Quranic Critical Thinking Works. The paragraph that comes after this is for the student to determine which of the statements are one of the Eight Elements of Reasoning. Each Lesson ends with a Student Self-assessment. We do not have a great deal of detailed information about the life of the Prophet Muhammad during the Makkah period. The information that we have falls in the various lessons while the information related to the chapters (ayat) and sections (ruku) can be found in Appendix 1. Here the list of Muhammad s early Companions appear, the names of some who do not appear in Ibn Ishaq or Ibn Hisham but have been recorded by other early scholars. We will hear of some of them who played significant roles in the future development of the community (ummah). Appendix 2 correlates the original Quranic chapters with their chronological order