AyaSeerah

The curriculum

The Qur'an in the order it came down — beside the life it came down into.

Reading the muṣḥaf front to back means starting with the longest, most legal surahs before you have the belief they rest on. Revelation order does what the first community experienced: belief, then character, then law — each surah arriving in answer to a real moment in the Prophet's ﷺ life.

6 phases114 of 114 surahs builtComplete — all 114 surahs

How certain is the order?

There is no fully authentic year-by-year revelation order. Every surah and every event below carries a badge for the class of evidence behind its placement, so you never confuse a classical list with a ṣaḥīḥ narration.

  • Established

    Placement fixed by ṣaḥīḥ narration or mutawātir transmission — al-ʿAlaq first, al-Muddaththir after the fatrah, 5:3 at ʿArafah, an-Naṣr among the last.

  • Strong report

    Tied to a specific, well-attested occasion (asbāb al-nuzūl) reported in Bukhārī, Muslim or a sound sīrah chain.

  • Traditional ordering

    Position comes from the classical chronological lists (Ibn ʿAbbās via al-Suyūṭī, al-Zarkashī) — useful and widely used, but ijtihādī, not mutawātir.

Study the seerah events as recall cards

Phase 01 · c. 13–11 BH · age 40–42

Ḥirāʾ and the first call

Makkah

Revelation begins in the cave, pauses, and returns. The surahs of this phase are short, rhythmic and personal: they build the Prophet's ﷺ own certainty before they build a community. Everything here is about who Allah is, what the Hereafter is, and the character of the one carrying the message.

Seerah — what was happening

  1. Iqraʾ in the cave of Ḥirāʾ

    Established

    Jibrīl عليه السلام comes with the first five āyāt of al-ʿAlaq. He ﷺ returns trembling to Khadījah رضي الله عنها, who takes him to Waraqah ibn Nawfal.

    Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3

  2. The pause in revelation (fatrat al-waḥy)

    Established

    Revelation stops for a period; the Quraysh mock. Aḍ-Ḍuḥā is revealed as consolation and proof drawn from his own life.

    Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4950; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1797

  3. The first believers

    Traditional ordering

    Khadījah, Abū Bakr, ʿAlī and Zayd accept Islam; daʿwah is private for roughly three years.

    Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah

Qur'an — what was revealed

By the end of this phase you can

  • Recognise the Makkan register: short āyāt, oaths, and the argument for the Hereafter.
  • Read Allah's names as they first appear: ar-Rabb, al-Akram, al-Aʿlā.
  • Learn the roots ر ب ب, ق ر أ, ذ ك ر, and how they recur for the rest of the Qur'an.
Sit the phase examPractice papers for this chapter

Tests every surah built in this phase and feeds your mastery scores, review queue and misconceptions log.

Phase 02 · c. 10–8 BH · age 43–45

Going public — and the persecution

Makkah

The call goes public at Ṣafā, and Makkah's leadership turns hostile. The surahs of this phase argue: they answer objections, describe the Day of Judgement in detail, defend the weak believers, and draw a hard line between worship of Allah and everything else.

Seerah — what was happening

  1. The call at Mount Ṣafā

    Established

    He ﷺ gathers Quraysh and warns them of a severe punishment; Abū Lahab responds with abuse, and Sūrat al-Masad is revealed.

    Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4770

  2. Torture of the weak believers

    Strong report

    Bilāl, Sumayyah, Yāsir and ʿAmmār are tortured; the first migration to Abyssinia follows.

    Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah; Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah

  3. Offers of compromise

    Strong report

    Quraysh offer wealth and leadership in exchange for silence, then a shared worship arrangement; al-Kāfirūn refuses it outright.

    Ibn Kathīr on Sūrat al-Kāfirūn

Qur'an — what was revealed

By the end of this phase you can

  • Trace how the Qur'an answers a specific objection rather than speaking in generalities.
  • Distinguish warning (indhār) from glad tidings (bishārah) and see them paired.
  • Build the vocabulary of the Hereafter: ح س ب, ج ز ي, ق ي م.
Sit the phase examPractice papers for this chapter

Tests every surah built in this phase and feeds your mastery scores, review queue and misconceptions log.

Phase 03 · c. 7–5 BH · age 46–49

The boycott and the Year of Sorrow

Shiʿb Abī Ṭālib, Makkah

Banū Hāshim are boycotted in the valley for roughly three years; Khadījah and Abū Ṭālib die soon after it ends. Under this pressure Quraysh send to the rabbis of Yathrib for questions to test him ﷺ — and al-Kahf answers with four stories about surviving trial with your faith intact.

Seerah — what was happening

  1. The boycott in the valley

    Strong report

    A written pact bans trade and marriage with Banū Hāshim; the believers eat leaves from hunger until the document is destroyed.

    Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah; Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-n-Nihāyah

  2. The three questions from Yathrib

    Strong report

    An-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith and ʿUqbah bring back three tests: the youths of the cave, the far-travelling king, and the rūḥ.

    Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah; Ibn Kathīr, intro to al-Kahf

  3. ʿĀm al-Ḥuzn — the Year of Sorrow

    Traditional ordering

    Khadījah رضي الله عنها and Abū Ṭālib die within a short period; his social protection in Makkah collapses.

    Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah

Qur'an — what was revealed

By the end of this phase you can

  • Read a long Makkan surah as a structured argument in movements, not a list of stories.
  • Name the four classical trials — faith, wealth, knowledge, power — and their antidotes.
  • Learn to hold a story and its lesson together: what the narrative says, and what it asks of you.
Sit the phase examPractice papers for this chapter

Tests every surah built in this phase and feeds your mastery scores, review queue and misconceptions log.

Phase 04 · c. 5–1 BH · age 49–53

Ṭāʾif, al-Isrāʾ and the final Makkan years

Ṭāʾif, Makkah, Minā

Rejected at Ṭāʾif and honoured by the Night Journey, the Prophet ﷺ turns outward to the tribes at Ḥajj. The surahs of this phase press the case for Allah's sole dominion over the universe and over each individual life — and prepare the believers for a state, not just a struggle.

Seerah — what was happening

  1. The journey to Ṭāʾif

    Established

    He ﷺ is driven out and stoned; the angel of the mountains offers to crush the town and he refuses, hoping for their descendants.

    Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3231; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1795

  2. Al-Isrāʾ wa-l-Miʿrāj

    Established

    The Night Journey to Jerusalem and the ascension; the five daily prayers are made obligatory.

    Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 349; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 162

  3. The pledges at ʿAqabah

    Traditional ordering

    Men of Yathrib pledge allegiance in two successive years, opening the door to the Hijrah.

    Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah

Qur'an — what was revealed

By the end of this phase you can

  • Argue the case for tawḥīd al-rubūbiyyah from the created order the way the Qur'an does.
  • See how a surah answers arrogance: with questions, not insults.
  • Learn the daily-protection surahs as study, not only as recitation.
Sit the phase examPractice papers for this chapter

Tests every surah built in this phase and feeds your mastery scores, review queue and misconceptions log.

Phase 05 · 1–5 AH · age 53–58

Hijrah and the building of Madinah

Madinah

The community becomes a society. Revelation shifts register: longer āyāt, law, finance, family, war and treaty — always tied back to the same tawḥīd taught in Makkah. Study here pairs each ruling with the event that produced it.

Seerah — what was happening

  1. The Hijrah and the Constitution of Madinah

    Established

    Migration, the building of the mosque, brotherhood between Muhājirūn and Anṣār, and a written compact with the tribes.

    Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3905; Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah

  2. Badr, Uḥud and al-Khandaq

    Established

    Three battles that reshape the community and generate long passages of Qur'anic commentary on them.

    Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3951, 4043, 4103

  3. The slander of ʿĀʾishah (al-ifk)

    Established

    A month of rumour ends with ten āyāt of Sūrat an-Nūr clearing her and legislating against slander.

    Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4750; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2770

Qur'an — what was revealed

By the end of this phase you can

  • Read a legal passage in its occasion and understand the ruling's purpose (maqṣad).
  • Follow a battle narrative and the Qur'an's commentary on it side by side.
  • Handle abrogation and gradual legislation without confusion.
Sit the phase examPractice papers for this chapter

Tests every surah built in this phase and feeds your mastery scores, review queue and misconceptions log.

Phase 06 · 6–11 AH · age 58–63

Conquest, completion and farewell

Ḥudaybiyah, Makkah, ʿArafah

From a treaty that looked like defeat to the conquest of Makkah and the Farewell Sermon. The last revelations close the circle: the religion is complete, the trust is delivered, and the community is handed the Book and the Sunnah.

Seerah — what was happening

  1. The Treaty of Ḥudaybiyah

    Established

    Terms that seemed humiliating are called a clear victory in Sūrat al-Fatḥ.

    Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 2731; Qurʾān 48:1

  2. The conquest of Makkah

    Established

    The city is entered without bloodshed and the idols around the Kaʿbah are removed.

    Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4280

  3. The Farewell Sermon at ʿArafah

    Established

    'Today I have perfected for you your religion' is revealed; he ﷺ asks the people to bear witness that he delivered the message.

    Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1218; Qurʾān 5:3

Qur'an — what was revealed

By the end of this phase you can

  • See how the Qur'an renames events — 'a clear victory' for what looked like a concession.
  • Connect the completion of the dīn to your own responsibility to carry it.
  • Close the arc: the same Lord who consoled him in aḍ-Ḍuḥā delivered him to ʿArafah.
Sit the phase examPractice papers for this chapter

Tests every surah built in this phase and feeds your mastery scores, review queue and misconceptions log.

How this grows

All 114 surahs are mapped to their phase and fully built.

Every surah added slots into its phase, inherits the same six-step study path, and feeds the same review queue, mistakes list and mastery scores. The order is fixed by revelation, so the course you follow is the course the first community lived.

See the study method Qur'anic glossary