The Chronological Qu’ran

I first encountered Islam about six years ago when I was living in London. After meeting a Muslim for the first time, I decided that I should probably become more familiar with the religion, given that it is followed by 1.6 billion people, approximately 23% of the world’s population.

In my naiveté, I decided to start reading the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam. Oddly enough, I had been given a copy of the Qur’an at my (Catholic) school’s prize-giving about ten years earlier. I dug out my copy and started reading…

I’ll admit that I found the text of Qur’an very dry and I gave up after reading it when I was only about a third of the way through. Jumping straight into the Qur’an is very difficult, particularly if you don’t know much about Islam. It would have been helpful to know, for example, that the chapters (“suwar”) are not placed in chronological order, meaning that as I read sequentially through the chapters, I was jumping between very different periods in Muhammad’s life.

I’ve recently been reflecting on the subject of Islam and have concluded that the need for Christians to be familiar with this religion will only become greater with time. I’ve therefore decided to do more posts on this subject over the coming months. I have already written an introduction to Islam and the odd apologetics post, but in preparation for these upcoming articles, and for the sake of gaining credibility, I have decided to read the Qu’ran from cover-to-cover, but on this occasion I will read the chapters in chronological order.

Below you will see my reading plan, with the chapters arranged in (rough) chronological order. Discerning the exact chronology of the chapters is somewhat difficult for Muslim scholars to discern, particularly give that some chapters even contain verses from different periods. I found several different chronological orderings on the Internet, but I have chosen this one. There were other orderings I found on Christian websites, but in an attempt to limit Christian bias (which I will already bring to the text), I chose to use a chronology from a Muslim website.

My plan is to post some very brief thoughts about the chapters I read each day. I’ve also written a glossary of Islamic terms to make these easier to follow. From time to time, I’ll visit an Imam in San Diego, in order to clarify anything which I have found confusing.

Day 1 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
1	Surah #96	“The clinging substance”/”Recite” (Al-Alaq)
2	Surah #68	“The Pen” (Al-Qalam)
3	Surah #73	“The one who wraps himself” (Al-Muzzammil)
4	Surah #74	“The one who covers himself” (Al-Muddathir)
5	Surah #1	“The opening” (Al-Fatiha)
6	Surah #111	“The Fiber/Flame” (Al-Masadd)
7	Surah #81	“The wrapping” (At-Takwir)

Day 2 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
8	Surah #87	“The most high” (Al-Ala)
9	Surah #92	“The night” (Al-Lail)
10	Surah #89	“The dawn” (Al-Fajr)
11	Surah #93	“The morning hours” (Ad-Dhuha)
12	Surah #94	“Consolation” (Al-Inshirah)
13	Surah #103	“The declining” (Al-Asr)
14	Surah #100	“The chargers” (Al-Adiyat)

Day 3 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
15	Surah #108	“Abundance” (Al-Kauther)
16	Surah #102	“Competition” (At-Takathur)
17	Surah #107	“Small Kindness” (Al-Maun)
18	Surah #109	“The Disbeliever” (Al-Kafiroon)
19	Surah #105	“The Elephant” (Al-Fil)
20	Surah #113	“The Daybreak” (Al-Falaq)
21	Surah #114	“Mankind” (An-Nas)

Day 4 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
22	Surah #112	“The Purity of faith” (Al-Ikhlas)
23	Surah #53	“The Star” (An-Najm)
24	Surah #80	“He Frowned” (Abasa)
25	Surah #97	“Power / Fate” (Al-Qadr)
26	Surah #91	“The Sun” (Ash-Shams)
27	Surah #85	“The Constellations” (Al-Burooj)
28	Surah #95	“The Fig” (At-Tin)

Day 5 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
29	Surah #106	“Winter” (Quraish)
30	Surah #101	“The Calamity” (Al-Qaria)
31	Surah #75	“Resurrection” (Al-Qiyama)
32	Surah #104	“The Gossipmonger” (Al-Humaza)
33	Surah #77	“The Emissaries” (Al-Mursalat)
34	Surah #50	“The letter Qaf” (Qaf)
35	Surah #90	“The City” (Al-Balad)

Day 6 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
36	Surah #86	“The morning star” (At-Tariq)
37	Surah #54	“The moon” (Al-Qamar)
38	Surah #38	“The letter sad” (Sad)

Day 7 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
39	Surah #7	“The heights” (Al-Araf)
40	Surah #72	“The Jinn” (Al-Jinn)

Day 8 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
41	Surah #36	“Ya Sin” (Ya-Sin)

Day 9 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
42	Surah #25	“The Criterion” (Al-Furqan)

Day 10 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
43	Surah #35	“The Angels” (Fatir)

Day 11 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
44	Surah #19	“Mary” (Maryam)

Day 12 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
45	Surah #20	“Ta-ha” (Taha)

Day 13 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
46	Surah #56	“The inevitable” (Al-Waqia)

——— 25% Complete ———

Day 14 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
47	Surah #26	“The poets” (Ash-Shuara)

Day 15 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
48	Surah #27	“The Ants” (An-Naml)

Day 16 – My Notes 

Order	Number	Title
49	Surah #28	“The story” (Al-Qasas)

Day 17 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
50	Surah #17	“The Night Journey” (Al-Isra)

Day 18 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
51	Surah #10	“Jonah” (Yunus)

Day 19 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
52	Surah #11	“Hud” (Hud)

Day 20 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
53	Surah #12	“Joseph” (Yusuf)

Day 21 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
54	Surah #15	“Rock City” (Al-Hijr)

Day 22 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
55	Surah #6	“Cattle” (Al-Anaam)

Day 23 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
56	Surah #37	“Those who set the ranks” (As-Saaffat)

Day 24 – My Notes

Order	Number	Title
57	Surah #31	“Luqman” (Luqman)
58	Surah #34	“Sheba” (Saba)

——— 50% Complete ———

Day 25

Order	Number	Title
59	Surah #39	“The Troops” (Az-Zumar)

Day 26

Order	Number	Title
60	Surah #40	“The Forgiver” (Al-Ghafir)

Day 27

Order	Number	Title
61	Surah #41	“Signs Spelled Out” (Fussilat)
62	Surah #42	“Counsel” (Ash-Shura)

Day 28

Order	Number	Title
63	Surah #43	“Ornaments of Gold” (Az-Zukhruf)

Day 29

Order	Number	Title
64	Surah #44	“Smoke” (Ad-Dukhan)
65	Surah #45	“Crouching” (Al-Jathiya)

Day 29

Order	Number	Title
66	Surah #46	“The Dunes” (Al-Ahqaf)
67	Surah #51	“The Winnowing Winds” (Adh-Dhariyat)
68	Surah #88	“The Overwhelming” (Al-Ghashiya)

Day 29

Order	Number	Title
69	Surah #18	“The Cave” (Al-Kahf)

Day 29

Order	Number	Title
70	Surah #16	“The Bee” (An-Nahl)

Day 30

Order	Number	Title
71	Surah #71	“Nooh” (Nooh)
72	Surah #14	“Abraham” (Ibrahim)

Day 31

Order	Number	Title
73	Surah #21	“The Prophets” (Al-Ambiya)

Day 32

Order	Number	Title
74	Surah #23	“The Believers” (Al-Mumenoon)

Day 33

Order	Number	Title
75	Surah #32	“The Prostrations” (As-Sajda)
76	Surah #52	“The Mount” (At-Tur)
77	Surah #67	“The Sovereignty” (Al-Mulk)

Day 34

Order	Number	Title
78	Surah #69	“The Reality” (Al-Haaqqa)
79	Surah #70	“The Ascending Stairways” (Al-Maarij)

Day 35

Order	Number	Title
80	Surah #78	“The Tidings” (An-Naba)
81	Surah #79	“Those Who Drag Forth” (An-Naziat)

Day 36

Order	Number	Title
82	Surah #82	“The Cleaving” (Al-Infitar)
83	Surah #84	“The Sundering” (Al-Inshiqaq)
84	Surah #30	“The Romans” (Ar-Room)

Day 37

Order	Number	Title
85	Surah #29	“The Spider” (Al-Ankaboot)
86	Surah #83	“Defrauding” (Al-Mutaffifin)

——— 75% Complete ———

At about this point forward, the chapters come from Muhammad’s time in Medina.

Day 38

Order	Number	Title
87	Surah #2	“The Heifer” (Al-Baqara)

Day 39

Order	Number	Title
88	Surah #8	“Spoils of war” (Al-Anfal)

Day 40

Order	Number	Title
89	Surah #3	“The Family of Imran” (Al-i-Imran)

Day 41

Order	Number	Title
90	Surah #33	“The Clans” (Al-Ahzab)
91	Surah #60	“She that is examined” (Al-Mumtahina)

Day 42

Order	Number	Title
92	Surah #4	“Women” (An-Nisa)

Day 43

Order	Number	Title
93	Surah #83	“The Earthquake” (Al-Zalzala)
94	Surah #2	“Iron” (Al-Hadid)
95	Surah #68	“Muhammad” (Muhammad)
96	Surah #3	“The Thunder” (Ar-Rad)

Day 44

Order	Number	Title
97	Surah #33	“The Beneficent” (Al-Rahman)
98	Surah #60	“Man” (Al-Insan)

Day 45

Order	Number	Title
99	Surah #65	“Divorce” (At-Talaq)
100	Surah #98	“The Clear Evidence” (Al-Bayyina)
101	Surah #59	“Exile” (Al-Hashr)
102	Surah #24	“Light” (An-Noor)

Day 46

Order	Number	Title
103	Surah #22	“The Pilgrimage” (Al-Hajj)
104	Surah #63	“The Hypocrites” (Al-Munafiqoon)
105	Surah #58	“She that disputes” (Al-Mujadila)

Day 47

Order	Number	Title
106	Surah #49	“The Private Apartments” (Al-Hujraat)
107	Surah #66	“Banning” (At-Tahrim)
108	Surah #64	“Mutual Disillusion” (At-Taghabun)
109	Surah #61	“The Ranks” (As-Saff)
110	Surah #62	“The Congregation” (Al-Jumua)
111	Surah #48	“Victory” (Al-Fath)

Day 48

Order	Number	Title
112	Surah #5	“The Repast” (Al-Maeda)

Day 49

Order	Number	Title
113	Surah #9	“Repentance” (At-Taubah)
114	Surah #110	“Divine Support” (An-Nasr)