Inviting Reflections: Why Surahs are not assigned Specific Topics in Qur'an? (25)

 A lot of Orientalists have objected to the organization of the Holy Qur'an. Their contention is that why different Chapters/Surahs of the Qur’an have not been assigned specific topics as seen in the Holy Bible. 

Holy Bible is a collection of books which discuss specific subjects like Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Kings etc. dealing with particular subjects whereas no such classification is seen in the Holy Qur’an.

Qur’an, on the other hand, for the most part doesn't discuss a particular topic in any particular Surah. For example, all the stories of the Prophets mentioned in the Qur’an have not been narrated in one  Surah rather they are scattered in various surahs. There is only one exception e.g. Story of Yusuf A.S. which has been narrated in one surah completely. In fact,  the stories and events which have been mentioned in the Qur’an, are in a different style from that which we find in books on history. Here they have been narrated in order to strengthen an argument which leads to the message of the Qur’an.

We should remember that Holy Qur’an is not a book of History or Science. Its subject-matter is human beings and how to form a cohesive  society.

 Since man has been sent to this planet; in Qur’an, he is reminded about bounties of the Lord, regulatory laws of the universe and examples from the history in order to enable him to learn a lesson and to keep his focus on The Creator All Mighty Allah; and, that he is accountable before the Lord on the Day of Judgment. If we take life of the human beings as one entity, which is the subject matter of the Last Book, then we can understand that why Does and Don’ts, historical events and stories of old nations have not been mentioned separately in the Qur’an.