Thumma, Wa, and Fa / Chronology in the Qur’an

Thumma, Wa, and Fa / Chronology in the Qur’an

11:90 And (Wa) ask forgiveness of your Lord, then (thumma) turn in repentance to Him. Indeed, my Lord is Most Merciful, Most Loving."

(“Wa” (and) does not specify order or timing. So, it mentions a non-chronological sentence. “Thumma” only indicates order, but does not specify the timing between the two events. “Fa” indicates the order (like thumma), but also shows that the second event happened immediately after the first)(For example, in Verse 11:90, asking forgiveness comes first, because “thumma” (then) is chronological)(Allah knows best)

11:52 And O my people, ask forgiveness of your Lord, then (thumma) turn to Him in repentance. He will send upon you abundance from the sky, and increase you in strength (added) to your strength. And (wa) do not turn away as criminals."

5:74 So will they not turn to Allah and (wa) seek His forgiveness? And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

(In this example, asking forgiveness is the second one mentioned, but this time the Verse uses “and” (non chronological), instead of “then / thumma” (chronological), so the order is not specified)(Allah knows best)

6:84 And We bestowed to him Isaac and Jacob, all We guided. And (wa) Noah, We guided before; and (wa) of his descendants, David and (wa) Solomon and (wa) Job and (wa) Joseph and (wa) Moses and (wa) Aaron. And thus We reward the good-doers.

(Another example, in Verse 6:84, “Noah” is mentioned after “Isaac and Jacob”, but the Verse uses “wa” (and) which is non-chronological, so the sentence does not say who came first. On the other hand, the Verse also says, “and of his descendants” (descendants of Noah). “Descendants” is chronological, so David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses and Aaron came after Noah. On the other hand, the Verse implicitly says that Isaac and Jacob came after Noah, because Joseph (a son of Jacob) is mentioned as a descendant of Noah)(“Wa” (and) is used among David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses and Aaron, so it is non-chronological, or does not indicate order)(Allah knows best)

4:163 Indeed, We have revealed to you as We revealed to Noah and the Prophets after him, and We revealed to Abraham, and (wa) Ishmael, and (wa) Isaac, and (wa) Jacob, and (wa) the tribes, and (wa) Jesus, and (wa) Job, and (wa) Jonah, and (wa) Aaron, and (wa) Solomon, and (wa) to David We gave the Scripture.

(The word “wa” (and) is placed before each Prophet to indicate that the names are not chronologically ordered)(Allah knows best)

27:16 And Solomon inherited David. And he said, "O people! We have been taught the language of birds, and we have been given from everything. Indeed, this is surely an evident favor."

(Solomon is mentioned first in Verse 4:163, then David, using ‘and’ (no chronological) on purpose. But the order between Solomon and David is said in Verse 27:16, “Solomon inherited David” (chronological), so David came first)(Allah knows best)

41:12 Then He completed them as seven heavens in two periods and He revealed in each heaven its affair. And (wa) We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps and to guard. That is the Decree of the All-Mighty, the All-Knower.

(Some non-Muslims try to prove the Qur’an wrong by ignoring the chronological and non chronological words in the Qur’an (e.g. they say that the Qur’an says that the earth was created before stars, etc.)(In this example, Verse 41:12 does not say that the earth was created before stars, but it mentions the lamps (stars) placed in one of the seven heavens. It uses the word “and” (wa) which indicates that the chronology or order of the events is not mentioned in the Verse)(Allah knows best)

79:27 Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? He constructed it. 79:28 He raised its ceiling and proportioned it. 79:29 And He darkened its night and brought out its brightness. 79:30 And after (ba’da) that He spread the earth.

(He spread the earth after He brought out brightness. The word “after” (ba’da) indicates chronological order)(Allah knows best)

3:31 Say, "If you love Allah, then (fa) follow me, Allah will love you and He will forgive for you your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. 3:32 Say, "Obey Allah and the Messenger." Then (fa) if they turn away – then (fa) indeed, Allah does not love the disbelievers.

(In regard to “fa”, it can be sequential, causal, resultive, adversative and explanatory)(Allah knows best)

See also: What is the chronological order of the Prophets? http://aqtthq.blogspot.com.es/2016/09/what-is-chronological-order-of-prophets.html

See also: Root Dictionary of the Holy Qur’an (Index)

http://qdvbp.blogspot.com/2018/10/index-root-dictionary-of-holy-quran.html

See also: How to read/learn the Qur’an?

http://aqtthq.blogspot.com.es/2016/08/how-to-readlearn-quran.html

See also: Response to Islam haters and their spreading of falsehood

https://aqtthq.blogspot.com.es/2016/04/islam-haters-and-their-spreading-of.html

See also: Are there grammatical errors in the Qur’an?

http://aqtthq.blogspot.com.es/2016/08/are-there-different-versions-of-quran.html

See also: Some English words of Arabic origin or similar to Arabic

http://aqtthq.blogspot.com.es/2016/08/why-some-muslims-printspread.html