Fatwa ID: 03584

Answered by: Shaykh Umer Khan

Question

السَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

I have a question relating to the ajza of the Quran. Is there any history behind the making of the juz? Like what was the history behind deciding where each juz begins and ends? For example, in the Quran usually, with the Usmani script, the 20th starts at فما كان جواب قومه

But then in the Indo Pak script, the Qurans starts at امن خلق

I was just a little confused. جزاك اللهُ خيرًا for answering.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

Regarding the division of the Qur'ān into the thirty parts (ajzā'), we do not have specific information as to exactly when it happened. The best information we have is that it was not done by the Prophet ﷺ or his companions, but that it was done by Ḥajjāj bin Yūsuf al-Thaqafī, who died in 110 AH, and that this division was done based on the number of letters (Majmūʻu al-Fatāwā, 13/409). This division was not based on the meaning of the Qur'ān.

There are some small variations (by a verse or a few verses) between the ways that the ajzā' have been divided, such as in juz' 4 (starts at لن تنالوا or كل الطعام), juz' 7 (starts at لتجدن or وإذا سمعوا), and juz' 20 (starts at أمن خلق or فما كان جواب).

Only Allah knows best

Written by Shaykh Umer Khan

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham