countless other examples. Indeed, Allah’s oneness, the promise of reward and the threat of punishment were among the first matters revealed.

As recorded in Sahīh al-Bukhārī, Yūsuf ibn Māhak said:

I was with ʿĀ’ishah, the Mother of the Believers—may Allah be pleased with her—when an Iraqi man came to her and asked, “Which shroud is best?”

She replied, “Woe to you! What difference does it make to you?”

He said, “Mother of the Believers, show me your copy of the Quran.”

She asked, “Why?”

He replied, “So that I may arrange the Quran according to it, for it is recited without a consistent order.”

She said, “What difference does it make which part you read first? The first revelation from it was a surah from the Mufassal section, mentioning Paradise and Hell. Then, once people had embraced Islam, rulings on what was lawful and unlawful were revealed. Had the first thing revealed been, ‘Do not drink wine,’ they would have said, ‘We will never give up wine.’ And had it been revealed, ‘Do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse,’ they would have said, ‘We will never give up unlawful sexual intercourse.’ The following was revealed to Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in Mecca while I was still a young girl at play:

‘But the Hour is their appointed time, and the Hour is more calamitous