How were the suras named?

Dear Hadi,

Dear Reader,

Thank you very much for your question. There are multiple parts, and we will do our best to answer them.

We know you did not ask about this, but let us begin with the order of the verses in each sura. There is a unanimity of opinion among Muslim scholars that this was entirely set by revelation during the lifetime of the Prophet (pbuh), and that he left the Muslims with the Quran intact in its current form in terms of each sura being complete, with the correct order of verses, identical to what we recite today.  There are numerous reports of the Prophet instructing his scribes where to place particular verses within particular suras when those verses were revealed.  To the best of our knowledge, there are no instances where Companions differed on the order of verses in a sura.

The questions then become how did the suras get the names that they currently have, and how did they get the order that we find them today in the mus-haf (written copy of the Quran).

Once again, there is a consensus of opinion that the current order of the suras is precisely the same as that in the Quran as compiled by Uthman, the third Caliph.  However, there is some difference of opinion regarding how the suras got their order in the Quran as compiled under the direction of Uthman.

Probably the most common opinion is that the order of the suras was taken by the Companions directly from the Prophet (pbuh), who taught them the order in which they stand today and this is why Uthman arranged the suras in the present order.  In jurisprudential language, the scholars who hold this point of view, say that the order of the suras is tawqifi (meaning that it has been sealed by the Prophet, presumably through revelation).

Interestingly, a second opinion holds the opposite view, namely that the arrangement of the suras was the work of the Companions (in other words, ijtihadi, or through their independent effort). In particular, that it was the arrangement laid down by Zaid ibn Thabit when Uthman asked him to compile the Quran, and the other Companions agreed to this. This, for example, is the opinion of Imam Malik. The support of this opinion is that different Companions had different arrangements of the suras in their respective mus-hafs, such as the those of Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ibn Masoud, and Ubay ibn Ka'b. These differences, according to the proponents of this opinion, suggest that the arrangement of the suras was not from the Prophet.

The third opinion is that the order of the suras was a mix of things learned from the Prophet (pbuh), where he gave the arrangement of some suras to the Companions so they knew which sura came before which, and then the remainder of the order was by independent effort (ijtihad) where the Companions filled in the gaps for portions of the order not specified. There is no consensus of opinion as to how many suras were placed in order by the Prophet, and how many by the Companions, but probably the most prevalent opinion is that almost the entire order of the suras was by the Prophet, except for Al Anfal and Al Tawba. This was, for example, the opinion of the famous Quran scholar Al-Suyuti.

Regarding the names of the suras, the best opinion seems to be that they are a mix. Many of the names were given by the Prophet (pbuh), with reports of him mentioning various suras by name, including Al Baqaraa, Ali 'Imran and Al Kahf.  However, the names of all suras are not found in hadith, and the Companions probably gave many of them their names based on a prominent word or reference or something that particularly caught their attention. For example, the scholar Muhammad Asad describes how this happened with sura Al Shura  (the Consultation), so named by the Companions because of the importance they attached to the concept of mutual consultation among the believers.  It should also be noted that some suras are referred to by more than one name, for example, Sura Al Tawba is also called Bara'a.

Regarding your question as to whether it is possible to recite a verse or some verses, instead of an entire sura, the answer is yes (and Allah SWT knows best). There is a nearly unanimous agreement among the scholars that recitation of the Quran after the fatiha is actually a strong sunna and not a fard (i.e. not an absolute requirement of the prayer and does not invalidate the prayer if it does not happen).  Therefore, there is wide latitude in what to recite. Scholars have given various opinions on the matter, but these are all entirely human opinions. For example, it is generally agreed-upon that you can recite only one verse after the fatiha, but scholars like Imam Ahmad suggested that if you do that, that it should be a long verse (with some saying equivalent in length to the shortest sura of the Quran, Al Kawthar). Once again, however, since it is not obligatory to recite anything at all, we do not feel that one has to hold strongly to this opinion. Other scholars have said that it is disliked to recite less than three verses, but once again this is a human opinion. Other scholars have mentioned that it is best not to mix up the order of verses in recitation between the rak’as. For example, do not recite the second half of a surah in the first rak’a and then the first half in the second rak’a. This seems reasonable in the sense that they are trying to be careful to preserve the order of the verses in the suras and not have people get mixed up about that, but once again human opinion.

Finally, to your question as to whether the Prophet (pbuh) ever recited just a single verse in prayer, we believe that the answer is yes (and God knows best), but the only instances we know of were in supererogatory prayers (i.e. extra prayers, like sunna prayers), and not in the required fard prayers. 

For example, it is reported that in the sunna for the fajr prayer, the Prophet sometimes recited only verse 136 of sura Al Baqaraa (Quran 2:136).

Also, sometimes he would recite verse 52 or verse 64 of Surat Ali 'Imran (Quran 3:52, 3:64).

There’s also a narration that in a late night tahajjud prayer, the Prophet (pbuh) recited only verse 118 of sura Al Maidah (Quran 5:118)

إِن تُعَذِّبْهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ عِبَادُكَ ۖ وَإِن تَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ فَإِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ

If thou cause them to suffer - verily, they are Thy servants; and if Thou forgive them - verily, Thou alone art almighty, truly wise! 

He kept reciting this verse numerous times during the prayer, but prayed only with that verse. When asked about it later, he noted that he did that on this particular occasion to ask God for forgiveness for his umma.

In the required prayers, he sometimes recited very short suras, such Al Falaq and Al Nas. However, at other times, he had a lengthier recitation. There is even a narration where in one rak’a, he recited Al Baqaraa, then Al Nisa’ and then Ali 'Imran.

We have included a reference to a nice article that gives this information and more (with documentation) as to the Prophet’s practice in his recitation during prayer:  Which suras did the Prophet (pbuh) recite in prayers?