All the lists I have found concerning the traditional order of revelation say the first surah was Alaq (96), and the second, after the long silence, was Qalam (68). But the biographies and tafsirs I have found say that Ad-Dhuha (93) marked the end of the long silence. The lists say Ad-Dhuha was the 11th surah, not the 2nd. Is there a way to reconcile this disagreement? Is there any authority that is widely considered correct among Muslims? *Footnote*: Biographies such as "Muhammad: His Life Based on The Earliest Sources" by Martin Lings -- he draws a lot from Ibn Ishaq, although not exclusively. Tafsirs such as "[Tafhim al-Qur'an](http://www.englishtafsir.com/) " by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, although [Ibn Kathir](http://www.qtafsir.com) doesn't comment, as far as I can tell.

Are there books—preferably in English (but if not, in Arabic)—which focus mainly on, to our best knowledge, why certain Quran ayath were revealed? (What was the context at the time they were revealed?) Put it another way: Is there a go-to source when one is trying to find reason of the revelation of a certain ayah?

I'm currently curious about the word Kafir in the Quran, I read from http://quran.com/19/37 . And then I’m starting to think, which was the first ayah reveal in the Quran talking about "Kafir"? According to timeline revelation. Please answer with based on Hadiths or other reference. Thank you

I have gone through the verses in the Quran where dead animals (mayta) is mentioned to be prohibited for a Muslim to eat *(except situations where it really is necessary)*. What I can recall for now is that I've read the verses: 2:173, 5:3, 6:145 , 16:115 **Is it possible to draw a conclusion of when (mayta) first was prohibited in the Quran?** If possible, which verse would that be? In my (small) analyze I've done, I would guess it was in 16:115 or 2:173 (maybe in surat Ana'am too), but God knows best. Also I don't neglect the logical possibility that it was prohibited before it even was revealed in the Quran. **Are there records of hadiths where it says that dead animals (mayta) is prohibited to eat, before the prohibition was revealed in the Quran?** *If records like that doesn't exist, it wouldn't mean it never was prohibited before, because truly we don't have all "hadiths" ever existed, so we can't know for sure.*

I have some questions regarding the revelation of [An-Nisa 3](http://quran.com/4/3) , in particular the part where it is said > ...marry those that please you of women, two or three or four... Was this revealed before or after [Al-'Ahzab 52](http://quran.com/33/52) ? In other words, is there evidence that the prophet Muhammad married any more women (i.e. more than four) even after the revelation of An-Nisa 3?