Aḥkām al-Qurʾān — how we count

What the number counts

938 entries = 490 in the core list + 448 in the supplementary list.

They point to 599 different verses in 85 sūrahs; 254 verses carry more than one entry (the most: 8 on 2:187).

By type: 235 commands, 156 prohibitions, 547 guidance — across 17 topics.

The classical reference point

Classical works (e.g. al-Suyūṭī’s al-Itqān) report a count of about 500 verses of rulings (āyāt al-aḥkām). Our count is of extracted entries, not verses: one verse can carry several commands, prohibitions or directives, and each is listed on its own. The “guidance” entries also include directives on belief and conduct, beyond legal rulings in the narrow sense — so the two numbers measure different things and are not meant to agree.

How the list is put together

Every entry is one verse reference (sūrah:āyah), the Arabic wording of that verse (the whole verse or the phrase that carries the directive), a type and one of the topics, with an English and an Urdu text.

Types: “command” — the verse orders an act; “prohibition” — it forbids one; “guidance” — a directive to action that is not phrased as a direct command or prohibition.

The core list

Served by our server and editable by the site’s editors. Most of its entries give the verse’s own translation — Saheeh International in English, Fateh Muhammad Jalandhari in Urdu; the others give a short summary of the command in plain words.

The supplementary list

Bundled with the app to fill topics the core list leaves thin or empty (purification, modesty, oaths, penalties, calling to good, defence and peace, and gaps elsewhere). Each supplementary entry adds a short note on how scholars derived the ruling from the verse, and a supporting hadith — with a hadith number only where the standard numbering is certain, otherwise the collection alone. Penal verses are given with their classical safeguards. Every verse reference is checked automatically against the real sūrah and āyah counts. These entries are marked “supplementary” in the list.

Limits

• This is a study list, not a book of fiqh and not a fatwa. It does not state any madhhab’s ruling; for a ruling on your situation, ask a qualified scholar.
• It is not a complete list of āyāt al-aḥkām, and it may not match any one classical count.
• The choice of verses, the type and the topic of each entry are editorial. The list has not yet been reviewed by a scholar; when a named reviewer signs it off, the page will say so.
• A verse can appear in both lists and under more than one entry, which is why the entry count is larger than the verse count.