The Inheritance of the Qur'an is of three kinds

Allah says: `Then We made those who uphold the Book confirming what came before, the one whom We have chosen from among Our servants. They are this Ummah, who are divided into three types.' Allah says:

فَمِنْهُمْ ظَـلِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ

The word: ثُمَّ (thumma: Then) in verse 32: ثُمَّ أَوْرَ‌ثْنَا الْكِتَابَ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا (Then We conveyed the Book as an heritage to those of Our slaves whom We chose.) serves as a conjunction to denote that the two things mentioned before and after it, despite having common characteristic, are marked by precedence and succession. What comes first has precedence, and that which comes after, succeeds. In addition to that, on some occasions, this precedence and succession takes effect in terms of time while, on some others, in terms of rank and degree. In this verse, the word: ثُمَّ (thumma: Then) is عَطف (atf: Conjunctive particle) connected to the word: اَوحَینا (awhaina: We revealed). It means: This Book, that is, the Qur'an which is nothing but the truth, and confirms all earlier Scriptures, We first sent to you as a revelation. After that, We made those We chose out of Our servants inherit the Book. The earlier and later of it, or the precedence and succession of it in terms of rank and degree is already very obvious in the sense that the sending of the Qur'an to the Holy Prophet ﷺ through the medium of wahy (revelation) has precedence in rank and degree. Then, its bestowal on the community of Sayyidna Muhammad al-Mustafa ﷺ takes effect in succession to it. And if making the Muslim ummah the inheritor of the Qur'an is taken to mean that he", rather than leave behind his legacy in the form of wealth and lands, left behind the Book of Allah as his legacy or inheritance - as borne by Hadith: 'Prophets do not leave coins of gold and silver as inheritance: They leave (true) knowledge as their legacy.' Or, '"Ulama' are inheritors of prophets" - then, in those terms, this precedence and succession could also reflect a time frame in the sense that 'We have blessed you with this Book. After that, you passed it on to your ummah as its inheritor.' To make someone inherit something means to bestow it on someone, give it as legacy, gift. This act of bestowal when expressed as inheritance points out to the fact that the way an inheritor gets his or her share from the inheritance without he or she having done anything to acquire it, similarly, this wealth of the noble Qur'an has been given as a gift to these chosen servant without any effort on their part.

A peculiarity of the Muslim Community, and that of its ` Ulama'