The Quran is the sacred book of the Muslims. It is considered to be a message from God to humanity and the definitive Word of Allah himself. As the final revelation from God, Muslims believe the Quran supersedes the earlier revelations of the Bible and the Torah.
Over a period of 23 years between 610CE and 632CE, the Prophet Mohammad received God's revelations through the Angel Gabriel in Arabic in the Cave of Hira in the Mountain of Light.
The Arabic word 'Quran' translates as 'the recitation' and refers to the recitation of God's words. Widely memorized verbatim by Mohammad's companions, the words were written down on tablets, palm branches, leaves and animal skin in his lifetime and compiled as the Quran soon after his death.
Unlike other divine scriptures, the words and meaning of the Quran have been uniquely preserved in a living language and are unaltered in form since the first revelation. The Quran of the 7th century is exactly the same as a Quran printed in Arabic today. Not a single letter has been changed. Lauded as a classic literary work, the language and style of the Quran was considered so sublime that even critics of Mohammad including the foremost poets and writers of the Arabic language could not equal it when challenged.
The Quran is divided into 114 Surahs (Chapters) and 6000 Ayahs (Verses). The first chapter, 'The Opening' (Al-Fatihah) is recited during each of the five daily prayers and other ritual prayers. Some chapters were revealed to Mohammad during the first 13 years of his mission in Mecca and the rest following his migration to Medina.
The Quran is available in more than 100 languages
A spiritual manual for living, the Quran is Islam's highest authority and the focus of Muslim belief and practice. It emphasises the need to perform good deeds in one's life and warns of the punishments awaiting all sinners and unbelievers in the afterlife.
The book offers a divine insight into matters including God, creation and humanity, Prophethood, human judgement, action and responsibility, science and the cosmos, ethics and morality, social, economic and political policies, the Day of Judgement and the afterlife.
Translated into more than 100 languages, the tradition of memorising the Quran in Arabic still continues today.
The timeless essence of the Quran still resonates in the hearts of minds of Muslims the world over, a mellifluous sight and sound of devotional prayer especially evident during the days of the Hajj:
This book is not to be doubted. It is a guide for the righteous,
who believe in the unseen and are steadfast in prayer; who give in
alms from what we gave them; who believe in what has been revealed
to you and what was revealed before you [Mohammad], and have absolute
faith in the life to come. These are rightly guided by their Lord;
these shall surely triumph.
History
