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The Quran (English pronunciation: /kɔrˈɑːn/[n 1] kor-AHN ; Arabic: القرآنal-qurʼān, IPA: [qurˈʔaːn],[n 2] literally meaning "the recitation", also transliterated Qurʼan or Koran) is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be the verbatim word of God (Arabic: الله‎, Allah).[1] It is widely regarded as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language.[2][3][4][5]


Muslims regard the Quran as the main miracle of Muhammad, the proof of his prophethood[9] and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam, regarded in Islam as the first prophet,[10] and continued with the Scrolls of Abraham (Suhuf Ibrahim),[11] the Tawrat (Torah or Pentateuch) of Moses,[12][13] the Zabur (Tehillim or Book of Psalms) of David,[14][15] and the Injil (Gospel) of Jesus.[16][17][18] The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in Jewish and Christian scriptures, summarizing some, dwelling at length on others and in some cases presenting alternative accounts and interpretations of events.[19][20][21] The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance, sometimes offering detailed accounts of specific historical events, and often emphasizing the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence.[22][23] The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law.[24] During prayers, the Quran is only recited in Arabic.[25] Verse 15:9 states that Allah will personally protect the Quran from corruption.[26]


Etymology and meaning

11th-century North African Qurʼan in the British Museum

The word qurʼān appears about 70 times in the Qurʼan itself, assuming various meanings. It is a verbal noun (maṣdar) of the Arabic verb qaraʼa (قرأ), meaning 'he read' or 'he recited'. The Syriac equivalent is qeryānā, which refers to “scripture reading” or “lesson”. While most Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, the majority of Muslim authorities hold the origin of the word is qaraʼa itself.[27] In any case, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammad's lifetime.[1] An important meaning of the word is the “act of reciting”, as reflected in an early Quranic passage: “It is for Us to collect it and to recite it (qurʼānahu)”.[28]

In other verses, the word refers to “an individual passage recited [by Muhammad]”. Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example: "So when al-qurʼān is recited, listen to it and keep silent".[29] The word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel.[30]

The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran. Each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qurʼān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb ('book'); āyah ('sign'); and sūrah ('scripture'). The latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with a definite article (al-), the word is referred to as the “revelation” (waḥy), that which has been “sent down” (tanzīl) at intervals.[31][32] Other related words are: dhikr, meaning 'remembrance', used to refer to the Qurʼan in the sense of a reminder and warning; and ḥikmah, meaning 'wisdom', sometimes referring to the revelation or part of it.[27][33]

The Qurʼan describes itself as "the discernment or the criterion between truth and falsehood" (al-furqān), "the mother book" (umm al-kitāb), "the guide" (hudá), "the wisdom" (ḥikmah), "the remembrance" (dhikr), and "the revelation" (tanzīl; something sent down, signifying the descent of an object from a higher place to lower place).[34] Another term is al-kitāb ('the book'), though it is also used in the Arabic language for other scriptures, such as the Torah and the Gospels. The term muṣḥaf ('written work') is often used to refer to particular Qurʼanic manuscripts but is also used in the Qurʼan to identify earlier revealed books.[1] Other transliterations of Quran include "al-Coran," "Coran," "Kuran," and "al-Qurʼan."


Prophetic era

Cave of Ḥirā, location of Muhammad's first revelation.

Islamic tradition relates that Muhammad received his first revelation in the Cave of Ḥirā during one of his isolated retreats to the mountains. Thereafter, he received revelations over a period of twenty-three years. According to hadith and Muslim history, after Muhammad emigrated to Medina and formed an independent Muslim community, he ordered a considerable number of the ṣaḥābah to recite the Qurʼan and to learn and teach the laws, which were revealed daily. Companions who engaged in the recitation of the Qurʼan were called qariʼ. Since most sahabah were unable to read or write, they were ordered to learn from the prisoners-of-war the simple writing of the time. Thus a group of sahabah gradually became literate. As it was initially spoken, the Qurʼan was recorded on tablets, bones and the wide, flat ends of date palm fronds. Most chapters were in use amongst early Muslims since they are mentioned in numerous sayings by both Sunni and Shīʻah sources, relating Muhammad's use of the Qurʼan as a call to Islam, the making of prayer and the manner of recitation. However, the Qurʼan did not exist in book form at the time of Muhammad's death in 632.[35][36][37]

Quranic verses inscribed on the shoulder blade of a camel.



In the Qur'anic verse 7:157[40] Muhammad is identified as "ummi" which is traditionally interpreted as illiterate but the meaning is rather more complex. The medieval commentators such as Al-Tabari maintained that the term induced two meanings: firstly, the inability to read or write in general and secondly, the inexperience or ignorance of the previous books or scriptures however they gave priority to the first meaning. Besides Muhammad's illiteracy was taken as a sign of the genuineness of his prophethood. For example, according to Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, if Muhammad had mastered writing and reading he possibly would have been suspected of having studied the books of the ancestors. Some scholars such as Watt prefer the second meaning.[36][41]



Based on earlier transmitted reports, shortly after Muhammad's death in the year 632 CE, the first caliph Abu Bakr decided to collect the book in one volume. Thus, a group of scribes, most importantly Zayd ibn Thabit, collected the verses and produced several hand-written copies of the complete book. Zayd's reaction to the task and the difficulties in collecting the Quranic material from parchments, palm-leaf stalks, thin stones and from men who knew it by heart is recorded in earlier narratives.[35][42] Hafsa bint Umar, Muhammad's widow and Caliph Umar's daughter, was entrusted with that Quranic text.[43] In about 650 CE, when the third Caliph Uthman ibn Affan began noticing slight differences in pronunciation of the Quran, and as Islam expanded beyond the Arabian peninsula into Persia, the Levant and North Africa, in order to preserve the sanctity of the text, ordered a committee to use Hafsa's text and prepare a standard copy of the text of Quran. Thus, within twenty years of Muhammad’s death, the Quran was committed to written form. That text became the model from which copies were made and promulgated throughout the urban centers of the Muslim world, and other versions are believed to have been destroyed.[44][35][45][46] The present form of the Quran text is accepted by Muslim scholars to be the original version compiled by Abu Bakr.[36][37][47]

According to Shias and some Sunni scholars, ʻAli ibn Abi Talib compiled a complete version of the Quran immediately after Muhammad's death.[1] The order of this text differed from that gathered later during Uthman's era in that this version had been collected in chronological order.[48] Despite this, he made no objection against the standardized Quran, but kept his own book.[35][49] Other personal copies of the Quran might have existed including ibn Masud's and Ubayy ibn Kab's codex, none of which exist today.[44]

Qur'an most likely existed in scattered written form during the life of the Prophet, Muslim scholars believe that it was written as a complete text at the time of the Prophet’s death.[50] The Quran in its present form is generally considered by academic scholars to record the words spoken by Muhammad because the search for variants has not yielded any differences of great significance.[citation needed] Although most variant readings of the text of the Quran have ceased to be transmitted, some still are. There has been no critical text produced on which a scholarly reconstruction of the Quranic text could be based.[51] Historically, controversy over the Quran's content has rarely become an issue, although debates continue on the subject.[52][53]

In 1972 in a mosque in the city of Sana'a, Yemen, manuscripts were discovered that were later proved to be the most ancient Quranic text. The Sana'a manuscripts contain palimpsets, a manuscript page from which the text has been washed off to make the parchment reusable again, a practice which was common in ancient times due to scarcity of writing material. The faint washed off underlying text, scriptio inferior, however is still barely visible and believed to be "pre-Uthmanic" Quranic content, whilst the text written on top, scriptio superior, is believed to belong to Uthmanic time.[54] Studies using radiocarbon dating indicate that the parchments are dated to the period before 671 AD with a 99% probability.[55][56]

Significance in Islam

Religious texts
Adi Granth
Book of Shadows
Sensual Meditation

Muslims believe the Quran to be the book of divine guidance and direction for humanity and consider the text in its original Arabic to be the literal word of God,[57] revealed to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of twenty-three years[7][8] and view the Quran as God's final revelation to humanity.[7][58] They also believe that the Quran has solutions to all the problems of humanity irrespective of how complex they may be and in what age they occur.


The Quran frequently asserts in its text that it is divinely ordained, an assertion that Muslims believe. The Quran – often referring to its own textual nature and reflecting constantly on its assertion of divine origin – is the most meta-textual, self-referential religious text.[citation needed] Some verses in the Quran seem to imply that even those who do not speak Arabic would understand the Quran if it were recited to them.[60] The Quran refers to a written pre-text that records God's speech even before it was sent down.[61][62]

The issue of whether the Quran is eternal or created was one of the crucial controversies among early Muslim theologians. Mu'tazilis believe it is created while the most widespread varieties of Muslim theologians consider the Quran to be eternal and uncreated. Sufi philosophers view the question as artificial or wrongly framed.[63]

Muslims maintain the present wording of the Quranic text corresponds exactly to that revealed to Muhammad himself: as the words of God, said to be delivered to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. Muslims consider the Quran to be a guide, a sign of the prophethood of Muhammad and the truth of the religion. They argue it is not possible for a human to produce a book like the Quran, as the Quran itself maintains.


The Basic Law of Saudi Arabia declares the Quran and sunnah the sole constitutional law of the kingdom.


Muslims believe that the Quran is different from all other books in ways that are impossible for any other book to be, such that similar texts cannot be written by humans. These include both mundane and miraculous claims. The Quran itself challenges any who disagree with its divine origin to produce a text of a miraculous nature.[65]

Scholars of Islam believe that its poetic form is unique and of a fashion that cannot be written by humans. They also claim it contains accurate prophecy and that no other book does.[66][67][68][69][70]

In Islamic Art

The Qur'an also inspired Islamic arts and specifically the so-called Qur'anic arts of calligraphy and illumination.[1] The Qurʼan is never decorated with figurative images, but many Qurʼans have been highly decorated with decorative patterns in the margins of the page, or between the lines or at the start of suras. Islamic verses appear in many other media, on buildings and on objects of all sizes, such as mosque lamps, metal work, pottery, and single pages of calligraphy for muraqqas or albums.



The Quran consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, each known as a sura. Chapters are classified as Meccan or Medinan, depending on whether the verses were revealed before or after the migration of Muhammad to the city of Medina. Chapter titles are derived from a name or quality discussed in the text, or from the first letters or words of the surah. Generally, longer chapters appear earlier in the Quran, while the shorter ones appear later. The chapter arrangement is thus not connected to the sequence of revelation. Each chapter except the ninth starts with the Bismillah (بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم) an Arabic phrase meaning 'In the name of God'. There are, however, still 114 occurrences of the bismillah in the Quran, due to its presence in verse 27:30 as the opening of Solomon's letter to the Queen of Sheba.[71]

Each chapter is formed from several verses, known as ayat, which originally means a 'sign' or 'evidence' sent by God. The number of verses differs from chapter to chapter. An individual verse may be just a few letters or several lines. The total number of verses in the Quran is 6236, however, the number varies if the bismillahs are counted separately.

In addition to and independent of the division into chapters, there are various ways of dividing the Quran into parts of approximately equal length for convenience in reading. The thirty juz' (plural ajzāʼ) can be used to read through the entire Quran in a month. Some of these parts are known by names and these names are the first few words by which the juzʼ starts. A juz' is sometimes further divided into two ḥizb (plural aḥzāb), and each hizb subdivided into four rubʻ al-ahzab. The Quran is also divided into seven approximately equal parts, manzil (plural manāzil), for it to be recited in a week.[1]

Muqatta'at or the Quranic initials are fourteen different letter combinations of 14 Arabic letters that appear in the beginning of 29 chapters of the Quran. The meanings of these initials remain unclear.

According to one estimate the Quran consists of 77430 words, 18994 unique words, 12183 stems, 3382 lemmas and 1685 roots.[72]


The Quranic content is concerned with the basic beliefs of Islam which include the existence of God and the resurrection. Narratives of the early prophets, ethical and legal subjects, historical events of the prophet’s time, charity and prayer also appear in the Quran. The Quranic verses contain general exhortations regarding right and wrong and the nature of revelation. Historical events are related to outline general moral lessons. Verses pertaining to natural phenomena have been interpreted by Muslims as an indication of the authenticity of the Quranic message.[73]

The central theme of the Quran is monotheism. God is depicted as living, eternal, omniscient and omnipotent (2:20,29,255). God's omnipotence appears above all in his power to create. He is the creator of everything, of the heavens and the earth and what is between them (13:16, 50:38, etc.) All human beings are equal in their utter dependence upon God, and their well-being depends upon their acknowledging that fact and living accordingly.[36][73]

Written in the 12th century.


The doctrine of the last day and eschatology (the final fate of the universe) may be reckoned as the second great doctrine of the Quran.[36] It is estimated that around a full one-third of the Quran is eschatological, dealing with the afterlife in the next world and with the day of judgment at the end of time.[44] There is a reference of the afterlife on most pages of the Quran and the belief in the afterlife is often referred to in conjunction with belief in God as in the common expression: "if you believe in God and the last day".[74] A number of chapters such as 44,56,75,78,81,101 are directly related to the afterlife and its preparations. Some of the chapters indicate the closeness of the event and warn people to be prepared for the imminent day. For instance, the first verses of chapter 22, which deal with the mighty earthquake and the situations of people on that day, represent this style of divine address: O People! Be respectful to your Lord. The earthquake of the Hour is a mighty thing."[48]

The Quran is often vivid in its depiction of what will happen at the end time. According to Watt's description of the end time in the Quran: "The climax of history, when the present world comes to an end, is referred to in various ways. It is 'the Day of Judgment', 'the Last Day', 'the Day of Resurrection', or simply 'the Hour'. Less frequently it is 'the Day of Distinction' (when the good are separated from the evil), 'the Day of the Gathering' (of men to the presence of God) or 'the Day of the Meeting' (of men with God). The Hour comes suddenly. It is heralded by a shout, by a thunderclap, or by the blast of a trumpet. A cosmic upheaval then takes place. The mountains dissolve into dust, the seas boil up, the sun is darkened, the stars fall, and the sky is rolled up. God appears as Judge, but his presence is hinted at rather than described. [...] The central interest, of course, is in the gathering of all mankind before the Judge. Human beings of all ages, restored to life, join the throng. The Qur'an, however, does not assert a natural immortality of the human soul, since man's existence is dependent on the will of God; when he wills he causes man to die, and when he wills he raises him to life again."[36]

Literary structure


The language of the Quran has been described as "rhymed prose" as it partakes of both poetry and prose, however, this description runs the risk of compromising the rhythmic quality of Quranic language, which is certainly more poetic in some parts and more prose-like in others. Rhyme while found throughout the Quran is conspicuous in many of the earlier Meccan chapters, in which relatively short verses throw the rhyming words into prominence. The effectiveness of such a form is evident for instance in chapter 81, and there can be no doubt that these passages impressed the conscience of the hearers. Frequently a change of rhyme from one set of verses to another signals a change in the subject of discussion. Later sections also preserve this form but the style is more expository.[44][76]

The Quranic text seems to have no beginning, middle, or end, its nonlinear structure being akin to a web or net.[1] The textual arrangement is sometimes considered to have lack of continuity, absence of any chronological or thematic order and presence of repetition.[77][78] Michael Sells, citing the work of the critic Norman O. Brown, acknowledges Brown's observation that the seeming disorganization of Quranic literary expression – its scattered or fragmented mode of composition in Sells's phrase – is in fact a literary device capable of delivering profound effects as if the intensity of the prophetic message were shattering the vehicle of human language in which it was being communicated.[79][80] Sells also addresses the much-discussed repetitiveness of the Quran, seeing this, too, as a literary device. A study by Behnam Sadeghi using natural language processing techniques asserts that the Qurʾān has one author.[81]



An early interpretation of chapter 108 of the Qur'an






According to Shia beliefs, those who are firmly rooted in knowledge like the Prophet and the imams know the secrets of the Quran. According to Tabatabaei, the statement "none knows its interpretation except Allah"(3:7 ) remains valid, without any opposing or qualifying clause. Therefore, so far as this verse is concerned, the knowledge of the Quran's interpretation is reserved for God. But Tabatabaei uses other verses and concludes that those who are purified by God know the interpretation of the Quran to a certain extent.[90] As Corbin narrates from Shia sources, Ali himself gives this testimony:

"Not a single verse of the Quran descended upon (was revealed to) the Messenger of God, which he did not proceed to dictate to me and make me recite. I would write it with my own hand, and he would instruct me as to its tafsir (the literal explanation) and the ta'wil (the spiritual exegesis), the nāsikh (the verse that abrogates) and the mansukh (the abrogated verse), the muḥkam (without ambiguity) and the mutashābih (ambiguous), the particular and the general..."[91]


Therefore Sufi spiritual interpretations are usually accepted by Islamic scholars as authentic, as long as certain conditions are met.[93] In Sufi history, these interpretations were sometimes considered religious innovations (bid'ah), as Salafis believe today. However, ta'wil is extremely controversial even amongst Shia. For example, when Ayatollah Ruhallah Khomeini, the leader of Islamic revolution, gave some lectures about Surat al-Fātiḥah in December 1979 and January 1980, protests forced him to suspend them before he could continue beyond the first two verses of the surah.[94]

Levels of meaning

9th-century Quran in Reza Abbasi Museum

Unlike the Salafis and Zahiri, Shias and Sufis as well as some other Muslim philosophers believe the meaning of the Quran is not restricted to the literal aspect.[95] For them, it is an essential idea that the Quran also has inward aspects. Henry Corbin narrates a hadith that goes back to Muhammad:


According to this view, it has also become evident that the inner meaning of the Quran does not eradicate or invalidate its outward meaning. Rather, it is like the soul, which gives life to the body.[96] Corbin considers the Quran to play a part in Islamic philosophy, because gnosiology itself goes hand in hand with prophetology.[97]



Translation of the Quran has always been a problematic and difficult issue. Many argue that the Quranic text cannot be reproduced in another language or form.[98] Furthermore, an Arabic word may have a range of meanings depending on the context, making an accurate translation even more difficult.[48]

Nevertheless, the Quran has been translated into most African, Asian and European languages.[48] The first translator of the Quran was Salman the Persian, who translated surat al-Fatiha into Persian during the 7th century.[99] The first complete translation of the Quran was completed in 884 CE in Alwar (Sindh, India now Pakistan) by the orders of Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz on the request of the Hindu Raja Mehruk.[100] The first complete translation of Quran was into Persian during the reign of Samanids in the 9th century. Islamic tradition holds that translations were made for Emperor Negus of Abyssinia and Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, as both received letters by Muhammad containing verses from the Quran.[48] In early centuries, the permissibility of translations was not an issue, but whether one could use translations in prayer.

In 1936, translations in 102 languages were known.[48] In 2010, the Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review reported that the Quran was presented in 112 languages at the 18th International Quran Exhibition in Tehran.[101]




Rules of recitation




Variant readings

A page of Qur'an with vocalization marks

Vocalization markers indicating specific vowel sounds were introduced into the Arabic language by the end of the 9th century. The first Qur'anic manuscripts lacked these marks, therefore several recitations remains acceptable. The variation in readings of the text permitted by the nature of the defective vocalization led to an increase in the number of readings during the 10th century. The 10th-century Muslim scholar from Baghdad, Ibn Mujāhid, is famous for establishing seven acceptable textual readings of the Qur'an. He studied various readings and their trustworthiness and chose seven 8th-century readers from the cities of Mecca, Medina, Kufa, Basra, and Damascus. Ibn Mujahid did not explain why he chose seven readers, rather than six or ten, but this may be related to a prophetic tradition (Muhammad's saying) reporting that the Qur'an had been revealed in seven "aḥruf" (meaning seven letters or modes). Today, the most popular readings are those transmitted by Ḥafṣ (d.796) and Warsh (d. 812) which are according to two of Ibn Mujahid's reciters, ʻĀṣim (Kufa, d. 745) and Nāfi (Medina, d. 785), respectively. The influential standard Qur'an of Cairo (1924) uses an elaborate system of modified vowel-signs and a set of additional symbols for minute details and is based on ʻAsim's recitation.[44][105]

The variant readings of the Qur'an do not relate to any textual variation, instead, all of the readings pertain to differences in the vocalization of the same text.[44] According to Melchert, the majority of disagreements have to do with vowels to supply, most of them in turn not conceivably reflecting dialectal differences and about one in eight disagreements has to do with whether to place dots above or below the line.[106]

Nasser categorizes various readings into various subtypes. Some of Nasser's categories are internal vowels, long vowels, gemination (shaddah), assimilation and alternation.[107]

Occasionally, early Qur'ans show more compatibility with a particular reading. A Syrian manuscript from the 8th century is shown to have been written according to the reading of Ibn ʻAmir of Damascus.[108] Another study suggests that this manuscript bears the vocalization of himsi region.[109]

Writing and printing


Before printing was widely adopted in the 19th century, the Quran was transmitted in manuscripts made by calligraphers and copyists. The earliest manuscripts were written in Ḥijāzī-type script. The Hijazi style manuscripts nevertheless confirm that transmission of the Quran in writing began at an early stage. Probably in the 9th century, scripts began to feature thicker strokes, which are traditionally known as Kufic scripts. Toward the end of the 9th century, new scripts began to appear in copies of the Quran and replace earlier scripts. The reason for discontinuation in the use of the earlier style was that it took too long to produce and the demand for copies was increasing. Copyists would therefore chose simpler writing styles. From the 11th century, the styles of writing employed were primarily the naskh, muhaqqaq, rayḥānī, and on rarer occasions the thuluth script. Naskh was in very widespread use. In North Africa and Spain the Maghribī style was popular. More distinct is the Bihari script which was used solely in the north of India. Nastaʻlīq style was also rarely used in Persian world.[44][110]

In the beginning the Quran did not have vocalization markings. The system of vocalization as we know it today seems to have been introduced towards the end of the 9th century. Since it would have been too costly for most Muslims to purchase a manuscript, copies of the Quran were held in mosques in order to make them accessible to people. These copies frequently took the form of a series of thirty parts or juzʼ. In terms of productivity the Ottoman copyists would provide the best example. This was in response to widespread demand, unpopularity of printing methods, and for aesthetic reasons.[111]


Short extracts from the Quran were printed as early as the 10th century in various parts of the Muslim world with a method known as wood-block printing. In this technique a page is carved in a wooden block, one block per page. A similar technique was widely used in China.[112] Arabic, where the script is joined up, is less easily adapted to movable-type printing, i.e., modern pre-digital printing, than European scripts, and in the Islamic world the printing of Arabic encountered strong opposition from Muslim legal scholars and the manuscript scribes (who risked losing work). Printing anything in Arabic was prohibited in the Ottoman empire between 1483 and 1729, initially even on penalty of death.[113][114] The first movable Arabic type printing was ordered by Pope Julius II (1503−1512) for distribution among Middle Eastern Christians.[115]


Relationship with other literature

The Bible


Quran 3:3 (Yusuf Ali)


According to Sahih al-Bukhari, the Quran was recited among Levantines and Iraqis, and discussed by Christians and Jews before it was standardized.[122] Its language was similar to the Syriac language. The Quran recounts stories of many of the people and events recounted in Jewish and Christian sacred books (Tanakh, Bible) and devotional literature (Apocrypha, Midrash), although it differs in many details. Adam, Enoch, Noah, Eber, Shelah, Abraham, Lot, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Jethro, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Aaron, Moses, Zechariah, John the Baptist, and Jesus are mentioned in the Quran as prophets of God (see Prophets of Islam). In fact, Moses is mentioned more in the Quran than any other individual.[123] Jesus is mentioned more often in the Quran than Muhammad, while Mary is mentioned in the Quran more than the New Testament.[124] Muslims believe the common elements or resemblances between the Bible and other Jewish and Christian writings and Islamic dispensations is due to their common divine source, and that the original Christian or Jewish texts were authentic divine revelations given to prophets.

Similarities with Christian apocrypha

The Quran has been noted to have certain narratives similarities to the Diatessaron, Protoevangelium of James, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Arabic Infancy Gospel.[125][126][127] One scholar has suggested that the Diatessaron, as a gospel harmony, may have led to the conception that the Christian Gospel is one text.[128]

Arab writing







Many Muslims memorize at least some portion of the Quran in the original Arabic, usually at least the verses needed to perform the prayers (ṣalāt). Those who have memorized the entire Quran earn the right to the title of ḥāfiẓ.[130]





In their book Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World, Patricia Crone and Michael Cook challenge the traditional account of how the Qur'an was compiled, writing that "there is no hard evidence for the existence of the Koran in any form before the last decade of the seventh century."[135] They also question the accuracy of some of the Quran's historical accounts. For example, professor Gerd R. Puin's study of ancient Quran manuscripts led him to conclude that the Quran is a "cocktail of texts", some of which may have been present a hundred years before Muhammad.[135] It is generally acknowledged that the work of Crone and Cook was a fresh approach in its reconstruction of early Islamic history, but the theory has been almost universally rejected.[136] Van Ess has dismissed it stating that "a refutation is perhaps unnecessary since the authors make no effort to prove it in detail ... Where they are only giving a new interpretation of well-known facts, this is not decisive. But where the accepted facts are consciously put upside down, their approach is disastrous."[137]

Satanic verses


Treatment and disposal of the book

Most Muslims treat paper copies of the Quran with reverence.[141] Based on tradition and a literal interpretation of sura 56:77–79: "That this is indeed a Quran most honourable, in a book well-guarded, which none shall touch but those who are clean", many scholars believe that a Muslim must perform a ritual cleansing with water (wuduʼ) before touching a copy of the Quran, or mus'haf, although this view is not universal.

Defiling or dismembering copies of the Quran is considered Quran desecration. Pulping, recycling, or otherwise discarding worn-out copies of the text is forbidden. Worn-out, torn, or errant (for example, pages out of order) Qurans are left free to flow in a river, kept somewhere safe, burned, or buried in a remote location.[142]

See also



  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nasr, Seyyed Hossein (2007). "Qurʼān". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 2007-11-04. 
  3. ^ Nelson, K. (1985) The Art of Reciting the Quran, University of Texas Press, Austin
  5. ^ Taji-Farouki, S. (ed.) (2004) Modern Muslim Intellectuals and the Quran, Oxford University Press, Oxford
  7. ^ a b c Living Religions: An Encyclopaedia of the World's Faiths, Mary Pat Fisher, 1997, page 338, I.B. Tauris Publishers.
  8. ^ a b Quran 17:106
  9. ^ Peters (2003), pp. 12 and 13[full citation needed]
  11. ^ Quran 87:18–19
  12. ^ Quran 3:3
  13. ^ Quran 5:44
  14. ^ Quran 4:163
  15. ^ Quran 17:55
  16. ^ Quran 5:46
  17. ^ Quran 5:110
  18. ^ Quran 57:27
  19. ^ Quran 3:84
  20. ^ Quran 4:136
  21. ^ “The Quran assumes the reader is familiar with the traditions of the ancestors since the age of the Patriarchs, not necessarily in the version of the ‘Children of Israel’ as described in the Bible but also in the version of the ‘Children of Ismail’ as recounted orally, interspersed with polytheist elements, at the time of Muhammad. The term jahiliya (ignorance), used to speak of the pre-Islamic epoch, does not imply that the Arabs were not familiar with their traditional roots but that their knowledge of ethical and spiritual values had been lost.” Exegesis of Bible and Qur'an, H. Krausen. Webcitation.org[unreliable source]
  22. ^ Nasr (2003), p. 42[full citation needed]
  23. ^ Quran 2:67–76
  24. ^ Handbook of Islamic Marketing, Page 38, G. Rice - 2011
  26. ^ Islam and Indian Muslims - Page 21, Mir Sajjad Ali, Zainab Rahman - 2010
  27. ^ a b “Ķur'an, al-”, Encyclopedia of Islam Online.
  28. ^ Quran 75:17
  29. ^ Quran 7:204
  30. ^ See “Ķur'an, al-”, Encyclopedia of Islam Online and [Quran 9:111]
  31. ^ Quran 20:2 cf.
  32. ^ Quran 25:32 cf.
  35. ^ a b c d *Tabatabaee, 1988, chapter 5[full citation needed]
  36. ^ a b c d e f Richard Bell (Revised and Enlarged by W. Montgomery Watt) (1970). Bell's introduction to the Qur'an. Univ. Press. pp. 31–51. ISBN 0852241712. 
  39. ^ Encyclopedia of Islam online, Muhammad article
  40. ^ "Qur'an verse 7:157". 
  41. ^ Günther, Sebastian (2002). "Muhammad, the Illiterate Prophet: An Islamic Creed in the Qur'an and Qur'anic Exegesis". Journal of Qur'anic Studies 4 (1): 1–26. 
  42. ^ Sahih al-Bukhari, 6:60:201
  43. ^ http://www.quran.net/quran/PreservationOfTheQuran.htm
  45. ^ Mohamad K. Yusuff, Zayd ibn Thabit and the Glorious Qur'an
    • For searching the arabic text on the internet and writing, see Cyberspace and the Qur'an by Andrew Rippin, p.159-163.
  49. ^ See:
    • Observations on Early Qur'an Manuscripts in San'a
    • The Qur'an as Text, ed. Wild, Brill, 1996 ISBN 978-90-04-10344-3
  50. ^ Esack, Farid (2005). The Qur'an: A User's Guide. Oxford England: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 9781851683543. 
  54. ^ "‘The Qur'an: Text, Interpretation and Translation’ 3rd Biannual SOAS Conference, October 16–17, 2003". Journal of Qur'anic Studies 6 (1): 143–145. April 2004. doi:10.3366/jqs.2004.6.1.143. 
  56. ^ Sadeghi, Behnam; Goudarzi, Mohsen (March 2012). "Ṣan‘ā’ 1 and the Origins of the Qur’ān". Der Islam 87 (1-2): 1–129. doi:10.1515/islam-2011-0025. 
  57. ^ Quran 2:23–4
  59. ^ See:
  61. ^ Wild (1996), pp. 140
  62. ^ Quran 43:3
  63. ^ Corbin (1993), p.10
  64. ^ Corbin (1993), pp .10 and 11
  65. ^ [Quran 17:88]
  66. ^ [Quran 2:23]
  67. ^ [Quran 10:38]
  68. ^ Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an – Miracles
  69. ^ Ahmad Dallal, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, Qur'an and science
  70. ^ Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an – Byzantines
  71. ^ See:
    • Allen (2000) p. 53
  75. ^ Issa Boullata, "Literary Structure of Quran," Encyclopedia of the Qurʾān, vol.3 p.192, 204
  76. ^ Jewishencyclopedia.com – Körner, Moses B. Eliezer
  79. ^ Michael Sells, Approaching the Qur'ān (White Cloud Press, 1999)
  81. ^ Sadeghi, Behnam (1 January 2011). "The Chronology of the Qurān: A Stylometric Research Program". Arabica 58 (3): 210–299. doi:10.1163/157005810X529692. 
  82. ^ Preface of Al'-Mizan, reference is to Allameh Tabatabaei[dead link]
  83. ^ Quran 2:151
  84. ^ Tafseer Al-Mizan[dead link]
  85. ^ How can there be abrogation in the Quran?
  86. ^ Are the verses of the Qur'an Abrogated and/or Substituted?
  87. ^ Islahi, Amin Ahsan. "Abrogation in the Qur’ān". Renaissance Journal. Retrieved 26 April 2013. 
  88. ^ Corbin (1993), p.9
  91. ^ Corbin (1993), p.46
  92. ^ Tabatabaee (1988), pp. 37–45
  93. ^ Sufi Tafsir and Isma'ili Ta'wil
  95. ^ a b Corbin (1993), p.7
  96. ^ Tabatabaee, Tafsir Al-Mizan[dead link]
  97. ^ Corbin (1993), p.13
  100. ^ Monthlycrescent.com
  103. ^ "Surah 3 – Read Quran Online". Retrieved 21 November 2010. 
  106. ^ Melchert, Christopher (2008). "The Relation of the Ten Readings to One Another". Journal of Qur'anic Studies 10 (2): 73–87. 
  112. ^ Muslim Printing Before Gutenberg
  114. ^ Watson 1968, p. 435; Clogg 1979, p. 67
  115. ^ Krek 1979, p. 203
  116. ^ First Printed Edition of the Qur'an
  117. ^ The First Printed Complete Arabic Quran
  121. ^ Quran 2:285
  122. ^ USC.edu[dead link]
  128. ^ "On pre-Islamic Christian strophic poetical texts in the Koran" by Ibn Rawandi, found in What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary, Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books, ed. ISBN 978-1-57392-945-5
  130. ^ Kugle (2006), p.47; Esposito (2000a), p.275.
  131. ^ "Koran". From the Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 21, 2008.
  141. ^ Mahfouz (2006), p.35
  142. ^ Afghan Quran-burning protests: What’s the right way to dispose of a Quran? - Slate Magazine
  143. ^ dictionary.reference.com: koran
  144. ^ dictionary.reference.com: quran
  145. ^ Cambridge dictionary: koran
  146. ^ Cambridge dictionary: quran


Further reading

Recent translations

Introductory texts

Traditional Quranic commentaries (tafsir)

  • Al-Tabari, Jāmiʻ al-bayān ʻan taʼwīl al-Qurʼān, Cairo 1955–69, transl. J. Cooper (ed.), The Commentary on the Qurʼān, Oxford University Press, 1987. ISBN 978-0-19-920142-6

Topical studies

  • Stowasser, Barbara Freyer. Women in the Qur'an, Traditions, and Interpretation, Oxford University Press; Reprint edition (June 1, 1996), ISBN 978-0-19-511148-4

Literary criticism


Academic journals

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