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Quran

Overview

The Quran (Arabic: الْقُرْآن, lit. 'the recitation' or 'the lecture'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God (Allāh). It is organized in 114 chapters (sūrah, pl. suwar) which consist of individual verses (āyah). Besides its religious significance, it is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature and has significantly influenced the Arabic language.

Muslims believe the Quran was orally revealed by God to the final Islamic prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel incrementally over a period of some 23 years, beginning on the Laylat al-Qadr when Muhammad was 40 and concluding in 11 AH/632 CE, the year of his death. Muslims regard the Quran as Muhammad's most important miracle, a proof of his prophethood, and the culmination of a series of divine messages starting with those revealed to the first Islamic prophet Adam, including the holy books of the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel in Islam. The Quran is believed by Muslims to be God's own divine speech providing a complete code of conduct across all facets of life. This has led Muslim theologians to fiercely debate whether the Quran was "created or uncreated". According to tradition, several of Muhammad's companions served as scribes, recording the revelations. Shortly after Muhammad's death, the Quran was compiled on the order of the first caliph Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) by the companions, who had written down or memorized parts of it. Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656) established a standard version, now known as the Uthmanic codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, canonical variant readings (qirāʾāt), transmitted through oral tradition, with minor variations in wording and nuance that may lead to subtle differences in meaning, while preserving the core message of the Quran. It is the subject of a modern field of academic research known as Quranic studies. Some argue that manuscript evidence, textual variants (such as the Sanaa manuscript), and historical sources suggest a more gradual and complex process of compilation and canonization.

The Quran describes itself as a guide for humanity (2:185). It alludes to significant narratives found in biblical and apocryphal texts. While it devotes considerable space to some of these narratives, it does not quote any paragraph from these sources directly, but summarizes and uses different versions of some in different sections. Islamic theorists tend to explain this situation as the Quran's focus on the moral lessons to be drawn from events. This allusive style and summarization entail many explanatory efforts (exegesis). To extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, Muslims rely on tafsir, or commentary, often in conjunction with translations of the text. Furthermore, hadiths, which are valued in most Islamic schools of thought for their role in establishing Islamic laws and regulations, are oral traditions that were later written down and are believed to reflect the words and actions of Muhammad, serving as additional guidance alongside the Quran for most Muslims. During prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic. A person who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz (female hafiza). Ideally, verses are recited with a special kind of prosody reserved for this purpose called tajwid. It is a tradition for some Muslims to recite the entire Quran during the tarawih prayers throughout the month of Ramadan.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

In the original texts

Passages from public-domain books where Quran is discussed.

Sometimes God speaks to the learned men, who are the successors of the prophets, by disclosing arguments to them. On account of these causes it is true, when the learned men say, that the Quran is the speech of God. It has now become clear to you that the Quran, which is the speech of God, is eternal, but the words expressing it are created by him, and are not human. From it are excepted the Quranic words which we…
Averroës, The Philosophy and Theology of Averroes
names the idea; states what it is
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_Al durr ul Fakhira._ On eschatology. ” 1322 ” _Yaqut ul Tawil fi Tafsir A commentary on the Quran il Tanzil._ in 40 vols. Not found. _K. Iqtisad fil-I’tiqad._ Exposition of Faith.
Ghazzali, Some religious and moral teachings of Al-Ghazzali
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And Abraham got up early in the morning, and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld; and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace." These five towns, Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboin, Adamah, and Segor, must then have been situated on the borders of the Dead Sea. How, it will be asked, in a desert so uninhabitable as it now is, where there are to be found…
Voltaire, A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 02
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The Tigris, Araxis, Euphrates, and Nile all had their source in the same garden. We do not know where the garden was, but its existence is proved, because the gate was guarded by a cherub. Animals speak. The eloquence of a serpent was fatal to the whole human race. A Chaldæan prophet conversed with his ass. God, the creator of all men, is not the father of all men, but of one family alone.
Voltaire, Toleration and other essays
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Produced by Fritz Ohrenschall, Emmanuel Ackerman and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net AVICENA’S OFFERING _to the_ PRINCE «E l’anima umana la qual è colla nobiltà della potenzia ultima, cioè ragione, participa della divina natura a guisa di sempiterna Intelligenza; perocchè l’anima è tanto in quella sovrana potenzia nobilitata, e dinudata da materia, che la divina luce, come in Angiolo…
Avicenna, A Compendium on the Soul
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Quran

Overview

In the original texts

Philosophers who discussed Quran

Related ideas

Place in the tradition