Quran

This article is about the central religious text of Islam. For other uses, see Quran (disambiguation).

Quran
الْقُرْآن al-Qurʾān
Two folios of the Birmingham Quran manuscript, an early manuscript written in Hijazi script on parchment carbon-dated to c. 568–645, overlapping Muhammad's lifetime
Information
Religion	Islam
Language	Classical Arabic
Period	610–632 CE
Chapters	114 (list) See sūrah
Verses	6,348 (including the basmala) 6,236 (excluding the basmala) See Āyah

Template:Quran The Quran (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, Template: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 632, 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, variant readings, with some differences in meaning. It is the object of a modern field of academic research known as Quranic studies.

The Quran describes itself as a guide for humanity (Template:Qref). It alludes to significant narratives found in the 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). In order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, Muslims rely on tafsir, or commentary rather than a direct translation 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. Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz. 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.

Etymology and meaning

The word qur'ān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself, assuming various meanings. It is a verbal noun (maṣdar) of the Arabic verb qara'a ({{safesubst:ifsubst|1=|2= }قرأ</ span>‎) meaning 'he read' or 'he recited'. The Syriac equivalent is qeryānā (ܩܪܝܢܐ), which refers to 'scripture reading' or 'lesson'. While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, the majority of Muslim authorities hold the origin of the word is qara'a itself. Regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammad's lifetime. 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 (qur'ānahu)."

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-qur'ān is recited, listen to it and keep silent." The word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel.

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 qur'ān 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 waḥy ('revelation'), that which has been "sent down" (tanzīl) at intervals. Other related words include: dhikr ('remembrance'), used to refer to the Quran in the sense of a reminder and warning; and ḥikmah ('wisdom'), sometimes referring to the revelation or part of it.

The Quran describes itself as 'the discernment' (al-furqān), 'the mother book' (umm al-kitāb), 'the guide' (huda), 'the wisdom' (hikmah), 'the remembrance' (dhikr), and 'the revelation' (tanzīl; 'something sent down', signifying the descent of an object from a higher place to lower place). 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 mus'haf ('written work') is often used to refer to particular Quranic manuscripts but is also used in the Quran to identify earlier revealed books.

History

Main articles: History of the Quran and Historiography of early Islam

Prophetic era

Islamic tradition relates that Muhammad received his first revelation in 610 CE in the Cave of Hira on the Night of Power during one of his isolated retreats to the mountains. Thereafter, he received revelations over a period of 23 years. According to hadith (traditions ascribed to Muhammad) and Muslim history, after Muhammad and his followers immigrated to Medina and formed an independent Muslim community, he ordered many of his companions to recite the Quran and to learn and teach the laws, which were revealed daily. It is related that some of the Quraysh who were taken prisoners at the Battle of Badr regained their freedom after they had taught some of the Muslims the simple writing of the time. Thus a group of Muslims gradually became literate. As it was initially spoken, the Quran was recorded on tablets, bones, and the wide, flat ends of date palm fronds. Most suras (also usually transliterated as Surah) were in use amongst early Muslims since they are mentioned in numerous sayings by both Sunni and Shia sources, relating Muhammad's use of the Quran as a call to Islam, the making of prayer and the manner of recitation. However, the Quran did not exist in book form at the time of Muhammad's death in 632 at age 61–62. There is agreement among scholars that Muhammad himself did not write down the revelation.

Traditionally believed to be Muhammad's first revelation, Sura Al-Alaq, later placed 96th in the Quranic regulations, in current writing style

Sahih al-Bukhari narrates Muhammad describing the revelations as, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell" and A'isha reported, "I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over)." Muhammad's first revelation, according to the Quran, was accompanied with a vision. The agent of revelation is mentioned as the "one mighty in power," the one who "grew clear to view when he was on the uppermost horizon. Then he drew nigh and came down till he was (distant) two bows' length or even nearer." The Islamic studies scholar Welch states in the Encyclopaedia of Islam that he believes the graphic descriptions of Muhammad's condition at these moments may be regarded as genuine, because he was severely disturbed after these revelations. According to Welch, these seizures would have been seen by those around him as convincing evidence for the superhuman origin of Muhammad's inspirations. However, Muhammad's critics accused him of being a possessed man, a soothsayer, or a magician since his experiences were similar to those claimed by such figures well known in ancient Arabia. Welch additionally states that it remains uncertain whether these experiences occurred before or after Muhammad's initial claim of prophethood.

The Quran describes Muhammad as "ummi", which is traditionally interpreted as 'illiterate', but the meaning is more complex. Medieval commentators such as al-Tabari (Template:Died in) maintained that the term induced two meanings: first, the inability to read or write in general; second, the inexperience or ignorance of the previous books or scriptures (but they gave priority to the first meaning). 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 W. Montgomery Watt prefer the second meaning of ummi—they take it to indicate unfamiliarity with earlier sacred texts.

The final verse of the Quran was revealed on the 18th of the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah in the year 10 A.H., a date that roughly corresponds to February or March 632. The verse was revealed after the Prophet finished delivering his sermon at Ghadir Khumm.

According to Islamic tradition, the Quran was revealed to Muhammad in seven different ahruf (meaning letters; however, it could mean dialects, forms, styles or modes). Most Islamic scholars agree that these different ahruf are the same Quran revealed in seven different Arabic dialects and that they do not change the meaning of the Quran, the purpose of which was to make the Quran easy for recitation and memorization among the different Arab tribes. While Sunni Muslims believe in the seven ahruf, some Shia reject the idea of seven Quranic variants. A common misconception is that the seven ahruf and the qira'at are the same.

Compilation and preservation

A page from the Nurse's Quran, written in Kairouani calligraphy. (1020 AD)

Main articles: Canonization of Islamic scripture, Ahruf, and Qira'at

Following Muhammad's death in 632, a number of his companions who memorized the Quran were killed in the Battle of al-Yamama by Musaylima. The first caliph, Abu Bakr (r. 632–634), subsequently decided to collect the book in one volume so that it could be preserved. Zayd ibn Thabit (Template:Died in) was the person to collect the Quran since "he used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Apostle". Thus, a group of scribes, most importantly Zayd, collected the verses and produced a hand-written manuscript of the complete book. The manuscript according to Zayd remained with Abu Bakr until he died. Zayd's reaction to the task and the difficulties in collecting the Quranic material from parchments, palm-leaf stalks, thin stones (collectively known as suhuf, any written work containing divine teachings) and from men who knew it by heart is recorded in earlier narratives. In 644, Muhammad's widow Hafsa bint Umar was entrusted with the manuscript until the third caliph, Uthman (r. 644–656), requested the standard copy from her. According to historian Michael Cook, early Muslim narratives about the collection and compilation of the Quran sometimes contradict themselves: "Most ... make Uthman little more than an editor, but there are some in which he appears very much a collector, appealing to people to bring him any bit of the Quran they happen to possess." Some accounts also "suggest that in fact the material" Abu Bakr worked with "had already been assembled", which since he was the first caliph, would mean they were collected when Muhammad was still alive.

Around the 650s, the Islamic expansion beyond the Arabian Peninsula and into Persia, the Levant and North Africa, as well as the use of the seven ahruf, had caused some confusion and differences in the pronunciation of the Quran, and conflict was arising between different Arab tribes due to some claiming to be more superior to other Arab tribes and non-Arabs based on dialect, which Uthman noticed. In order to preserve the sanctity of the text, he ordered a committee headed by Zayd to use Abu Bakr's copy and prepare a standard text of the Quran. Thus, within 20 years of Muhammad's death in 632, the complete Quran was committed to written form as the Uthmanic codex. 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. and the six other ahruf of the Quran fell out of use. The present form of the Quran text is accepted by Muslim scholars to be the original version compiled by Abu Bakr.

Quran − in Mashhad, Iran − said to be written by Ali

Qira'at which is a way and method of reciting the Quran was developed sometime afterwards. There are ten canonical recitations and they are not to be confused with ahruf. Shias recite the Quran according to the qira'at of Hafs on authority of ‘Asim, which is the prevalent qira'at in the Islamic world and believe that the Quran was gathered and compiled by Muhammad during his lifetime. It is claimed that the Shia had more than 1,000 hadiths ascribed to the Shia Imams which indicate the distortion of the Quran and according to Etan Kohlberg, this belief about Quran was common among Shiites in the early centuries of Islam. In his view, Ibn Babawayh was the first major Twelver author "to adopt a position identical to that of the Sunnis" and the change was a result of the "rise to power of the Sunni 'Abbasid caliphate," whence belief in the corruption of the Quran became untenable vis-a-vis the position of Sunni "orthodoxy". Alleged distortions have been carried out to remove any references to the rights of Ali, the Imams and their supporters and the disapproval of enemies, such as Umayyads and Abbasids.

Other personal copies of the Quran might have existed including Ibn Mas'ud's and Ubay ibn Ka'b's codex, none of which exist today.

Academic research

Main articles: Quranic studies and Early Quranic manuscripts

Academic research on the Quran should primarily focus on three fundamental issues and seek answers to the following questions: What is the canonical text, from what geography did it originate, and when was it written? And sub-questions regarding how the text emerged; were there preceding texts that formed the text, what are the cultural geography or historical determinants of its development, what is the development of the final text, are there variants, if so, what are the differences between them, etc. However, studies on the Quran rarely went beyond textual criticism. Until the early 1970s, non-Muslim scholars of Islam — while not accepting traditional explanations for divine intervention— accepted the above-mentioned traditional origin story in most details. Some Western scholars question the accuracy of the traditional accounts on whether the holy book existed in any form before the last decade of the seventh century (Patricia Crone and Michael Cook); and/or argue it is a "cocktail of texts", some of which may have been existent a hundred years before Muhammad, that evolved (Gerd R. Puin), or was redacted (J. Wansbrough), to form the Quran.

The basmala as written on the Birmingham mus'haf manuscript, one of the oldest surviving copies of the Quran
Rasm: "ٮسم الله الرحمں الرحىم"

Fred Donner states that:

[T]here was a very early attempt to establish a uniform consonantal text of the Qurʾān from what was probably a wider and more varied group of related texts in early transmission.… After the creation of this standardized canonical text, earlier authoritative texts were suppressed, and all extant manuscripts—despite their numerous variants—seem to date to a time after this standard consonantal text was established.

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.

A page from the Sanaa manuscript. Possibly the oldest, best preserved and most comprehensive Islamic archaeological document to date. The double layer reveals additions to the original text and multiple differences with today's Quran.

In 1972, in a mosque in the city of Sanaa, Yemen, manuscripts "consisting of 12,000 pieces" were discovered that were later proven to be the oldest Quranic text known to exist at the time. The Sanaa manuscripts contain palimpsests, manuscript pages from which the text has been washed off to make the parchment reusable again—a practice which was common in ancient times due to the scarcity of writing material. However, the faint washed-off underlying text (scriptio inferior) is still barely visible. Studies using radiocarbon dating indicate that the parchments are dated to the period before 671 CE with a 99 percent probability. The German scholar Gerd R. Puin has been investigating these Quran fragments for years. His research team made 35,000 microfilm photographs of the manuscripts, which he dated to the early part of the 8th century. Puin has noted unconventional verse orderings, minor textual variations, and rare styles of orthography, and suggested that some of the parchments were palimpsests which had been reused. Puin believed that this implied an evolving text as opposed to a fixed one.

It is also possible that the content of the Quran itself may provide data regarding the date and probably nearby geography of writing of the text. Sources based on some archaeological data give the construction date of Masjid al-Haram, an architectural work mentioned 16 times in the Quran, as 78 AH an additional finding that sheds light on the evolutionary history of the Quranic texts mentioned, which is known to continue even during the time of Hajjaj, in a similar situation that can be seen with al-Aksa, though different suggestions have been put forward -contrary to some of the hadiths of Muhammad's ascension, which indicate that these places are architectural structures- to explain. These structures, -expected to be somewhere near Muhammad- which were placed in cities like Mecca and Jerusalem, which are thousands of kilometers apart today, with interpretations based on narrations and miracles, were a miracle performed under a night's journey according to the outward and literal meaning of the verse.Template:Qref (See also:Bakkah)

Contents

Main articles: List of characters and names mentioned in the Quran, Historical reliability of the Quran, and List of legends in the Quran

The Quranic content is concerned with basic Islamic beliefs including the existence of God and the resurrection. Narratives of the early prophets, ethical and legal subjects, historical events of Muhammad's time, charity and prayer also appear in the Quran. The Quranic verses contain general exhortations regarding right and wrong and historical events are related to outline general moral lessons. The style of the Quran has been called "allusive", with commentaries needed to explain what is being referred to—"events are referred to, but not narrated; disagreements are debated without being explained; people and places are mentioned, but rarely named." While tafsir in Islamic sciences expresses the effort to understand the implied and implicit expressions of the Quran, fiqh refers to the efforts to expand the meaning of expressions, especially in the verses related to the provisions, as well as understanding it.

Solomon, the son of David, king of Judah, had his temple built; which is still the subject of intercultural heritage fights today, under the name of Al-Aqsa, and placed different idols there for his multinational wives according to the Bible. Here he meets the legendary figure, Bilqis, by Edward Poynter, 1890.

Quranic studies state that, in the historical context, the content of the Quran is related to Rabbinic, Jewish-Christian, Syriac Christian and Hellenic literature, as well as pre-Islamic Arabia. Many places, subjects and mythological figures in the culture of Arabs and many nations in their historical neighbourhoods, especially Judeo-Christian stories, are included in the Quran with small allusions, references or sometimes small narratives such as jannāt ʿadn, jahannam, Seven Sleepers, Queen of Sheba etc. The stories of Yusuf and Zulaikha, Moses, Family of Amram (parents of Mary according to the Quran) and mysterious hero Dhul-Qarnayn ("the man with two horns") who built a barrier against Gog and Magog that will remain until the end of time are more detailed and longer stories. Apart from semi-historical events and characters such as King Solomon and David, about Jewish history as well as the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, tales of the hebrew prophets accepted in Islam, such as Creation, the Flood, struggle of Abraham with Nimrod, sacrifice of his son occupy a wide place in the Quran.

Some philosophers and scholars such as Mohammed Arkoun, who emphasize the mythological content of the Quran, are met with rejectionist attitudes in Islamic circles. In response to the fact that the people mentioned do not correspond to historically known figures, some modern commentators have suggested that these figures should be understood as representative figures portraying certain characters, rather than real ones. Furthermore, considering the findings of the revisionist school of Islamic studies, it is clear that the expression of certain narrative concepts in the Quran that refer to places, people, and events (such as Quraysh, Ababil, and Abu Lahab) in a single word or a few short sentences will require new interpretations and meanings that differ from the traditional narrative within this framework of understanding. (see:Quranic hermeneutics)

Creation and God

Main articles: God in Islam and Tawhid

Further information: Quranic cosmology

The central theme of the Quran is monotheism. God is depicted as living, eternal, omniscient and omnipotent (see, e.g., Quran Template:Qref, Template:Qref, Template:Qref). He is the creator of everything, of the heavens and the earth and what is between them (see, e.g., Quran Template:Qref, Template:Qref, Template:Qref, 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. The Quran uses cosmological and contingency arguments in various verses without referring to the terms to prove the existence of God. Therefore, the universe is originated and needs an originator, and whatever exists must have a sufficient cause for its existence. Besides, the design of the universe is frequently referred to as a point of contemplation: "It is He who has created seven heavens in harmony. You cannot see any fault in God's creation; then look again: Can you see any flaw?"

The word 'Allah' in Arabic calligraphy. Most considered it to be derived from a contraction of the definitive article al- and ilāh "god" meaning "the God".

"The Qur'ān insists that Muhammad and his followers worship the same God as the Jews (Template:Qref). The Qur'an's Allah is the same Creator God who covenanted with Abraham". Francis Edward Peters states that the Qur'an portrays Allah as both more powerful and more remote than Yahweh, and as a universal deity, unlike Yahweh who closely follows Israelites. However, Yahweh is never used for God in the Quran and Islamic texts, but, Rabb is an Arabic word to refers to God meaning Lord and the Quran cites in several places as in the Al-Fatiha; "All Praise and Gratitude is due to God, Lord of all the Universe".

Even though Muslims do not doubt about the existence and unity of God, they may have adopted different attitudes that have changed and developed throughout history regarding his nature (attributes), names and relationship with creation. In contrast with pre-Islamic Arabian polytheism, as stated by Gerhard Böwering, God in Islam does not have associates and companions, nor is there any kinship between God and jinn. Pre Islamic Arabs believed in a blind, powerful, unstoppable and insensible fate over which man had no control. This was replaced with the Islamic belief of a powerful yet benevolent and merciful God's control over man's life. In the early periods of Islam, the concept of God was established as a personal deity living in the heavens. This understanding developed over time under the influence of Islamic theology, acquiring a transcendent character. However, in contrast to this transcendent and absolute conception of God established among the elite, the public and Sufis maintained the traditional understanding on God. Also actions and attributes such as coming, going, sitting, satisfaction, anger and sadness etc. similar to humans used for this God in the Quran were considered mutashabihat—"no one knows its interpretation except God" (Template:Qref)—by later scholars stating that God was free from resemblance to humans in any way. Mustafa Öztürk points out the following words of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal in this regard: "Whoever says that Allah is everywhere is a heretic, an infidel. He should be invited to repent, but if he does not, be killed." This understanding changes later and gives way to the understanding that "God cannot be assigned a place and He is everywhere."

Prophetic stories

Main articles: Qisas al-Anbiya, Manaqib, and Prophets and messengers in Islam

In Islam, God speaks to people called prophets through a kind of revelation called wahy, or through angels. (Template:Qref) nubuwwah ( 'prophethood') is seen as a duty imposed by God on individuals who have some characteristics such as intelligence, honesty, fortitude and justice: "Nothing is said to you that was not said to the messengers before you, that your lord has at his Command forgiveness as well as a most Grievous Penalty."

Islam regards Abraham as a link in the chain of prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad via Ishmael and mentioned in 35 chapters of the Quran, more often than any other biblical personage apart from Moses. Muslims regard him as a hanif, an archetype of the perfect Muslim, and revered prophet and builder of the Kaaba in Mecca. The Quran consistently refers to Islam as 'the religion of Abraham' (Template:Tlit). In Islam, Eid-al-Adha is celebrated to commemorate Abraham's attempt to sacrifice his son by surrendering in line with his dream, (As-Saaffat; 100–107) which he accepted as the will of God.

Asiya and her servants finding baby Moses in the Nile, Jami' al-tawarikh; possibly pious fiction that follows the footsteps of Sargon of Akkad's accounts. It is a part of the founding myths of the Israelites, which were widely covered in the Quran.

In Islam, Moses is a prominent prophet and messenger of God and the most frequently mentioned individual in the Quran, with his name being mentioned 136 times and his life being narrated and recounted more than that of any other prophet. Unlike the hundreds of references in the Quran to the stories of prophets such as Moses and Jesus, it provides very little information about Muhammad himself, his companions, or his contemporaries. The individuals to whom the expressions used in Quranic polemics belong and the contexts in which they were used are merely notes made in commentaries written in later centuries. An exception is his slave/adopted son Zayd, whose name is mentioned in the verses (Al-Aḥzāb;37) in the context of his -divorced- wife being taken into Muhammad's marriages. Probably the clearest biographical account of Muhammad in the Quran is the brief mention of his followers' settlement in Yathrib after their expulsion by the Quraysh, and of military encounters such as the Muslim victory at Badr.

Stories of the prophets in the Quran often revolve around a certain pattern, according to which a prophet is sent to a group of people, who then reject or attack him, and ultimately suffer extinction as God's punishment. However, the Quran, given its paraenetic character, does not offer a full narrative; but rather offers a parabolic reference to the doom of previous generations, assuming the audience is familiar with the told stories.

Ethico-religious concepts

Main article: Enjoining good and forbidding wrong

Further information: Islamic views on slavery

While belief in God and obedience to the prophets are the main emphasis in the prophetic stories, there are also non-prophetic stories in the Quran that emphasize the importance of humility and having profound-inner knowledge (hikmah) besides trusting in God. This is the main theme in the stories of Khidr, Luqman and Dhul Qarnayn. According to the later ascriptions to these stories, it is possible for those with this knowledge and divine support to teach the prophets (Khidr-Moses story Quran 18:65–82) and employ jinn (Dhul Qarnayn). Those who "spend their wealth" on people who are in need because they devoted their lives to the way of Allah and whose situation is unknown because they are ashamed to ask, will be rewarded by Allah. (Al Baqara; 272-274) In the story of Qārūn, the person who avoids searching for the afterlife with his wealth and becomes arrogant will be punished, arrogance befits only God. (Al Mutakabbir) Characters of the stories can be closed-mythical, (Khidr) demi-mythologic or combined characters, and it can also be seen that they are Islamized. While some believe he was a prophet, some researchers equate Luqman with the Alcmaeon of Croton or Aesop.

Islamic Persian miniature of Jibril protecting Ibrahim from Nimrod's fire.

Sacrifice of Ibrahim's son. Quranic narratives affecting Islamic views: anti-idolatry, Qurban, and circumcision.

Commanding ma’ruf and forbidding munkar (Ar. ٱلْأَمْرُ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَٱلنَّهْيُ عَنِ ٱلْمُنْكَرِ) is repeated or referred to in nearly 30 verses in different contexts in the Quran and is an important part of Islamist / jihadist indoctrination today, as well as Shiite teachings.

Although a common translation of the phrase is "Enjoining good and forbidding evil", the words used by Islamic philosophy determining good and evil in discourses are "husn" and "qubh". The word ma’ruf literally means "known" or what is approved because of its familiarity for a certain society and its antithesis munkar means what is disapproved because it is unknown and extraneous.

The Quran is one of the fundamental sources of Islamic law (sharia). Some formal religious practices receive significant attention in the Quran including the salat and fasting in the month of Ramadan. As for the manner in which the prayer is to be conducted, the Quran refers to prostration. The term chosen for charity, zakat, literally means purification implies that it is a self-purification. In fiqh, the term fard is used for clear imperative provisions based on the Quran. However, it is not possible to say that the relevant verses are understood in the same way by all segments of Islamic commentators; For example, Hanafis accept 5 daily prayers as fard. However, some religious groups such as Quranists and Shiites, who do not doubt that the Quran existing today is a religious source, infer from the same verses that it is clearly ordered to pray two or three times, not five times. About six verses address the way a woman should dress when in public; Some Muslim scholars consider this verse referring to the Hijab while others to clothings in general.

Early costumes of (Free) Arab women; It can provide clues in understanding some of the Quranic Urf related emphases such as ma'ruf and munkar as well as sunnah and bid'a on favored female dressing.

Research shows that the rituals in the Quran, along with laws such as qisas and tax (zakat), developed as an evolution of pre-Islamic Arabian rituals. Arabic words meaning pilgrimage (hajj), prayer (salāt) and charity (zakāt) can be seen in pre-Islamic Safaitic-Arabic inscriptions, and this continuity can be observed in many details, especially in hajj and umrah.

As a source of law and judgment

Main article: Sharia

Further information: Ulu'l-amr and Political aspects of Islam

A small number of verses in the Quran are about general rules of governance, inheritance, marriage, crime and punishment. Although the Quran does not impose a specific legal-management system, it emphasizes custom in nearly 40 verses and commands justice. (An-Nahl; 90) The practices prescribed in the Quran are considered as reflections of contextual legal understandings, as can be clearly seen in some examples such as Qisas and Diya. The following statement in the Quran is thought to be the general rule of testimony in Islamic jurisprudence, except for crime and punishment - for example, debt, shopping, etc.; O believers! When you contract a loan for a fixed period of time, commit it to writing....with justice. Call upon two of your men to witness. If two men cannot be found, then one man and two women of your choice will witness so if one of the women forgets the other may remind her.Template:Qref

As a different example, in the necklace story of Aisha, called Asbab al-Nuzul for surah An-Nur :11-20 four witnesses were required for the accusation of adultery. In addition, those who made accusations that did not meet the specified conditions would be punished with 80 lashes. The jurisprudence of later periods stipulates that witnesses must be men, covering all hadd crimes and people who did not have credibility and honesty in society (slaves, non-adl; sinners, infidels) could not testify against believers. In addition, the Islamic judiciary did not require proof of the issues defined as tazir. The statement in the Quran that determines the status of slaves in community is; Ma malakat aymanuhum meaning "those whom your right hands possess". The widespread use of slavery in the Islamic world continued until the last century, and the unrestricted sexual use of female slaves, with a few exceptions such as they couldn't be loaned out in traditional islamic jurisprudence while stated today often that sharia provides many rights to slaves and aims to eradicate slavery over time.

13th cc slave market, Yemen. Mustafa Öztürk, following in the footsteps of Fazlurrahman, argues that the verses were revealed in a historical context and derived rulings are not among the essence and aims of religion; Slaves and female slaves were considered property within the framework derived from the Quranic verses; Their masters could set them free, sell them, bequeath them, share them, or rent them out. Öztürk adds Al-Sarakhsi's ijtihad that the paternity of the born child in this situation could be determined by draw and asks; is there anyone among you who can accept this understanding today?

Sharia is a collection of laws and rules created by scholars' interpretations on the Quran and hadith collections, and has been developed over the centuries, changing according to different geographies and societies. Fiqh sects are schools of understanding that try to determine the actions that people should do or avoid based on the Quran and hadiths. The place of hadiths in legislation is controversial; for example, in the Hanafi sect, in order to claim that something is obligatory, that issue must be clearly expressed in the Quran. Some of these results may also indicate exaggeration of statements, generalizations taken out of context, and imperative broadening of scope. Of the few criminal cases listed as crimes in the Quran, only a few of them are punished by the classical books of sharia as determined by the verses of the Quran and are called hudud laws. How the verse Al-Ma'idah 33, which describes the crime of hirabah, should be understood is a matter of debate even today. The verse talks about the punishment of criminals by killing, hanging, having their hands and feet cut off on opposite sides, and being exiled from the earth, in response to an -abstract- crime such as "fighting against Allah and His Messenger". Expanding or narrowing the conditions and scope of this crime according to new situations and universal legal standards are issues that continue to be discussed today such as punishing in addition to rebellion against the legitimate government on "concrete sequential criminal acts" ie massacre, robbery and rape as preconditions.

Although the constitutions of most Muslim-majority states contain references to sharia, its rules are largely preserved only in family law and criminal law in some. The Islamic revival of the late 20th century brought calls by Islamic movements for the full implementation of sharia, including corporal punishment such as stoning for adultery, through a variety of propaganda methods, from civic political activities to terrorism.

Eschatology

Main article: Islamic eschatology

Further information: Garden of Eden and Jahannam

The doctrine of the last day and eschatology (the final fate of the universe) may be considered the second great doctrine of the Quran. It is estimated that approximately 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. The Quran 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 in a bodily resurrection.

Map by Pierre Daniel Huet (1700), locating Garden of Eden as described in Genesis 2:10–14: also mentioned with the same name (jannāt ʿadn) in the Quran, with the difference is that it was not the place where Adam and Eve were sent down on earth, but the garden promised to believers after death.(Al-Kahf;30-31)

In the Quran belief in the afterlife is often referred in conjunction with belief in God: "Believe in God and the last day" emphasizing what is considered impossible is easy in the sight of God. A number of suras such as 44, 56, 75, 78, 81 and 101 are directly related to the afterlife and warn people to be prepared for the "imminent" day 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', 'the Day of the Gathering' or 'the Day of the Meeting'.

While most topics known as "signs of the apocalypse" in Islamic eschatology are based on non-Quranic sources, some references in the Quran were frequently understood as apocalyptic terms, such as fitna, Dabba, and Gog and Magog. At the time of the Mongol conquests, ibn Kathir identified the latter with the historical Turks and Mongols. The apocalyptic writings frequently feature extra-Quranic figures such as the Dajjāl (corresponding to Armilos and Anti-Christ) and the Mahdī. The Dajjāl is supposed to become a cause of misguidance and causes havoc on earth, but is ultimately stopped by either the Mahdī or ʿĪsā (Jesus) who returns to earth from heaven.

When the time of the apocalypse comes -which is told in a poetic form- the sun is rolled up, the stars fall down, seas are set on fire, mountains are moved people run away in fear and pregnant women miscarry.(At-Takwir 1-7) Then a square is set up and the king or lord of the day;(māliki yawmi-d-dīn) comes and shows his shin; the looks are fearful, those gathered in the square are invited to prostrate;(Al-Qalam 42-43) the question asked is why the innocent female children were killed.(At-Takwir 8-9)

Text and arrangement

Main articles: List of chapters in the Quran and Āyah

The Quran consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, known as a sūrah. Each sūrah consists of verses, known as āyāt, which originally means a 'sign' or 'evidence' sent by God. The number of verses differs from sūrah to sūrah. An individual verse may be just a few letters or several lines. The total number of verses in the most popular Hafs Quran is 6,236; however, the number varies if the bismillahs are counted separately. According to one estimate the Quran consists of 77,430 words, 18,994 unique words, 12,183 stems, 3,382 lemmas and 1,685 roots.

Belqeys, Queen of Sheba, one of the legendary figures in the Bible whose story is told without naming in the Quran, lying in a garden, facing a hoopoe, Solomon's messenger. Persian miniature (c. 1595).

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 on traditional account. However, a sūrah classified as Medinan may contain Meccan verses in it and vice versa. Sūrah names are derived from a name or a character in the text, or from the first letters or words of the sūrah. Chapters are not arranged in chronological order, rather the chapters appear to be arranged roughly in order of decreasing size. Each sūrah except the ninth starts with the Bismillah ({{safesubst:ifsubst|1=|2= }بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ</ span>‎), 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 Quran Template:Qref as the opening of Solomon's letter to the Queen of Sheba.

The Muqattaʿat ( ḥurūf muqaṭṭaʿāt, 'disjoined letters, disconnected letters'; also 'mysterious letters') are combinations of between one and five Arabic letters figuring at the beginning of 29 out of the 114 chapters of the Quran just after the basmala. The letters are also known as fawātih (فواتح), or 'openers', as they form the opening verse of their respective suras. Four surahs are named for their muqatta'at: Ṭāʾ-Hāʾ, Yāʾ-Sīn, Ṣād, and Qāf. Various theories have been put forward; they were a secret communication language between Allah and Muhammad, abbreviations of various names or attributes of Allah, symbols of the versions of the Quran belonging to different companions, elements of a secret coding system, or expressions containing esoteric meanings. Some researchers associate them with hymns used in Syrian Christianity. The phrases must have been part of these hymns or abbreviations of frequently repeated introductory phrases. Some of them, such as Nun, were used in symbolic meanings.

In addition of the division into chapters, there are various ways of dividing Quran into parts of approximately equal length for convenience in reading. The 30 juz' (plural ajzāʼ) can be used to read through the entire Quran in a month. 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. A different structure is provided by semantic units resembling paragraphs and comprising roughly ten āyāt each. Such a section is called a ruku.

Literary style

Main articles: Quranic counter-discourse, Self-referential discourse of the Quran, and Punishment narratives in the Quran

Further information: Oral-formulaic composition

Boys studying the Quran in Touba, Senegal

The Quran's message is conveyed with various literary structures and devices. In the original Arabic, the suras and verses employ phonetic and thematic structures that assist the audience's efforts to recall the message of the text. Muslims, such as Dr. Mustafa Khattab in his The Clear Quran assert, according to the Quran itself, that the Quranic content and style is inimitable.

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 failing to convey the rhythmic quality of Quranic language, which is 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 suras, in which relatively short verses throw the rhyming words into prominence. The effectiveness of such a form is evident for instance in Sura 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.

Today, the Quranic text contains numerous expressions ('ql' meaning "say") that create the image of it as a direct divine word commanding Muhammad. In his doctoral dissertation on the textual analysis of Quranic manuscripts from the 7th-10th centuries CE, Daniel Brubaker illuminates the process of adding some of these words. Michael Cook has revealed another aspect of this phenomenon. There was no distinction between "say" or "he said" in the original texts (Rasm). However, later texts standardized the "ql" expression (which can be read as both "he said" and "say") in these texts to be read as "say" in many places. (According to the current reading style, the word "Say" appears a total of 332 times in the Quran.)

The Quranic text seems to have no beginning, middle, or end, its nonlinear structure being akin to a web or net. The textual arrangement is sometimes considered to exhibit lack of continuity, absence of any chronological or thematic order and repetitiousness. 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. Sells also addresses the much-discussed repetitiveness of the Quran, seeing this, too, as a literary device. Another group of researchers explores the irregularities and repetitions mentioned in the Quranic text in a way that refutes the traditional claim that it was preserved by memorization alongside writing. According to them, an oral period shaped the Quran as a text and order, and mentioned repetitions and irregularities were remnants of this period.

A text is self-referential when it speaks about itself and makes reference to itself. According to Stefan Wild, the Quran demonstrates this metatextuality by explaining, classifying, interpreting and justifying the words to be transmitted. Self-referentiality is evident in those passages where the Quran refers to itself as revelation (tanzil), remembrance (dhikr), news (naba'), criterion (furqan) in a self-designating manner (explicitly asserting its Divinity, "And this is a blessed Remembrance that We have sent down; so are you now denying it?"), or in the frequent appearance of the "Say" tags, when Muhammad is commanded to speak (e.g., "Say: 'God's guidance is the true guidance'", "Say: 'Would you then dispute with us concerning God?'"). According to Wild the Quran is highly self-referential. The feature is more evident in early Meccan suras.

Inimitability

Main articles: I'jaz, Quran imitations, and Islamic view of miracles

In Islam, ’i‘jāz (), "inimitability challenge" of the Quran in sense of feṣāḥa and belagha (both eloquence and rhetoric) is the doctrine which holds that the Quran has a miraculous quality, both in content and in form, that no human speech can match. According to this, the Quran is a miracle and its inimitability is the proof granted to Muhammad in authentication of his prophetic status. The literary quality of the Quran has been praised by Muslim scholars and by many non-Muslim scholars. The doctrine of the miraculousness of the Quran is further emphasized by Muhammad's illiteracy since the unlettered prophet could not have been suspected of composing the Quran.

Splitting of the Moon, Muhammad with hidden face. 16th-century falnama. A possible idiom, Template:Qref also mentioned in Imru' al-Qais poems, was understood as the physical disintegration and supported by hadiths despite the Quran itself denies miracles, in the traditional sense.

The Quran is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature. The emergence of the Quran was an oral and aural poetic experience; the aesthetic experience of reciting and hearing the Quran is often regarded as one of the main reasons behind conversion to Islam in the early days. Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry was an element of challenge, propaganda and warfare, and those who incapacitated their opponents from doing the same in feṣāḥa and Belagha socially honored, as could be seen on Mu'allaqat poets. The etymology of the word "shā'ir; (poet)" connotes the meaning of a man of inspirational knowledge, of unseen powers. `To the early Arabs poetry was ṣihr ḥalāl and the poet was a genius who had supernatural communications with the jinn or spirits, the muses who inspired him.’ Although pre-Islamic Arabs gave poets status associated with suprahuman beings, soothsayers and prophecies were seen as persons of lower status. Contrary to later hurufic and recent scientific prophecy claims, traditional miracle statements about the Quran hadn't focused on prophecies, with a few exceptions like the Byzantine victory over the Persians in wars that continued for hundreds of years with mutual victories and defeats.

The first works about the ’i‘jāz of the Quran began to appear in the 9th century in the Mu'tazila circles, which emphasized only its literary aspect, and were adopted by other religious groups. According to grammarian Al-Rummani the eloquence contained in the Quran consisted of tashbīh, istiʿāra, taǧānus, mubālaġa, concision, clarity of speech (bayān), and talāʾum. He also added other features developed by himself; the free variation of themes (taṣrīf al-maʿānī), the implication content (taḍmīn) of the expressions and the rhyming closures (fawāṣil). The most famous works on the doctrine of inimitability are two medieval books by the grammarian Al Jurjani (d. 1078 CE), Dala’il al-i'jaz ('the Arguments of Inimitability') and Asraral-balagha ('the Secrets of Eloquence'). Al Jurjani believed that Quran's eloquence must be a certain special quality in the manner of its stylistic arrangement and composition or a certain special way of joining words. Angelika Neuwirth lists the factors that led to the emergence of the doctrine of ’i‘jāz: The necessity of explaining some challenging verses in the Quran; In the context of the emergence of the theory of "proofs of prophecy" (dâ'il an-nubuwwa) in Islamic theology, proving that the Quran is a work worthy of the emphasized superior place of Muhammad in the history of the prophets, thus gaining polemical superiority over Jews and Christians; Preservation of Arab national pride in the face of confrontation with the Iranian Shu'ubiyya movement, etc. Orientalist scholars Theodor Nöldeke, Friedrich Schwally and John Wansbrough, pointing out linguistic defects, held similar opinions on the Quranic text as careless and imperfect.

Significance in Islam

Further information: Quranic createdness

Talismanic tunic, North India-Deccan, Metropolitan Museum

Quran says, "We have sent down the Quran in truth, and with the truth it has come down" and frequently asserts in its text that it is divinely ordained. The Quran speaks of a written pre-text that records God's speech before it is sent down, the "preserved tablet" that is the basis of the belief in fate also, and Muslims believe that the Quran was sent down or started to be sent down on the Laylat al-Qadr.

Revered by pious Muslims as "the holy of holies", whose sound moves some to "tears and ecstasy", it is the physical symbol of the faith, the text often used as a charm on occasions of birth, death, marriage. Traditionally, before starting to read the Quran, ablution is performed, one seeks refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, and the reading begins by mentioning the names of Allah, Rahman and Rahim together known as basmala. Consequently,

It must never rest beneath other books, but always on top of them, one must never drink or smoke when it is being read aloud, and it must be listened to in silence. It is a talisman against disease and disaster.

According to Islam, the Quran is the word of God (Kalām Allāh). Its nature and whether it was created became a matter of fierce debate among religious scholars; and with the involvement of the political authority in the discussions, some Muslim religious scholars who stood against the political stance faced religious persecution during the caliph al-Ma'mun period and the following years.

Muslims believe that the present Quranic text corresponds to that revealed to Muhammad, and according to their interpretation of Quran Template:Qref, it is protected from corruption ("Indeed, it is We who sent down the Quran and indeed, We will be its guardians"). Muslims consider the Quran to be a sign of the prophethood of Muhammad and the truth of the religion. For this reason, in traditional Islamic societies, great importance was given to children memorizing the Quran, and those who memorized the entire Quran were honored with the title of hafiz. Even today, "millions and millions of people refer to the Koran daily to explain their actions and to justify their aspirations" or see it as the source of scientific knowledge, though this has been criticized as pseudoscientific.

Muslims believe the Quran to be God's literal words, a complete code of life, the final revelation to humanity, a work of divine guidance revealed to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. On the other hand it is believed in Muslim community that full understanding of it can only be possible with the depths obtained in the basic and religious sciences that the ulema (imams in shia) might access, as "heirs of the prophets". For this reason, direct reading of the Quran or applications based on its literal translations are considered problematic except for some groups such as Quranists thinking that the Quran is a complete and clear book; and tafsir / fiqh are brought fore to correct understandings in it. With a classical approach, scholars will discuss verses of the Quran in context called asbab al-nuzul in islamic literature, as well as language and linguistics; will pass it through filters such as muhkam and mutashabih, nasıkh and abrogated; will open the closed expressions and try to guide the believers. There is no standardization in Quran translations, and interpretations range from traditional scholastic, to literalist-salafist understandings to Esoteric-Sufist, to modern and secular exegesis according to the personal scientific depth and tendencies of scholars.

In worship

See also: Salah

Surah Al-Fatiha, the first chapter of the Quran, is recited in full in every rakat of salah and on other occasions. This sura, which consists of seven verses, is the most often recited surah of the Quran:

While standing in prayers, worshipers recite the first chapter of the Quran, al-Fatiha, followed by any other section

{{safesubst:ifsubst|1=|2= }بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
مَٰلِكِ يَوْمِ ٱلدِّينِ
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ
صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَ</
span>‎

In the Name of Allah the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
[All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds —
The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful,
Sovereign of the Day of Recompense.
It is You we worship and You we ask for help
Guide us to the straight path—
The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.

—Template:Qref —Sahih International English translation

Other sections of the Quran of choice are also read in daily prayers. Sura Al-Ikhlāṣ is second in frequency of Quran recitation, for according to many early authorities, Muhammad said that Ikhlāṣ is equivalent to one-third of the whole Quran.

{{safesubst:ifsubst|1=|2= }قُلۡ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
ٱللَّهُ ٱلصَّمَدُ
لَمۡ یَلِدۡ وَلَمۡ یُولَدۡ
وَلَمۡ یَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدُۢ</
span>‎

Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ "He is God—One ˹and Indivisible˺;
God—the Sustainer ˹needed by all˺.
He has never had offspring, nor was He born.
And there is none comparable to Him."

—Surah Al-Ikhlāṣ Template:Qref —The Clear Quran English translation

Respect for the written text of the Quran is an important element of religious faith by many Muslims, and the Quran is treated with reverence. Based on tradition and a literal interpretation of Quran Template:Qref ("none shall touch but those who are clean"), some Muslims believe that they must perform a ritual cleansing with water (wudu or ghusl) before touching a copy of the Quran, although this view is not universal.

Worn-out and old copies of the Quran are wrapped in a cloth and stored indefinitely in a safe place, buried in a mosque or a Muslim cemetery, or burned and the ashes buried or scattered over water. While praying, the Quran is only recited in Arabic.

In Islam, most intellectual disciplines, including Islamic theology, philosophy, mysticism and jurisprudence, have been concerned with the Quran or have their foundation in its teachings. Muslims believe that the preaching or reading of the Quran is rewarded with divine rewards variously called ajr, thawab, or hasanat.

In Islamic art

The Quran also inspired Islamic arts and specifically the so-called Quranic arts of calligraphy and illumination. The Quran is never decorated with figurative images, but many Qurans 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.

• 
  Calligraphy, 18th century, Brooklyn Museum.
• 
  Quranic inscriptions, Bara Gumbad mosque, Delhi, India.
• 
  Typical mosque lamp, of enamelled glass, with the Ayat an-Nur or "Verse of Light" (24:35).
• 
  Quran page decoration art, Ottoman period.
• 
  Quranic verses, Shahizinda mausoleum, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
• 
  The leaves from Quran written in gold and contoured with brown ink with a horizontal format suited to classical Kufic calligraphy, which became common under the early Abbasid caliphs.
• 
  9th-century Quran in the Reza Abbasi Museum
• 
  Shikasta nastaliq script, 18th–19th centuries

Interpretation

Main articles: Quranic hermeneutics and Muhkam and Mutashabih

Further information: Historical criticism and Muqatta'at

Mysterious personalities in the Quran (Al-Kahf 94-97); Dhu al-Qarnayn, building a wall with the help of the jinns to keep away Gog and Magog. Miniature, Chester Beatty Library.

Tafsir ( [[Help:IPA/Arabic|[[[:Template:C-ar]]Template:C-ar]]]; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a tafsir is a mufassir (; plural: ). A Quranic tafsir attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding and conviction of God's will in Islam. In the classical approach, the exegesis of the Qur'an is built on the 7th verse of Al Imran-7;

"He is the one who has sent down to you the Book. In it are verses that are sound (muhkamat), which are the foundation of the Book, and others that are assimilated (mutashabihat; resembling one another)." In classical approach verses that speak of Allah's "hand," "throne" (arsh), or His "sitting on throne" (istiwa) are considered mutashabih. These expressions are not believed to refer to a physical organ or action but are seen as metaphorical expressions symbolizing Allah's power, knowledge, or majesty.

Principally, a tafsir deals with the issues of linguistics, jurisprudence, and theology. In terms of perspective and approach, tafsir can be broadly divided into two main categories, namely tafsir bi-al-ma'thur (lit. received tafsir), which is transmitted from the early days of Islam through the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions, and tafsir bi-al-ra'y (lit. tafsir by opinion), which is arrived through personal reflection or independent rational thinking.

Knowledge of context / Asbab al-Nuzul; a scholar must understand the reasons and circumstances of a revelation in order to interpret the text correctly. If a verse is isolated without knowing the context, it can be misinterpreted.

Quranic hermeneutics, and hermeneutics in general, refers to efforts to understand the Quran and Islamic texts through a more objective and secular approach, using universal criteria and moving beyond traditionally imposed forms. The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran offers a new and compelling approach to understanding the implications of the Qur'an, based on linguistic and geographical-cultural knowledge that also coincides with the findings of historical research of the revisionist school.

There are different characteristics and traditions for each of the tafsirs representing respective schools and doctrines, such as Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, and Sufism. There are also general distinctions between classic tafsirs compiled by authoritative figures of Muslim scholarship during the formative ages of Islam, and modern tafsir which seeks to address a wider audience, including the common people.

A cedar in Lebanon (Lebanon's sacred tree); Translations made through modern Arabic, unaware of the socio-cultural background and etymological development of the words and symbols that make up the language, can turn Quranic Sidrat al-Muntaha into the Lote tree.

Exoteric and Esoteric interpretations (ta'wil)

Main article: Esoteric interpretation of the Quran

Commentaries dealing with the zahir ('outward aspects') of the text are called tafsir, (explanation) and hermeneutic and esoteric commentaries dealing with the batin are called ta'wil ('interpretation'). Commentators with an esoteric slant believe that the ultimate meaning of the Quran is known only to God. Esoteric or Sufi interpretation relates Quranic verses to the inner or esoteric (batin) and metaphysical dimensions of existence and consciousness. According to Sands, esoteric interpretations are more suggestive than declarative, and are allusions (isharat) rather than explanations (tafsir). They indicate possibilities as much as they demonstrate the insights of writers.

Shias and Sunnis as well as some Muslim philosophers believe the meaning of the Quran is not restricted to the literal aspect. In contrast, Quranic literalism, followed by Salafis and Zahiris, is the belief that the Quran should only be taken at its apparent meaning. Henry Corbin narrates a hadith that goes back to Muhammad:

The Quran possesses an external appearance and a hidden depth, an exoteric meaning and an esoteric meaning. This esoteric meaning in turn conceals an esoteric meaning. So it goes on for seven esoteric meanings.

According to esoteric interpreters, 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. Corbin considers the Quran to play a part in Islamic philosophy, because Gnosiology itself goes hand in hand with prophetology.

Translations

Main article: Quran translations

See also: List of translations of the Quran

Translating the Quran has always been problematic and difficult. Many argue that the Quranic text cannot be reproduced in another language or form. An Arabic word may have a range of meanings depending on the context, making an accurate translation difficult. Moreover, one of the biggest difficulties in understanding the Quran for those who do not know its language in the face of shifts in linguistic usage over the centuries is semantic translations (meanings) that include the translator's contributions to the relevant text instead of literal ones. Although the author's contributions are often bracketed and shown separately, the author's individual tendencies may also come to the fore in making sense of the main text. These studies contain reflections and even distortions caused by the region, sect, education, ideology and knowledge of the people who made them, and efforts to reach the real content are drowned in the details of volumes of commentaries. These distortions can manifest themselves in many areas of belief and practices such as hijab. In fact, every new interpretation and translation of the Quran inherently involves a new semantic restructuring of it.

Shia Muslim girls reciting the Quran placed atop folding lecterns (rehal) during Ramadan in the city of Qom, Iran

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

The first fully attested complete translations of the Quran were done between the 10th and 12th centuries in Persian. The Samanid king, Mansur I (961–976), ordered a group of scholars from Khorasan to translate the Tafsir al-Tabari, originally in Arabic, into Persian. Later in the 11th century, one of the students of Abu Mansur Abdullah al-Ansari wrote a complete tafsir of the Quran in Persian. In the 12th century, Najm al-Din Abu Hafs al-Nasafi translated the Quran into Persian. The manuscripts of all three books have survived and have been published several times. In 1936, translations in 102 languages were known. 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.

Robert of Ketton's 1143 translation of the Quran for Peter the Venerable, Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete, was the first into a Western language (Latin). Alexander Ross offered the first English version in 1649, from the French translation of L'Alcoran de Mahomet (1647) by Andre du Ryer. In 1734, George Sale produced the first scholarly translation of the Quran into English; another was produced by Richard Bell in 1937, and yet another by Arthur John Arberry in 1955. While all these translators were non-Muslims, there have been numerous translations by Muslims: popular modern English translations by Muslims include The Oxford World Classics translation by Muhammad Abdel Haleem, The Clear Quran by Mustafa Khattab, Sahih International's translation, among various others. As with translations of the Bible, the English translators have sometimes favored archaic English words and constructions over their more modern or conventional equivalents; for example, two widely read translators, Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Marmaduke Pickthall, use the plural and singular ye and thou instead of the more common you.

The oldest Gurmukhi translation of the Quran Sharif has been found in village Lande of Moga district of Indian Punjab which was printed in 1911.

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  1091 Quranic text in bold script with Persian translation and commentary in a lighter script
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  Arabic Quran with interlinear Persian translation from the Ilkhanid Era
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  The first printed Quran in a European vernacular language: L'Alcoran de Mahomet, André du Ryer, 1647
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  Title page of the first German translation (1772) of the Quran
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  Verses 33 and 34 of surat Yā Sīn in this Chinese translation of the Quran

Recitation

Men reading the Quran at the Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria

Rules of recitation

See also: Tajwid

The proper recitation of the Quran is the subject of a separate discipline named tajwid which determines in detail how the Quran should be recited, how each individual syllable is to be pronounced, the need to pay attention to the places where there should be a pause, to elisions, where the pronunciation should be long or short, where letters should be sounded together and where they should be kept separate, etc. It may be said that this discipline studies the laws and methods of the proper recitation of the Quran and covers three main areas: the proper pronunciation of consonants and vowels (the articulation of the Quranic phonemes), the rules of pause in recitation and of resumption of recitation, and the musical and melodious features of recitation.

In order to avoid incorrect pronunciation, reciters follow a program of training with a qualified teacher. The two most popular texts used as references for tajwid rules are Matn al-Jazariyyah by Ibn al-Jazari and Tuhfat al-Atfal by Sulayman al-Jamzuri.

The recitations of a few Egyptian reciters, like El Minshawy, Al-Hussary, Abdul Basit, Mustafa Ismail, were highly influential in the development of current styles of recitation. Southeast Asia is well known for world-class recitation, evidenced in the popularity of the woman reciters such as Maria Ulfah of Jakarta. Today, crowds fill auditoriums for public Quran recitation competitions.

There are generally two types of recitation (based on pace of recitation):

1. Murattal is a recitation at moderate pace, used for study and practice.
2. Mujawwad refers to a slower recitation that deploys heightened technical artistry and melodic modulation, as in public performances by trained experts. It is directed to and dependent upon an audience for the mujawwad reciter seeks to involve the listeners.

Variant readings

See also: Qira'at, Ahruf, Seven readers, and Ten recitations

Page of the Quran with vocalization marks

The variant readings of the Quran are one type of textual variant. According to Melchert (2008), 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. Nasser categorizes variant readings into various subtypes, including internal vowels, long vowels, gemination (shaddah), assimilation and alternation.

It is generally stated that there are small differences between readings. However, these small changes may also include differences that may lead to serious differences in Islam, ranging from the definition of God to practices such as the formal conditions of ablution.

The first Quranic manuscripts lacked marks, enabling multiple possible recitations to be conveyed by the same written text. The 10th-century Muslim scholar from Baghdad, Ibn Mujāhid, is famous for establishing seven acceptable textual readings of the Quran. 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 Quran had been revealed in seven ahruf. 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, Aasim ibn Abi al-Najud (Kufa, d. 745) and Nafiʽ al-Madani (Medina, d. 785), respectively. The influential standard Quran of Cairo uses an elaborate system of modified vowel-signs and a set of additional symbols for minute details and is based on ʻAsim's recitation, the 8th-century recitation of Kufa. This edition has become the standard for modern printings of the Quran. Occasionally, an early Quran shows compatibility with a particular reading. A Syrian manuscript from the 8th century is shown to have been written according to the reading of Ibn Amir ad-Dimashqi. Another study suggests that this manuscript bears the vocalization of himsi region.

According to Ibn Taymiyyah vocalization markers indicating specific vowel sounds (tashkeel) were introduced into the text of the Quran during the lifetimes of the last Sahabah.

Writing and printing

Writing

Main article: Islamic calligraphy

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-typescript. The Hijazi style manuscripts nevertheless confirm that transmission of the Quran in writing began at an early stage. Probably in the ninth century, scripts began to feature thicker strokes, which are traditionally known as Kufic scripts. Toward the end of the ninth 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 choose simpler writing styles. Beginning in 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 Iberia, 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.

In the beginning, the Quran was not written with dots or tashkeel. These features were added to the text during the lifetimes of the last of the Sahabah. 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 30 parts or juzʼ. In terms of productivity, the Ottoman copyists provide the best example. This was in response to widespread demand, unpopularity of printing methods and for aesthetic reasons.

Whilst the majority of Islamic scribes were men, some women also worked as scholars and copyists; one such woman who made a copy of this text was the Moroccan jurist, Amina, bint al-Hajj ʿAbd al-Latif.

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  Folio from the "Blue" Quran at the Brooklyn Museum
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  Kufic script, eighth or ninth century
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  Maghribi script, 13th–14th centuries
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  Muhaqqaq script, 14th–15th centuries

Printing

Quran divided into six books, published by Dar Ibn Kathir, Damascus-Beirut

Wood-block printing of extracts from the Quran is on record as early as the 10th century.

Arabic movable type printing was ordered by Pope Julius II (r. 1503–1512) for distribution among Middle Eastern Christians. The first complete Quran printed with movable type was produced in Venice in 1537–1538 for the Ottoman market by Paganino Paganini and Alessandro Paganini. But this Quran was not used as it contained a large number of errors. Two more editions include the Hinckelmann edition published by the pastor Abraham Hinckelmann in Hamburg in 1694, and the edition by the Italian priest Ludovico Maracci in Padua in 1698 with Latin translation and commentary.

Printed copies of the Quran during this period met with strong opposition from Muslim legal scholars: printing anything in Arabic was prohibited in the Ottoman empire between 1483 and 1726—initially, even on penalty of death. The Ottoman ban on printing in Arabic script was lifted in 1726 for non-religious texts only upon the request of Ibrahim Muteferrika, who printed his first book in 1729. Except for books in Hebrew and European languages, which were unrestricted, very few books, and no religious texts, were printed in the Ottoman Empire for another century.

In 1786, Catherine the Great of Russia, sponsored a printing press for "Tatar and Turkish orthography" in Saint Petersburg, with one Mullah Osman Ismail responsible for producing the Arabic types. A Quran was printed with this press in 1787, reprinted in 1790 and 1793 in Saint Petersburg, and in 1803 in Kazan. The first edition printed in Iran appeared in Tehran (1828), a translation in Turkish was printed in Cairo in 1842, and the first officially sanctioned Ottoman edition was finally printed in Constantinople between 1875 and 1877 as a two-volume set, during the First Constitutional Era.

Gustav Flügel published an edition of the Quran in 1834 in Leipzig, which remained authoritative in Europe for close to a century, until Cairo's Al-Azhar University published an edition of the Quran in 1924. This edition was the result of a long preparation, as it standardized Quranic orthography, and it remains the basis of later editions.

Criticism

Main article: Criticism of the Quran

Regarding the claim of divine origin, critics refer to pre-existing sources, not only taken from the Bible, supposed to be older revelations of God, but also from heretic, Apocryphic and talmudic sources, such as the Syriac Infancy Gospel and Gospel of James. The Quran acknowledges that accusations of borrowing popular ancient fables were being made against Muhammad.

Relationship with other literature

Some non-Muslim groups such as the Baháʼí Faith and Druze view the Quran as holy. In the Baháʼí Faith, the Quran is accepted as authentic revelation from God along with the revelations of the other world religions, Islam being viewed as a stage within the divine process of progressive revelation. Bahá'u'lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Baháʼí Faith, wrote about the Quran. Unitarian Universalists may also seek inspiration from the Quran. It has been suggested that the Quran has some narrative similarities to the Diatessaron, Protoevangelium of James, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Arabic Infancy Gospel. One scholar has suggested that the Diatessaron, as a gospel harmony, may have led to the conception that the Christian Gospel is one text.

Relationship with Jewish and Christian texts

See also: Biblical and Quranic narratives

Jonah and the giant fish in the Jami' al-tawarikh, Metropolitan Museum. A common folktale finds its place in the Template:Qref as well as in other sacred texts and can be traced in Oannes, Indian yogi Matsyendranatha, and the Greek hero Jason.

The Quran attributes its relationship with former books (the Torah, or Tawrāh and the Gospel, or ʾInjīl) to their unique origin, saying all of them have been revealed by Allah, through it asserts that Jews and Christians have corrupted it through falsification and alteration (Taḥrīf).

According to Christoph Luxenberg (in The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran) the Quran's 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. Jesus is mentioned more often in the Quran than Muhammad (by name—Muhammad is often alluded to as "The Prophet" or "The Apostle"), while Mary is mentioned in the Quran more than in the New Testament.

Relationship with Arab writing

After the Quran, and the general rise of Islam, the Arabic alphabet developed rapidly into an art form. The Arabic grammarian Sibawayh wrote one of the earliest books on Arabic grammar, referred to as "Al-Kitab", which relied heavily on the language in the Quran. Wadad Kadi, Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at University of Chicago, and Mustansir Mir, Professor of Islamic studies at Youngstown State University, state that the Quran exerted a particular influence on Arabic literature's diction, themes, metaphors, motifs and symbols and added new expressions and new meanings to old, pre-Islamic words that would become ubiquitous.

See also

• List of chapters in the Quran
• List of translations of the Quran
• Quran translations
• Historical reliability of the Quran
• Quran and miracles
• Quran code
• Criticism of the Quran
• Violence in the Quran
• Women in the Quran
• Digital Quran
• The True Furqan
• Qira'at
• Hadith
• Hadith al-Thaqalayn
• Islamic schools and branches
• Schools of Islamic theology
• Attempted imitations of the Quran

References

Sources

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• Cook, Michael (2024). A History of the Muslim World. Princeton University Press.
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External links

Reference material

• The British Library: Discovering Sacred Texts – Islam Archived 17 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine

Manuscripts

• Several digitised Qurans in the Cambridge University Digital Library
• 2017-232-1 al-Qurʼān. / القرآن at OPenn
• Digitised Manuscripts Sorted by Verses at Corpus Coranicum

Quran browsers and translation

• Quran Pdf Archived 23 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine
• Al-Quran.info Archived 29 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
• Quran Archive – Texts and Studies on the Quran
• Quran text and translation at Tufts University
• Tanzil – Online Quran Navigator
• Quran.com
• Previous.quran.com – By clicking Settings and selecting The Bridges’ translation by Fadel Soliman, words that have significant variants among the ten canonical qira'at are highlighted in red, together with a footnote listing the readers or transmitters and an English translation for each of the variant readings
• Multilingual Quran (Arabic, English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian)
• Latin script transliterated Qur'an. Hans Zirker. University of Frankfurt.