The Story of the Quran (part 1 of 4): God’s Final Revelation (2024)

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Description: What is the Quran?

• By Aisha Stacey (© 2009 IslamReligion.com)
• Published on 03 Aug 2009
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Muslims believe the Quran to be God’s final revelation.They believe it is the literal word of God, revealed over many years, to His finalprophet, Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him. The Quranis full of wisdom. It is full of the wonder and glory of God, and atestament to His mercy and justice. It is not a history book, a storybook, ora scientific textbook, although it contains all of those genres. The Quran isGod's greatest gift to humanity – it is a book like no other. In the secondverse of the second chapter of the Quran, God describes the Quran by calling ita book whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are pious, righteous,and fear God. (Quran 2:2)

The Quran is core to Islam. Believing in it is arequirement. One who does not believe in the Quran, in its entirety, cannotclaim to be a Muslim.

"The Messenger (Muhammad) believes in what has been sentdown to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes inGod, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. (They say,) ‘We make nodistinction between one another of His Messengers’ — and they say, ‘We hear,and we obey. (We seek) Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the return(of all)’." (Quran 2:285)

Islam has two primary sources, the Quran, andthe authentic Traditions of Prophet Muhammad, that explain and sometimes expandon that of the Quran.

“And We have not sent down the Book (the Quran) to you (OMuhammad, except that you may explain clearly unto them those things in whichthey differ, and (as) a guidance and a mercy for a folk who believe.” (Quran16:64)

The Quran was delivered to Prophet Muhammad by the AngelGabriel and revealed in stages over a period of 23 years.

“And (it is) a Quran which We have divided into parts, inorder that you might recite it to men at intervals. And We have revealed it bystages.” (Quran 17:106)

Prophet Muhammad was commanded by God to convey the Quranto all of humankind and the responsibility weighed heavily upon him. Even inhis farewell address he called on the people present to bear witness that hehad delivered the message.

The Quran explains the concept of God, it explains indetail what is permissible and what is forbidden, it explains the basics ofgood manners and morals, and gives rulings about worship. It tells storiesabout the Prophets and our righteous predecessors, and describes Paradise and Hell. The Quran was revealed for all of humankind.

The book in which the Quran (the words of God) arecontained in is called a mushaf . The Quran is considered so unique incontent and style that it cannot be translated; therefore, any translation isconsidered an interpretation of the meanings of the Quran.

When God sent Prophets to the various nations He oftenallowed them to perform miracles that were relevant to their particular timeand place. In the time of Moses magic and sorcery were prevalent thereforeMoses’ miracles appealed to the people he was sent to guide. In the time ofMuhammad, the Arabs, although predominantly illiterate, were masters of thespoken word. Their poetry and prose were considered outstanding and a model ofliterary excellence.

When Prophet Muhammad recited the Quran – thewords of God – the Arabs were moved tremendously by its sublime tone andextraordinary beauty. The Quran was Prophet Muhammad’s miracle from God. Muhammadwas unable to read or write therefore the Arabs knew that he was unlikely tohave produced such eloquent words, but even so some refused to believe that theQuran was the word of God. God therefore challenged them, in the Quran, toproduce a rival text.

“And if you (Arab pagans, Jews, and Christians) are in doubtconcerning that which We have sent down (i.e. the Quran) to Our slave(Muhammad), then produce a chapter of the like thereof and call your witnesses(supporters and helpers) besides God, if you are truthful.” (Quran 2:23)

Of course they were unable to do so. In contrast tothose who questioned the origin of the Quran, many Arabs converted to Islamafter hearing the recitation. They knew immediately that such sublime beautycould originate only from God. Even today it is possible to see Muslims movedto tears while listening to or reciting the Quran. In fact some people, unableto understand even one word of the Arabic language are moved by the intrinsicbeauty of the Quran.

After establishing that Quran is the word of God andthat it is a recitation, it is also important to understand that Quran hasremained unchanged for more than 1400 years. Today when a Muslim in Egypt holds his mushaf in his hands and begins to recite you can be sure that in far away Fiji another Muslim is looking at and reciting the exact same words. There are no differences.The child in France holding his first mushaf is tentatively reciting thesame words that flowed from the lips of Prophet Muhammad.

God assures us in Quran that He will surely protect Hiswords. He says, “Verily, it is We Who have sent down the Quran and surely,We will guard it (from corruption).” (Quran 15:9) This means that God willguard against anything false being added or any part of it being taken away.[1] It is protectedfrom tampering and if anyone attempts to distort the meanings of Quran, Godwill guide someone to expose the deception.[2]Muslims believe that the previous revelations from God, including the Torahand the Gospels of Jesus were either lost in antiquity, or changed anddistorted, so it is a source of comfort to them knowing that God’s words – theQuran – are now well guarded.

God sent down the Quran, from above the heavens, to theAngel Gabriel in the glorious month of Ramadan. The story of how thisrecitation was revealed and how Quran came to be available worldwide, with an interpretationof the meanings translated into over 100 languages[3] will be covered inpart 2.

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Description: How Quran was revealed, memorized and written down.

• By Aisha Stacey (© 2009 IslamReligion.com)
• Published on 10 Aug 2009
• Last modified on 21 Oct 2010
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“And thus, We have sent to you O Muhammad a revelation, and a mercyof Our Command. You knew not what the Book is, nor what is Faith? But We havemade it (this Quran) a light wherewith We guide whosoever of Our slaves We will.And verily, you O Muhammad are indeed guiding (humankind) to the Straight Path.”(Quran 42:52)

Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God beupon him, the final Messenger from God, received the Quran, in two stages. Theseperfect words of God were sent down to guide humankind out of the darkness andinto the light; they are guidance and a mercy. The Quran – the words of God areperfect words, from a perfect God, to His Creation. On the night known as the ‘Nightof Decree’, in the Islamic month of Ramadan, the Quran descended, from the PreservedTablet[1] to the Lowest Heaven.It then descended from the heavens to the earth in small stages.

The revelation was delivered to Prophet Muhammad throughthe Angel Gabriel.[2]When Prophet Muhammad was around forty years of age he started to spend timein deep reflection. According to his beloved wife Aisha[3] the love ofseclusion was bestowed upon him via vivid good dreams. He would go to the caveknown as Hira to worship the One God and contemplate life, the universe,and his place in the world.

One night during Ramadan an angel came to him and askedhim to read. The Prophet, who was unable to read or write, replied 'I do notknow how to read'. The angel then held him forcibly and pressed his chest sohard that he could not bear the pressure. The angel then released Muhammad andasked him once more to read. Again he replied “but I do not know how to read”.The angel held him forcibly three times and Muhammad responded each time thathe did not know how to read (or asked what shall I read). The angel then relatedto him the first words of Quran.[4]

“Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all thatexists). He has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood). Read!And your Lord is the Most Generous, Who has taught by the pen, He has taughtman that which he knew not.” (Quran 96:1-5)

After this first revelation, which Muhammad found frightening;he was not visited by the angel Gabriel again for an undetermined amount oftime. The next time he encountered him (the angel) he was walking alone. ProphetMuhammad heard a voice from the heavens. When he looked up he saw the angelsitting on a chair between the sky and the earth. Muhammad was afraid and ranhome seeking comfort and asking to be wrapped in blankets. The secondrevelation occurred at this time.[5]

“O you covered in garments arise and warn the people of asevere punishment...” (Quran 74:1-5)

Over the next 23 years until shortly before ProphetMuhammad’s death, the Quran was revealed in stages. Several reasons have beensuggested for this. Some say that it was revealed slowly to offer ProphetMuhammad support and address issues as they arose.

Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, narrates that when askedabout how the divine inspiration was revealed Prophet Muhammad replied, “Sometimesit is like the ringing of a bell, this form of inspiration is the hardest ofall and then this state passes after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimesthe Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever hesays”.[6]Ibn Abbas described Prophet Muhammad as bearing the revelation “with greattrouble and moving his lips quickly”.[7]Asthe words of Quran were revealed to Prophet Muhammad he began to commit them tomemory.

Memorization was considered important and was widelypractised even in the early years of Islam. Prophet Muhammad requested thathis companions memorise Quran and used various measures to assure that therevelation was preserved in their memories. According to Ibn Ishaq, compiler ofone of the first biographies of Prophet Muhammad, Abdullah Ibn Masood was thefirst man, after Muhammad, to recite the Quran publicly and on this occasionwas severely beaten. Prophet Muhammad’s closest companion Abu Bakr was alsoknown to recite Quran outside his home in Mecca.[8]

Quran was memorised by the companions during Prophet Muhammad’slifetime and this tradition has continued through the following generations. Eventoday Muslims unable to read Arabic memorise the exact same words that werememorised by the Arabs of the 7^th century CE. The majority of the Arabswere unlettered, including Prophet Muhammad; however the importance of thewritten word was well understood.

Preserving the divine revelation was paramount;therefore trustworthy and knowledgeable people memorised and wrote down thewords of Quran. These included the four men destined to follow Muhammad asleaders of the Muslim nation and a man named Zaid Ibn Thabit, who would beinstrumental in the preservation of Quran for the many generations to follow.

Writing materials were difficult to obtain and in thesevery early days portions of Quran were written onto animal skins, thin lightcoloured stones, bones, and even bark. The companions would write down thewords of revelation and Prophet Muhammad would listen to the men recite fromthe written word to make sure there were no mistakes. It could be said thatthe Quran was written down under the direct supervision of Prophet Muhammad.The Quran was not revealed in order, however the Angel Gabriel instructedProphet Muhammad on how to compile the Quran in the divinely inspired correctsequence.

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Description: How the words of God came to be compiled into a book.

• By Aisha Stacey (© 2009 IslamReligion.com)
• Published on 17 Aug 2009
• Last modified on 04 Oct 2009
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“It is We Who have sent down the remembrance (i.e. the Quran)and surely, We will guard it from corruption.” (Quran 15:9)

When God revealed His words of guidance for the whole ofhumankind – the Quran, He guaranteed to preserve it. One of the ways in whichit was preserved was that the men, women and children around the ProphetMuhammad memorized Quran, paying careful attention to each word. In the veryearly days of Islam the emphasis was on memorization, however soon, those whohad mastered the art of reading and writing began to write down the words ofQuran on whatever writing material available. They wrote on flat stones, bark,bones, and even animal skins.

As the words of God were revealed, to Prophet Muhammad, maythe mercy and blessings of God be upon him, by the Angel Gabriel, it is saidthat he would call for a scribe to write down the words as they began to flowfrom his lips. The principle scribe was a man named Zaid Ibn Thabit. Manycompanions reported that Prophet Muhammad would call for Zaid saying “lethim bring the board, the ink pot and the scapula bone”.[1]In the lifetime of the Prophet, the Quran existed on bits and pieces of writingmaterial, rather than in book form.

One of the reasons that Quran was not at that stage, inthe form of a book was that it was not revealed in order. Rather the chaptersand verses were revealed over a period of 23 years often in response tohappenings in the life and times of the early Muslim community. However, theorder of the chapters and verses of Quran was known to Prophet Muhammad. Whenthe Angel Gabriel would reveal the divine words of God, he would also issueinstructions as to what verses and chapters belonged where.

The Quran was written down under the direct supervisionof Prophet Muhammad. Uthman, one of the Prophet’s closest companions recalledthat, “when something was revealed to him, Prophet Muhammad would call someonefrom amongst those who used to write for him and say, ‘place these verses inthe chapter in which such and such is mentioned’ and if only one verse wasrevealed he would say, ‘place this verse in this chapter’”[2].

Thus at the time of the Prophet’s death pieces of Quranwere held in trust by many members of the Muslim community. Some had only afew pages from which they were learning to recite, others such as the scribes,had several chapters and still others had pieces of bark or animal skincontaining only one verse.

During the time of Abu Bakr, the man chosen to lead theMuslim nation after the death of Prophet Muhammad, the wider Muslim communityfound itself in a time of civil strife. False Prophets arose and manybewildered people, unable to sustain their faith without Prophet Muhammad, leftthe fold of Islam. Battles and skirmishes took place and many of the men whohad memorized the Quran lost their lives.

Abu Bakr was afraid that the Quran would be lost, so heconsulted some of the senior companions about compiling the Quran into a singlebook. He asked Zaid ibn Thabit, to oversee this task. At first, Zaid feltuneasy about doing something that Prophet Muhammad did not specifically authorize.However, he did agree to collect pieces of Quran, both written and memorized andcompile a book – the Mushaf. In the traditions of Prophet Muhammad, wefind Zaid Ibn Thabit's own recollection of how the compilation of Quran cameabout.[3]

“Abu Bakr sent for me when the people of al-Yamaamah hadbeen killed [i.e., a number of the Prophet's Companions who fought against thefalse prophet Musaylimah]. I went to him and found Umar ibn al-Khattab sittingwith him. Abu Bakr then said to me, ‘Umar has come saying the casualties wereheavy among those who knew the Quran by heart, and I am afraid that more heavycasualties may take place on other battlefields, whereby a large part of theQuran may be lost. Therefore I suggest that you (Abu Bakr) order that theQuran be collected.”

I said to Umar, “How can you do something that theMessenger of God did not do?” Umar said, “By God, this is something good”. Umarkept on urging me to accept his proposal until God opened my heart to it and Ibegan to realize the good in the idea. Then Abu Bakr said (to me). “You are awise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used towrite the Divine Inspiration for the Messenger of God, so search for thefragmentary scripts of Quran and compile them into one book.”

“By Allah (God) if they had ordered me to move one ofthe mountains, it would not have been heavier for me than this (ordering me tocompile the Quran). Then I said to Abu Bakr, “How can you do something thatthe Messenger of God did not do?” Abu Bakr replied, “By God, it is a goodthing.” Abu Bakr kept on urging me to accept his idea until God opened myheart to that to which He had opened the hearts of Abu Bakr and Umar.Therefore, I started looking for the Quran and collecting it from what it waswritten on, palm stalks, thin white stones and also from the men who knew it byheart, until I had collected it all.

Zaid had memorized all of the Quran and had been ProphetMuhammad’s most trusted scribe; therefore, it would have been possible for himto have written the whole Quran from his own memory. However, he did not usethis method alone. He was very careful and methodical in his compilation of theQuran and would not write down any verses unless they had been confirmed by atleast two of Prophet Muhammad’s Companions.

Thus, the Quran came to be written and compiled in bookform. It remained with Abu Bakr until his death, at which time it came intothe possession of Umar Ibn al Khattab. After Umar’s death, it was entrusted tohis daughter Hafsah. This however is not the end of the story of Quran. Inthe time of Uthman, the third leader of the Muslim nation, the book in whichthe Quran (the words of God) is contained, the Mushaf, became standardized.The Quran was no longer written in the various dialects of Arabic. In part 4we will discover how the Mushaf known as the Uthmani Quran, came intobeing.

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Description: The origin of the Quran we hold in our hands today.

• By Aisha Stacey (© 2009 IslamReligion.com)
• Published on 24 Aug 2009
• Last modified on 06 May 2014
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When Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel,it was revealed in seven Arabic dialects[1],therefore when different Companions recited there were sometimes slightdifferences in pronunciation. While Prophet Muhammad was alive, he was able toclarify and resolve any pronunciation disputes.

From the traditions of Prophet Muhammad, Umar Ibn AlKhattab narrates an anecdote that clearly shows how the people around the Prophetwere anxious to preserve the authenticity of Quran and that the ProphetMuhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, was able to mediateany disputes. He says,

I heard Hishamibn Hakim reciting in a way different to that of mine. Therefore, I was aboutto quarrel with him (during the prayer) but I waited until he finished, then Ibrought him to God’s Messenger and said, “I have heard him reciting in a waydifferent to the way you taught it to me.” The Prophet ordered me to releasehim and asked Hisham to recite. When he recited it, God’s messenger said, “Itwas revealed in this way.” He then asked me to recite the same verses. When Irecited it, he said, “It was revealed in this way. The Quran has been revealedin seven different ways, so recite it in the way that is easier for you.”[2]

After the death of Prophet Muhammad, hundreds ofthousands of non-Arabs converted to Islam. By the time Uthman Ibn Affan wasleader of the Islamic nation the Quran was recited in a variety of differentaccents and dialects. Many people especially those new to Islam were becomingconfused and some of the Companions of Prophet Muhammad began to fear that theauthenticity of Quran would be compromised.

Whilst on a journey, one of Prophet Muhammad’scompanions noticed that there were many different recitations of Quranthroughout the Muslim Caliphate. He suggested to Uthman that there be anofficial version recited in the dialect of the tribe of Quraish and written inthe style used in the city of Medina. All dialects of the Arabic language wererenowned for their eloquence but the dialect of Quraish was considered the mostexpressive and articulate, and thus over generations, it came to be known asthe dialect of the Quran.

Uthman Ibn Affan knew the Quran by heart and hadintimate knowledge of the context and circ*mstances relating to each verse,thus he was a fitting person to oversee the standardization of the Quran. Aswe know, the Quran had been gathered together during the time of Abu Bakr andwas in the safekeeping of Umar Ibn Al Khattab’s daughter, and Prophet Muhammad’swife, Hafsah. Uthman sent word to Hafsah, and took possession of theoriginal Mushaf. The authentic traditions of Prophet Muhammad relatethe event as follows.

Hudhaifah cameto Uthman at the time when the people of Syria and the people of Iraq were at war with Armenia and Azerbaijan. He was alarmed by their (the people of Syria and Iraq) differences in the recitation, so he said to ‘Uthman, “O leader of the believers! Savethis nation before they dispute about the Quran as the Jews and the Christiansdid dispute about their books.” Therefore, ‘Uthman sent a message to Hafsahsaying, “Send us the manuscript so that we may make copies and we will returnthe manuscript to you.” [3]

Once again, the leaders of the Muslim Caliphate and themen and women Companions of the Prophet made great efforts to preserve thewords of God and to remain faithful to the Message. Uthman ordered some of themost trusted companions, including for a second time Zaid Ibn Thabit, to makecareful copies of the Mushaf, saying “in case you disagree, copy it intothe dialect of Quraish”.[4]

The original manuscript wassent back to Hafsah and Uthman then ordered all other unofficial copiesto be burned or otherwise destroyed. Thus, an end was put to the dispute andthe Muslims were united. The Uthmani Quran is the Mushaf used by morethen 1.2 billion Muslims throughout the world today. The Quran has remainedpreserved from generation to generation. Each Mushaf is an exact copy ofthe original.

“Verily, it is We Who have sent down the remembrance (Quran),and surely, We will guard it (from corruption).” (Quran15:9)

It is not known exactly how many copies were made byUthman, but many believe it to be five, not including his own copy. The citiesof Mecca, Medina, Damascus, Kufa, and Basra each received a copy. Throughoutearly Islamic literature, references are made to these copies and it isbelieved that original copies exist to this day in Turkey and Uzbekistan.

Ibn Batuta, in the 14^th century C.E. said hehad seen copies or sheets from the copies of the Quran prepared under Uthman, in Granada, Marrakesh, Basra, and other cities. Ibn Kathir related that he hadseen a copy of the Uthmani Quran, which was brought to Damascus from Palestine. He said it was ‘very large, in beautiful clear strong writing with strong ink,in parchment, I think, made of camel skin’.[5]Ibn Jubair said he saw the Uthmani manuscript in the mosque of Medina in the year 1184 C.E. Some say it remained in Medina until the Turks removed it inWW1. The Treaty of Versailles contains the following clause:

Article 246: Within six months from the coming intoforce of the present Treaty, Germany will restore to His Majesty, King ofHedjaz, the original Koran of Caliph Othman, which was removed from Medina by the Turkish authorities and is stated to have been presented to the ex-EmperorWilliam II.”[6]

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