Quran
The Quran, also known as the Qur'an or the Koran, is the central text of Islam.
History
The Qurʿān (Arabic: القرآن al-qurʿān, literally “the recitation”; also sometimes transliterated as Qurʿan, Koran, or Al-Qurʿan) is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur'an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind and consider the text in its original Arabic to be the real word of Allah, revealed to Muhammad by Gabriel over a period of 23 years and view the Qur'an as their god's final revelation to humanity.
Muslims regard the Qur'ān as the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with those revealed to Adam — regarded, in Islam, as the first prophet — and including the Suhuf-i-Ibrahim (Scrolls of Abraham), the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injil (Gospel). The aforementioned books are recognized in the Qurʿān, and the Qurʿanic text assumes familiarity with many events from Jewish and Christian scriptures, retelling some of these events in distinctive ways, and referring obliquely to others. It rarely offers detailed accounts of historical events; the Qurʿan’s emphasis is typically on the moral significance of an event, rather than its narrative sequence. Details to historical events are contained within the Hadith of Muhammad and the narrations of Muhammad's Companions (Sahabah).
The Qurʿanic text itself proclaims a divine protection of its message: Surely We have revealed the Reminder and We will most surely be its guardian.
The Qurʿanic verses were originally memorized by Muhammad’s companions as Muhammad recited them, with some being written down by one or more companions on whatever was at hand, from stones to pieces of bark. In the Sunni tradition, the collection of the Qur'ān compilation took place under the Caliph Abu Bakr, this task being led by Zayd ibn Thabit Al-Ansari. “The manuscript on which the Qurʿan was collected, remained with Abu Bakr till Allah took him unto Him, and then with ʿUmar till Allah took him unto Him, and finally it remained with Hafsa bint Umar (Umar’s daughter).” An original copy of the Uthman’s standard version of Qurʿan from his time is on display at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.
