Al-Quran: The Noble Qur'an: A brief introduction

The Qur'an; literally meaning "the recitation", a revelation from Allah (God), the creator and sustainer of all the worlds and all that exists.

The Quran is the final message of Allah (God) to mankind, sent to the Last Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Before the Quran, Allah sent Torah to Prophet Musa (Moses), The Zaboor (Psalms) to Prophet Dawood (David) and Injeel (Gospel) to Prophet ‘Eesaa (Jesus), peace be upon them all.

The Quran was verbally revealed by Allah (God) to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through the angel Gabriel (Jibril) gradually over a period of approximately 23 years, beginning on 22 December 609 CE, when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632, the year of his death.

The Quran consists of 114 Surahs (Chapters). It describes itself as a book of guidance.

"This is the Book (the Qur'an) whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who ward-off evil". Surah Al-Baqarah (2:2)

It sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law. During prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic.

Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz. Some Muslims read Quranic ayahs (verses) with elocution, which is often called tajwid. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers. In order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on the tafsir.

The word qurʼān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself, assuming various meanings. The Quran describes itself as "the discernment or the criterion between truth and falsehood" (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 adjective of "Quran" has multiple transliterations including "quranic", "koranic", and "qur'anic", or capitalised as "Qur'anic", "Koranic", and "Quranic". 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. Other transliterations of "Quran" include "al-Coran", "Coran", "Kuran", and "al-Qurʼan".

The First revelation of the Quran came to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the Cave of Hira during, one of his isolated retreats to the mountains, in Mecca, Saudi Aarbia.

Cave of Hira, in Mecca, Saudi Aarbia.

The First revelation of the Qur'an

" Read: In the name of thy Lord Who createth, Createth man from a clot. Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous, Who teacheth by the pen, Teacheth man that which he knew not". Surat Al-`Alaq (96-1-5).

And the last verse of the Quran revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was :

"Today I have perfected your religion for you and completed my favor to you and have chosen for you Al-Islam as your religion." sūrat l-māidah Verse(5:3).

Related links:

1. Al-Qur'an with English Translation--

By Qari Waheed Zafar Qasmi

2. The English Translation of Noble Quran