The Quran is the most recited book on earth. In Muslim tradition, it is not merely a record of divine revelation — it *is* the divine revelation, the direct word of God (Allah) transmitted to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Jibril (Gabriel), beginning in 610 CE and continuing for twenty-three years until Muhammad's death in 632 CE.
How the Quran Came to Be
Muhammad was forty years old, meditating in a cave on Mount Hira outside Mecca, when the first revelation came. The angel Jibril appeared and commanded: *"Read! In the name of your Lord who created."* (96:1) Muhammad, who was not known to be literate, found words pouring through him.
The revelations continued across two decades, responding to specific circumstances — questions from believers, challenges from opponents, political crises, personal grief. Each revelation was immediately memorized by companions and written on whatever materials were available: palm leaves, flat stones, the shoulder blades of animals.
After Muhammad's death, the first Caliph Abu Bakr commissioned a collected manuscript. The third Caliph Uthman standardized a single authorized version (around 650 CE) and sent copies to major cities, a version that remains essentially unchanged to the present day.
What the Quran Contains
The Quran is organized into 114 chapters (*suras*), arranged roughly from longest to shortest (with some exceptions). Each sura is composed of verses (*ayat*, singular *aya*, meaning "signs"). The total is approximately 6,236 verses.
The content is extraordinarily varied:
Theological declarations about the nature of God — his oneness (*tawhid*), his attributes (the 99 names of Allah), his absolute transcendence and simultaneous closeness to every human being.
Stories of the prophets — Adam, Noah, Ibrahim, Musa (Moses), Isa (Jesus), and many others, told not as history but as recurring patterns of divine invitation and human response.
Legal and ethical guidance — on prayer, fasting, marriage, inheritance, business, war, and the treatment of women, slaves, orphans, and non-Muslims.
Eschatology — vivid descriptions of the Day of Judgment, paradise (Jannah), and hell (Jahannam).
Mystical and contemplative passages — particularly the Throne Verse (2:255) and the Light Verse (24:35), which have fed centuries of Sufi reflection.
The Arabic and the Translation Question
For Muslims, the Quran exists properly only in Arabic. Translations are considered interpretations — useful but not the Quran itself. The Arabic of the Quran is considered inimitable (*i'jaz al-Quran*): its literary perfection is itself one of the proofs of its divine origin. The challenge to produce something equal to even one chapter remains open in Muslim theology: *"Bring ten suras like it."* (11:13)
This is why Quranic recitation (*tajwid*) is an art form. Memorizers (*hafiz*, plural *huffaz*) who commit the entire Quran to memory are honored in Muslim communities worldwide. Hearing the Quran recited beautifully is understood as a form of worship.
How Muslims Relate to the Quran
The Quran is not read the way most Westerners read books. It is recited, often aloud, in a ritual state of purity. It is touched only with clean hands. It is not placed on the floor. Verses are written on walls, tattooed on bodies, embroidered into clothing. The opening chapter — the Fatiha — is recited at least seventeen times daily in the five daily prayers.
It is, for 1.8 billion people, not a text from the past but a living presence.
Traditions Covered