The primary religious text of Islam, known by Muslims as the Qur’an or Koran (/kʊrˈɑːn/, kuurr-AHN; vocalized Arabic: اَلْقُرْآنُ, Quranic Arabic: ٱل\قُر\ءَانُ, al-Qurʾān, lit. “the recitation” or “the lecture”) is the primary religious text of Islam. It is divided into 114 chapters, each of which has a verse. Apart from its religious importance, it is considered the best piece of Arabic literature and has significantly impacted the language.
Muslims hold that over roughly 23 years, starting on Laylat al-Qadr15, when Muhammad was 40, and ending in 632, the year of his death at the age of 61–62, God orally revealed the Quran to the last prophet, Muhammad, through the archangel Gabriel. Muslims consider the Quran to be the pinnacle of divine revelations, beginning with those revealed to Adam and extending through the Tawrat, the Zabur, and the Injil, and as the most significant miracle of Muhammad and evidence of his prophetic status.
Muslims consider the Quran to be the actual words of God, not just divine inspiration. It offers a comprehensive moral code that directs them in all aspects of their lives. The Quran’s divine nature has sparked a heated debate among Muslim theologians regarding whether the text is “created” or “uncreated.”It is customary that a number of Muhammad’s companions recorded the revelations as scribes. The companions, who had either written down or committed to memorizing portions of the Quran, assembled it shortly after the prophet’s passing.
The Uthmanic codex, developed by Caliph Uthman, is a standard version of the Quran widely regarded as the modern Quranic archetype. Variant interpretations do exist, though they primarily have subtle differences in meaning. The integrity of the content of the Quran has seldom been a subject of controversy in Muslim history.
