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The Qur'an (literally meaning "the recitation") is the central religious text of Islam. The Holy Qur'an is the last and final revelation of ALLAH that was revealed to Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) over a period of about 23 years. The Qur'anic verses were originally memorised by Prophet (PBUH)'s companions as he (PBUH) spoke them, with some being written down by one or more companions on whatever was at hand, from stones to pieces of bark. Compilations of the Qur'an began under Caliph Umar (may ALLAH be pleased with him), but it was Hazrat Usman (may ALLAH be pleased with him) who decided upon a definitive copy and destroyed all other versions that had resulted from the differences of pronounciation of the words. Format of the Qur'an: The Qur'an consists of 114 chapters (surahs) with a total of 6236 verses (ayat).Each chapter, or surah, is generally known by a name derived from that chapter. The chapters are not arranged in chronological order (i.e. in the order in which Islamic scholars believe they were revealed) but in a different order, roughly descending by size, but aiding oral memory. Literary structure of the Qur'an: Issa Boullata, professor of Arabic literature and Islamic studies at McGill University, gives the following evaluation of the literary structure of the Qur'an: "The message of the Qur'an is couched in various literary structures, which are widely considered to be the most perfect example of the Arabic Language. Arabic grammars were written based upon the qur'anic language, and, by general consensus of Muslim rhetoricians, the qur'anic idiom is considered to be sublime... In conclusion, it can be said that the Qur'an utilizes a wide variety of literary devices to convey its message. In its original Arabic idiom, the individual components of the text suras and ayat employ phonetic and thematic structures that assist the audiences efforts to recall the message of the text. Whereas the scholars of Arabic are largely agreed that the Qur'an represents the standards by which other literary productions in Arabic are measured, believing Muslims maintain that the Qur'an is inimitable with respect to both content and style". Influence of the Qur'an on the Arabic literature Wadad Kadi, Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at University of Chicago and Mustansir Mir, Professor of Islamic studies at Youngstown State University states that: "Although Arabic, as a language and a literary tradition, was quite well developed by the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)'s prophetic activity, it was only after the emergence of Islam, with its founding scripture in Arabic, that the language reached its utmost capacity of expression, and the literature its highest point of complexity and sophistication. Indeed, it probably is no exaggeration to say that the Qur'an was one of the most conspicuous forces in the making of classical and post-classical Arabic literature". Origin and development of the Qur'an Modern Western historians have concluded that Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was sincere in his claim of receiving revelation, "for this alone makes credible the development of a great religion." Modern historians generally decline to address the further question of whether the messages Prohpet Mohammed (PBUH) reported being revealed to him were from "his unconscious, the collective unconscious functioning in him, or from some divine source", but they acknowledge that the material came from "beyond his conscious mind" According to the Qur'an: "This Qur'an is not such as can be produced by other than Allah; on the contrary it is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book - wherein there is no doubt - from the Lord of the worlds. Or do they say, "He forged it"? say: "Bring then a Sura like unto it, and call (to your aid) anyone you can besides Allah, if it be ye speak the truth!" [Al Qur'an 10:37-38]. Some non-Muslims say that the Qur'an originated and was derived from the Bible. Although the Qur'an itself confirms the similarity between it and the former books (the Torah and the Gospel) [Al Qur'an 3:3], but ALLAH says in the Glorious Qur'an: "We know indeed that they say, "It is a man that teaches him." The tongue of him they wickedly point to is notably foreign, while this is Arabic, pure and clear." [Al Qur'an 16:103]. Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) could neither read nor write, but would simply recite what was revealed to him for his companions to write down and memorize. According to the Qur'an: "And thou (Prophet Mohammed) wast not (able) to recite a Book before this (Book came), nor art thou (Prophet Mohammed) (able) to transcribe it with thy right hand: In that case, indeed, would the talkers of vanities have doubted." [Al Qur'an 29:48]. The language of the Qur'an The Qur'an was one of the first texts written in Arabic. It is written in the classical Arabic. Soon after Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) left this world in 632 CE, armies led by his followers burst out of Arabia and conquered the Near East, Northern Africa, Central Asia, and parts of Europe. Arab rulers had millions of foreign subjects, with whom they had to communicate. Thus, the language rapidly changed in response to this new situation, losing complexities of case and obscure vocabulary. By the time, many words used in the Qur'an had become opaque to ordinary sedentary Arabic-speakers, as Arabic had changed so much, so rapidly. The Bedouin speech changed at a considerably slower rate, however, and early Arabic lexicographers sought out Bedouin speech as well as pre-Islamic poetry to explain difficult words or elucidate points of grammar. Partly in response to the religious need to explain the Qur'an to Muslims who were not familiar with Qur'anic Arabic, Arabic grammar and lexicography soon became important sciences. The model for the Arabic literary language remains to this day the speech used in Qur'anic times, rather than the current spoken dialects. The Qur'an for reading and recitation In addition to and largely independent of the division into surahs, there are various ways of dividing the Qur'an into parts of approximately equal length for convenience in reading, recitation and memorization. The Qur'an is divided to thirty ajza' (parts). The thirt parts can be used to work through the entire Quran in a week or a month. Some of these parts are known by names and these names are the first few words by which the Juz starts. A juz' is sometimes further divided into two ahzab (groups), and each hizb is in turn subdivided into four quarters. A different structure is provided by the ruku'at (sing. Raka'ah), semantical units resembling paragraphs and comprising roughly ten ayat each. Some also divide the Qur'an to seven manazil (stations). A hafiz is one who has memorized the entire text of the Qur'an, and is able to recite it properly (Tajweed). All Muslims must memorize at least some parts of the Qur'an, in order to perform their daily prayers. Qur'an recitation The very word Qur'an is usually translated as "recital," indicating that it cannot exist as a mere text. It has always been transmitted orally as well as textually. To even be able to perform salat (prayer), a mandatory obligation in Islam, a Muslim is required to learn at least some suras of the Qur'an (typically starting with the first sura, al-Fatiha, known as the "seven oft-repeated verses," and then moving on to the shorter ones at the end). Until one has learned al-Fatiha, a Muslim can only say phrases like "Praise be to ALLAH " during the salat. Writing and printing the Qur'an Most Muslims today use printed editions of the Qur'an. There are many editions, large and small, elaborate or plain, expensive or inexpensive. Bilingual forms with the Arabic on one side and a gloss into a more familiar language on the other are very popular. Qur'ans are produced in many different sizes, from extremely large Qur'ans for display purposes, to extremely small Qur'ans. Qur'an was first printed from carved wooden blocks, one block per page. There are existing specimen of pages and blocks dating from the 10th century CE. Mass-produced less expensive versions of the Qur'an were later produced by lithography, a technique for printing illustrations. Qur'ans so printed could reproduce the fine calligraphy of hand-made versions. The oldest surviving Qur'an for which movable type was used was printed in Venice in 1537/1538. It seems to have been prepared for sale in the Ottoman empire. Catherine the Great of Russia sponsored a printing of the Qur'an in 1787. This was followed by editions from Kazan (1828), Persia (1833) and Istanbul (1877). It is extremely difficult to render the full Qur'an, with all the points, in computer code, such as Unicode. The Internet Sacred Text Archive makes computer files of the Qur'an freely available both as images and in a temporary Unicode version. Various designers and software firms have attempted to develop computer fonts that can adequately render the Qur'an. Before printing was widely adopted, the Qur'an was transmitted by copyists and calligraphers. Since Muslim tradition felt that directly portraying sacred figures and events might lead to idolatry, it was considered wrong to decorate the Qur'an with pictures (as was often done for Christian texts, for example). Muslims instead lavished love and care upon the sacred text itself. Arabic is written in many scripts, some of which are both complex and beautiful. Arabic calligraphy is a highly honored art, much like Chinese calligraphy. Muslims also decorated their Qur'ans with abstract figures (arabesques), colored inks, and gold leaf. Pages from some of these antique Qur'ans are displayed throughout this article. Some Muslims believe that it is not only acceptable, but commendable to decorate everyday objects with Qur'anic verses, as daily reminders. Other Muslims feel that this is a misuse of Qur'anic verses; those who handle these objects will not have cleansed themselves properly and may use them without respect. The challenge provided by the Quran The dominant view amongst Muslims is that the Quran is not only unique in the way in which it presents its subject matter, but it is also unique in that it is a miracle in itself ("miracle", meaning the performance of a supernatural or extraordinary event which cannot be duplicated by humans). It has been documented that the Prophet Muhammad challenged the Arabs to produce a literary work of a similar caliber as the Qur'an. The dominant view amongst Muslims is that the Arabs were unable to do so in spite of their well-known eloquence and literary powers. The challenge to reproduce the Qur'an was presented to the Arabs and mankind in three stages: The First Stage A challenge is made to all of mankind to create a book of the stature of the Quran, "Say: 'If all mankind and the jinn would come together to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce its like even though they exerted all and their strength in aiding one another." [Al Qur'an 17:88] The Second Stage Next, a challenge is made, asking those who denied the divine origin of the Quran to imitate ten surahs of the Quran: "Or do they say that he has invented it? Say (to them), 'Bring ten invented surahs like it, and call (for help) on whomever you can besides Allah, if you are truthful." [Al Qur'an 11:13] The Third Stage This final challenge was to produce a single surah to match what is in the Quran: "And if you all are in doubt about what I have revealed to My servant, bring a single surah like it, and call your witnesses besides Allah if you are truthful." [Al Qur'an 2:23] The shortest chapter of the Quran is Surah al-Kawthar (Chapter 108) which consists of three verses. The dominant view amongst Muslims is that a number of Qurayshee orators and poets tried to imitate the Quran, but failed; attempts to forge chapters of the Quran have been made throughout the ages, yet none have withstood close scrutiny. Translations of the Qur'an The Qur'an has been translated into many languages; there are several translations for many languages, including English. These translations are considered to be glosses for personal use only, and have no weight in serious religious discussion. Translation is an extremely difficult endeavor, because each translator must consult his or her own opinions and aesthetic sense in trying to replicate shades of meaning in another language; this inevitably changes the original text. Thus a translation is often referred to as an "interpretation," and is not considered a real Qur'an. Just as Jewish and Christian scholars turn to the earliest texts, in Hebrew or Greek, when it is a question of exactly what is meant by a certain passage, so Muslim scholars turn to the Qur'an in Arabic. The first translator of the Qur'an is Salman the Persian. He was one of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH)'s nearest companions and translated the Qur'an during the 7th century - some of the people of Persia asked Salman al-Farisi to write to them something of the Qur'an, and he wrote to them the Fatihah in Persian. Robert of Ketton was the first person to translate the Qur'an into a Western language, Latin, in 1143. Alexander Ross offered the first English version in 1649. In 1734, George Sale produced the first scholarly translation of the Qur'an into English; another was produced by Richard Bell in 1937, and yet another by Arthur John Arberry in 1955. All these translators were non-Muslims. There have been numerous translation by Muslims; the most popular of these are the translations by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan, Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al Hilali, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, M. H. Shakir, Muhammad Asad, and Marmaduke Pickthall. The English translators have sometimes favored archaic English words and constructions over their more modern or conventional equivalents; thus, for example, two widely-read translators, A. Yusuf Ali and M. Marmaduke Pickthall, use the plural and singular "ye" and "thou" instead of the more common "you." Another common stylistic decision has been to refrain from translating "Allah" in Arabic, literally, "The God" into the common English word "God." These choices may differ in more recent translations. Interpretation of the Qur'an The Qur'an has sparked a huge body of commentary and explication. According to Allameh Tabatabaei, interpretation of the Qur'an (Tafsir) means "explaining the meanings of the Qur'anic verse, clarifying its import and finding out its significance." Tafsir is one of the earliest academic activities in Islam. Prophet Mohameed (PBUH) was the first person who described the Ayats for Muslims, as is clear from the words of Allah : "A similar (favour have ye already received) in that We have sent among you a Messenger of your own, rehearsing to you Our Signs, and sanctifying you, and instructing you in Scripture (Qurán) and Wisdom, and in new knowledge" [Al Qur'an 2:151]. The first exegetes were a few Companions of the Prophet, like Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Umar and Ubayy ibn Kab (may ALLAH be pleased with them). Exegesis in those days was confined to the explanation of literary aspects of the verse, the background of its revelation and, occasionally, interpretation of one verse with the help of the other. If the verse was about a historical event or contained the realities of Genesis or resurrection, etc., then sometimes a few traditions of the Prophet were narrated to make its meaning clear. Because Quran is spoken in the classical form of Arabic, many of the later converts to Islam, who happened to be mostly non-Arabs, did not always understand the Qur'an's Arabic, they did not catch allusions that were clear to early Arab Muslims and they were extremely concerned to reconcile apparent contradictions and conflicts in the Qur'an. Commentators erudite in Arabic explained the allusions, and perhaps most importantly, explained which Quranic verses had been revealed early in Muhammad's prophetic career, as being appropriate to the very earliest Muslim community, and which had been revealed later, canceling out or "abrogating" ( nasikh ) the earlier text. Memories of the occasions of revelation (asbb al-nuzl), the circumstances under which Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) had spoken as he did, were also collected, as they were believed to explain some apparent obscurities. Although the concept of abrogation does exist in the Qur'an, but Muslims differ in their interpretaions of the word "Abrogation". Some believe that there are abrogations in the text of the Qur'an and some insist that there are no contradictions or unclear passages to explain. The Qur'an and Islamic culture Based on tradition and a literal interpretation of Al Qur'an 56:77-79: "That this is indeed a Qur'an Most Honourable, In a Book well-guarded, Which none shall touch but those who are clean.", many scholars opine that a Muslim perform wudu (ablution or a ritual cleansing with water) before touching a copy of the Qur'an, or mushaf. This view has been contended by other scholars on the fact that, according to Arabic linguistic rules, this verse eludes to a fact and does not comprise of an order. This is so because the verb equivalent of English 'touch' is used in past perfect and not imperative. The literal translation thus reads as "That (this) is indeed a noble Qur'an, In a Book kept hidden, Which none toucheth save the purified," (translated by Mohamed Marmaduke Pickthall). It is suggested based on this translation that performing ablution is not required. Qur'an desecration means insulting the Qur'an by defiling or dismembering it. Muslims must always treat the book with reverence, and are forbidden, for instance, to pulp, recycle, or simply discard worn-out copies of the text. Respect for the written text of the Qur'an is an important element of religious faith by many Muslims. They believe that intentionally insulting the Qur'an is a form of blasphemy. According to the laws of some Muslim-majority countries, blasphemy is punishable by lengthy imprisonment or even the death penalty.
"Ramzan was the month in which the Qur'an was revealed, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for criterion." [Al Qur'an 2:185]
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