To say the Quran (also written Koran) is just the 'Holy Book' of the Muslims is an understatement of extraordinary proportions! True, it is the Holy Book of the Muslims but it is far more than that as you will see in this article. The meaning and influence of the Quran far exceeds that of the bible or any other known holy book and it is an essential part of Islam to believe in it.
Anatomy of the book
number of books). The Quran was brought down in Arabic and continues to be printed in Arabic to this
very day but with the expansion of Islam and its' gaining notoriety the Quran was translated into many languages. If you go into any reputable bookstore or library today you will find a copy of the Quran, some with both Arabic and English, and some purely in English (or your local language), but you must remember that these are only translations so they can never measure up to the beauty, eloquence or meaning of
the Arabic form.
The Quran is most often found in the form of a single book which is split into chapters - 114 chapters to be exact. However, these chapters are not split into equally sized portions as some chapters are tens of pages long while others are but a few lines in length. The chapters are not placed in the order they were revealed (not chronologically) but roughly by size, with the largest chapters at the beginning. Each chapter is known by a name (sometimes more than one) and or a number representing what chapter it is in the order of the Quran. In each chapter, the text is segmented into an array of verses of variable length with some verses being one or two words long while others are tens of words long.
To explain this better, see the scan below of what the chapter known as 'The Abundance' or 'Al Kawthar' in Arabic looks like in one copy of the Quran.
The Benefit of Commentary (Tafseer)
Getting a Quran with commentary is essential although some argue that commentaries interfere with and influence the pure understanding and meaning of the Quran and make you interpret it the way the author wants you to, but that is a small price to pay for clarity of meaning and improved knowledge of the text.
Most people would be confident in their selves to discern fact from opinion even if they did read the commentary, but it should be made clear that the great majority of the commentators do not present their own ideas as the correct interpretations of the verses but instead look through the books of hadith to get the meanings and interpretations from the mouth of the Prophet himself (and therefore from God), or at least one of his companions or family members.
The Quran is not an easy to understand text in some cases and from time to time it presents 'quirky' or 'jerky' changes in grammar and theme that can often confuse the reader unless the reader pays special attention or has a commentary that points out these things. The reason for this is due to some verses being revealed at different times, for different purposes and under different conditions. For example, a surah (chapter) may have been started being revealed in Makkah (making it a Makkan surah), then after the Prophet traveled to Madinah more verses were revealed but also while in Madinah a certain situation arose and there came revelation concerning this situation so it became included as part of the surah right in the middle of it. It is therefore not surprising that you get these swift changes in grammar and theme. One thing you will notice when you read the Quran is that it can be very vague about lots of things and it leaves you wanting more information and details and this is because the Quran was not revealed to be the only source of authority & information in Islam and that is why the Sunnah of the Prophet should accompany the Quran. The commentary presents some of this knowledge from the books of hadith so you don't have to look through the hundreds of thousand narrations to find the details... How convenient!
Other things that may confuse a reader are things like quick changes in narrators, switching from first person (I, My, etc) to third person (He, She, They, etc), quick changes in a storyline and so forth. Other things that make the Quran more complicated is that it has no punctuation like quotes ('), brackets(()), speech marks (""), exclamation marks (!), question marks (?), full stops (.), commas (,), semicolons (;) and other things. In addition to this the Quran has special words that cannot be translated or have secret meanings or multiple
meanings that are at the discretion of a translator or commentator to discern.
All these things make it more sensible to get a Quran with a commentary. Even though there are all these complications, most of the Quran still remains understandable and surprisingly clear & easy to understand!
What the Quran means to Muslims
Thus concludes our basic gross anatomy of the Quran, and what a simple and beautiful species it is to look at with all the decorations of Islamic art on the covers and surrounding every page, and then there is the beautiful Arabic calligraphy that the text is written in... Yet what good is design if there is no function to it? The Quran is more than just a beautifully decorated literary masterpiece, it is actually much more than that as it functions as a guide for all Muslims and has had this and other purposes since its conception 1400 years ago but yet it remains just as relevant to Muslims today as it did so long ago.What is the secret to the longevity of influence and awe for the Muslims (and non-Muslims)?
Of the many things to note is the influence the Quran has on daily life as it is impossible for a Muslim to not come across the Quran on a daily basis because chapters are read every day, 5 times a day in the mandatory prayers. In Islamic schools there are Quran classes for the children, and for homework they usually get portions of the Quran to learn off by-heart, with some children eventually learning the whole book off by-heart! The parents will come across Quran in written books, newspapers and on radio and television as the Quran is recited on many terrestrial & satellite TV channels and also on radio stations of Muslim countries.
Additional influences are on the psyche of the good Muslims as the good Muslims are never far away from practicing an aspect of the faith which could range from prayer to paying charity and other deeds that Allah provides as examples from the Quran. The Quran is a source of law, advice and guidance for every single Muslim, male and female, for daily life so it regulates the way a Muslims' life should run, explaining to them how they aught to live. The Quran is essentially a guide for how to live, going hand in hand with the sunnah (teachings) of the Prophet Muhammed (SAW). Some Muslims have learnt the whole book off by heart and whenever situations, even daily life situations arise, a number of verses come to the minds of these people and they follow the good advice of their Lord.
The Quran also provides stories and parables on how to be a good person, and therefore a good Muslim. It tells stories of the previous Prophets and the predicaments of the unbelievers and their disobedience and disbelief as an example to us so that we may learn from those before us and not make the same mistakes as they did. It tells of Historical stories and mankind is at loss if it doesn't learn from the past. Of the parables it gives us examples, comparisons and hypothetical images so that we might understand the message and act upon it. Advice ranges from not committing major sins, to not following the mistakes of others, to not
following pagan religions and traditions, to not treating people harshly, to not forgetting God, to not hold back on giving charity, to not hold back on helping the sick and needy, and many other things. It promotes good conduct & behavior and a flawless lifestyle of peace and harmony with the rest of the communities.
The Quran further explains a system of governance and regulation of socio-public interactions. The Quran talks of regulation of money in terms of charity and inheritance with the aim that the poor do not waste away and become poorer and the orphans are not mistreated and the children of a deceased do not argue and quarrel. The Quran also tells of social laws that improve and sustain the social infrastructure of the inhabitants so they do not succumb to harm at their own hands or the hands of others. Such laws include the banning of
gambling, alcoholism and prostitution. The Quran also continues on to give advice to individuals and the family block so that they remain glued together and keep society stuck together and solid by advising the believers on how to deal with one another concerning loans, inheritance, divorce, family-ties, treating parents kindly and so forth. Other aspects discussed in the Quran include crime & punishment and ways of classifying a crime and the methods of dealing with such crimes so that they won't be repeated and other people learn a lesson. The Quran is the starting point of the Sharia law, the Islamic State Laws that govern the believers as a whole and mediate their lives as does a proper government. Although lots of countries that call themselves Muslim or Islamic do not follow the Sharia laws properly, the Muslim citizens try and keep to these laws as best they can and keep the society healthy.
All in all, it is not possible for a Muslim to live without the Quran having a daily influence on their life and it is beautiful and full of wisdom in the way it affects & regulates a whole society. The Quran is a gateway to all
Islamic sciences and knowledge and is essential in the study of Islam and every Muslim is a student of Islam to some degree. Yet the Quran is not just for the Muslims as it was sent down for all mankind so that they may benefit from them.
Anybody who reads the Quran will benefit from it as it talks to the none-Muslims as well and gives them sound advice and guidance.
Where did the Quran come from?
So, with you now knowing the influence of this grand book, it is just as necessary to understand how it was revealed. The Quran was revealed over a period spanning 23 years to the Prophet Muhammed (SAW) about 1400 years ago, with some bits coming when required while others coming in large chunks on a holy night known as the night of power (Laylatul Qadr) during the Islamic month of Ramadan. (There are various beliefs about how exactly the Quran was revealed). The Quran is the literal word of God, so God is the author, and He relayed the verses to the Angel Gabriel who was then charged with the task of presenting these verses to the Prophet (SAW). This same process was repeated for every Messenger Prophet before Prophet Muhammed as well. The Messengers were sent a book to accompany their spoken message with the Tauraat (~Torah), Zaboor (Psalms), and Injeel (Gospel) brought down in this very same way to their respective messengers Moses, David & Jesus (PBUT). However, the content of the Quran is not alike to the books in the bible and you have to read them to see the differences, which are clear as day. The style is very different, the approach is different, the way of narration is different, the point of view is different, and it is clearly not the bible written in different words. The Quran tells some of the same stories of the Prophets as found in the bible, but it shows different things in each of those stories and there are some details and stories that are not found in the bible that are mentioned in the Quran.
The first word of the Quran to come down was Iqra`! (Read!), and the Angel Gabriel repeated it to the Prophet about 3 times while the Prophet explained he was illiterate and unable to read or write. Thereafter the rest of the initial verses during this first encounter were revealed:
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ
اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ
الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ
عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ
In the Name of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful
[96.1] Read in the name of your Lord Who created.
[96.2] He created man from a clot.
[96.3] Read and your Lord is Most Honorable,
[96.4] Who taught (to write) with the pen
[96.5] Taught man what he knew not.
The Prophet memorized these verses and future revelations and asked his companions and friends to write down the revelation and memorize it along with him. Many foolish people say that Prophet Muhammed was the author of the Quran and filled it up with his own ideas but this is truly ridiculous as anyone who reads the Quran will tell you in all respect that this is not the work of an illiterate man (unable to read or write), a man who was not schooled in either philosophy, biology, comparative-relgion, astronomy, theology, Arabic literature or any other science and unable to present such perfection in literary Arabic that had never been
seen before! The Quran is not the words of a man, but it is indeed the words of God!
Upon the fulfillment of the revealing of the Quran, the Angel Gabriel went over the full recitation of the Quran with the Prophet to confirm that it was in the correct form and order. The Quran was complete, ordered and present in its full form at the time of the Prophet, but it was not collected into a single book, and the task of collecting it into a single book was done during the reign of the third khalif, Uthman bin Affan. The Quran still continues to be in its original Arabic form from when the Prophet left it, and there have been no changes at all. Any claim of change of the Quran is erroneous and based on lack of understanding.
Finale
I end this article with a point of significant importance in this modern age of misinformation. There is a disease in modern culture that is known by many names but the best known is 'stupidity' and this has caused disinformation about the content of the Quran, from people saying that something morally wrong can be
found in the Quran, to people saying the Quran promotes evil conducts and activities like terrorism. This, of course, is a blatant attempt or plain foolish repetition to spread a lie about the Quran and to blight Islam and the Muslims.
So please do not believe everybody, even Muslims, when they say something is in the Quran because more often than not, they are incorrect and are interpreting something the way they want to and this is very wrong as some people use misinterpretations as a green light for misconduct and criminal acts. If you wish to know if something is actually in the Quran then read the book yourself along with a reputable commentary.
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