114 Surahs

Surah 1

Surah 2

Surah 3

Surah 4

Surah 5

Surah 6

Surah 7

Surah 8

Surah 9

Surah 10

Surah 11

Surah 12

Surah 13

Surah 14

Surah 15

Surah 16

Surah 17

Surah 18

Surah 19

Surah 20

Surah 21

Surah 22

Surah 23

Surah 24

Surah 25

Surah 26

Surah 27

Surah 28

Surah 29

Surah 30

Surah 31

Surah 32

Surah 33

Surah 34

Surah 35

Surah 36

Surah 37

Surah 38

Surah 39

Surah 40

Surah 41

Surah 42

Surah 43

Surah 44

Surah 45

Surah 46

Surah 47

Surah 48

Surah 49

Surah 50

Surah 51

Surah 52

Surah 53

Surah 54

Surah 55

Surah 56

Surah 57

Surah 58

Surah 59

Surah 60

Surah 61

Surah 62

Surah 63

Surah 64

Surah 65

Surah 66

Surah 67

Surah 68

Surah 69

Surah 70

Surah 71

Surah 72

Surah 73

Surah 74

Surah 75

Surah 76

Surah 77

Surah 78

Surah 79

Surah 80

Surah 81

Surah 82

Surah 83

Surah 84

Surah 85

Surah 86

Surah 87

Surah 88

Surah 89

Surah 90

Surah 91

Surah 92

Surah 93

Surah 94

Surah 95

Surah 96

Surah 97

Surah 98

Surah 99

Surah 100

Surah 101

Surah 102

Surah 103

Surah 104

Surah 105

Surah 106

Surah 107

Surah 108

Surah 109

Surah 110

Surah 111

Surah 112

Surah 113

Surah 114

Study Notes

The background

Introduction

The Qur'an or Quran/Koran literally means, "a recitation." The Qur'an is the main religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the very words of God. (Arabic: الله‎, Allah) and the Final Testament, following the Old and New Testaments. It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literaturein the Arabic language. The Quran is divided into 114 surahs of unequal length which are classified either as Meccan or Medinan depending upon their place and time of revelation.

Muslims believe the Quran to be verbally revealed through angel Jibrīl (Gabriel) from God to Muhammad gradually over a period of approximately twenty-three years beginning in 610 CE, when Muhammad was forty, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death. Muslims further believe that the Qur'an was precisely memorized, recited and exactly written down by Muhammad's companions (Sahaba) after each revelation was dictated by him.

Shortly after Muhammad's death the Quran was compiled into a single book by order of the first Caliph Abu Bakr and at the suggestion of his future successor Umar. Hafsa, Muhammad's widow and Umar's daughter, was entrusted with that Quranic text after the second Caliph Umar died.[citation needed] When the third Caliph Uthman began noticing slight differences in Arabic dialect he sought Hafsa's permission to use her text to be set as the standard dialect, the Quraish dialect now known as Fus'ha (Modern Standard Arabic). Before returning the text to Hafsa Uthman made several thousand copies of Abu Bakr's redaction and, to standardize the text, invalidated all other versions of the Quran. This process of formalization is known as the "Uthmanic recension". The present form of the Quran text is accepted by most scholars as the original version compiled by Abu Bakr.

Muslims regard the Quran as the main miracle of Muhammad, the proof of his prophethood and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam, regarded in Islam as the first prophet, and continued with the Suhuf Ibrahim (Scrolls of Abraham), the Tawrat (Torah or Pentateuch) of Moses, the Zabur (Tehillim or Book of Psalms) of David, and the Injil (Gospel) of Jesus. The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in Jewish and Christian scriptures, summarizing some, dwelling at length on others and in some cases presenting alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance, sometimes offering detailed accounts of specific historical events, and often emphasizing the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran