Also displayed as Qur'an or Koran, the Quran is the primary religious text of Muslims, who revere it as the last message revealed by God to humankind, completing a chain of Revelations that goes back to the first Prophets, and includes the Jewish Torah, and the Christian gospels.
Muslims view the Quran as the word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in Arabic, who is believed to be the last Prophet. The revelation was given to Muhammad over a period of twenty-three years, from 610 to 632 CE.
The Quran includes moral principles and values, rituals, stories of earlier prophecies, and the historical circumstances that the first Companions of the Prophet encountered in Mecca and Medina.
As the Quran was revealed to the Prophet in sequences over a period of several years, interpretation requires an understanding of the chronological order and historical events surrounding each section. Many verses can be understood only when the circumstances of their Revelation are known. The task of interpreting the Quran gave rise to a discipline known as the sciences of the Quran, which describes the morphology, semantics, chronology, and the relationships between the text to the historical circumstances of the revelation.
Like the Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible, the Quran can be understood at more than one level. At a spiritual level, any Muslim can appreciate the moral teachings and the accounts of past Prophets. However, when it comes to rules, rituals, obligations, and prohibitions, matters can become more complicated.
By tradition, Muhammad received the Revelations from God through the Archangel Gabriel and committed them to memory. The Archangel also instructed him as to the arrangement of the chapters and verses. The text of the Quran is not arranged in chronological order, and the historical context is not immediately obvious to the average Muslim. Over time, specialized scholars and jurists have developed methods of interpretation, categorization, and Quranic commentary.
The Quran is the primary scriptural source for all Muslims, and the text to which all Islamic denominations and sects refer to is identical to that which was compiled by and distributed by the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, less than twenty years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad.
From the start, the Quran had been memorized, made possible through the oral tradition of the Arab people of that time. Many of the Prophet's companions memorized the text and, even today, thousands of Muslim men and women are able to recite it from memory. Those who have memorized the entire Quran are called a hafiz.
Websites offering the text of the Quran, or translations of the text are featured in this category, along with those offering interpretation or other helpful resources related to the Quran.
Recommended Resources
The Quran is the Word of God, as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, for the benefit of human beings, offering guidance, mercy, and healing. Clear Quran is an English-language translation from the original Arabic that has no interpretations, no explanations, and no footnotes. The entire text of the translation is available here, viewed online or downloaded in a variety of formats, including audio. Biographical information of the translator is included.
https://www.clearquran.com/
Transmitted from Allah to the angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an Is the last Message that Allah has sent to mankind, superseding its predecessors, the Torah, Psalms, and Gospels. The language of the original message was in Arabic, but the Qur'an has been translated into several languages. Online tutoring in the Quran is available for all age groups throughout the world, requiring a computer and Internet access. Its classes are highlighted, along with registration instructions.
http://www.quranexplorer.com/
The online learning Quran school is registered in Maryland and has, as its objective, to provide a Quran learning facility to Muslims who cannot find a reliable Quran teacher in their area. Offering a Quran reading course, translation course, recitation course, and memorization course, its programs and fees are published to the site, along with schedules, downloads, a blog, and information about the Holy month of Ramadan.
http://www.qurantutor.com/
Begun in 2007, the Tanzil Project was established to provide a highly-verified Unicode Quran text that can be used in Quranic websites and other digital applications. The text of the Quran is presented in the original Arabic; however, by placing the cursor over predetermined passages of the text, it is translated into several other languages, including English. Included is an overview of the project and its goals, a statement to its authenticity, and a list of sites and applications using it.
http://tanzil.net/
The Quran: Online Translation and Commentary
The Online Quran Project is an endeavor of two former computer science students at the University of Copenhagen in 2007, allowing visitors to the site to explore, browse, and research the Quran and a number of its translations online. Audio versions are included. The text of the Quran is presented by chapter number, chapter name, order, place of revelation, and verse. An overview of the project is included.
http://al-quran.info/
