EXCELLENCE OF HOLY QURAN

The Qur’aan is the Book of Allah subhaanahu wa ta‘aalaa. Every

word in the Qur’aan has come from Allah. That is why we say that it
is a Holy Book. The words in the Qur’aan were sent by Allah to
Prophet Muhammad sallal-laahu ‘alayhi wa-aalihi wa sallam. The
Prophet (s) received the words of Allah through angel Jibra’eel. This
Qur’aan is a Holy Book that was not written by anyone but sent by
Allah to Prophet Muhammad (SWS) through Jibra’eel.

1. It is the most truthful speech : Prophet Muhammad (s)

regularly read the words of Allah to Muslims around him.
These Muslims were very pleased and excited to receive the
words of Allah. Prophet Muhammad (s) said: The most truthful
speech, the most eloquent advice, and the greatest stories are in
the Book of Allah. The Muslims listened carefully to what the
Prophet read, memorized the sentences and passages of the
Qur’aan, recited them regularly and followed the teachings of
the Qur’aan. In order to preserve the words of Allah the
Prophet appointed special people known as “Scribes of the
Qur’aan” to write down the words of Allah.

2. It is in original language : Prophet Muhammad (s) was an Arab

and the majority of people in Mecca and Medina spoke Arabic.
Therefore the Qur’aan was sent in Arabic. Arabic is written
from right to left. It is better to learn to read the Qur’aan in its
original language. Therefore, we will put efforts to learn
Qur’aan written in Arabic instead of simply reading its
translation in other languages.
3. The Holy Qur’aan contains Allah’s message to all people . It tells
people how to act correctly. It guides us to a correct way of life
in this world. The Book of Allah also talks about life after death.
It tells us that Allah has prepared Paradise for good people and
Hell for bad people. The Qur’aan encourages the worship of
only one God Who creates and provides for them. The Book
forbids people from evil and condemns those who do wrong. It
contains stories of the past Prophets and the examples of bad
and good people. People are advised in the Qur’aan to be good
to others and respect them. It teaches people to live in peace
and harmony.

4. Qur’aan brings happiness in this world and the Hereafter .

Following the Qur’aan brings happiness in this world and the
world after death. The Prophet (s) said: If you desire the life of
the fortunate, the death of a martyr, the salvation on the Day of
Regret and the shade on the Day of Extreme Heat, then you
should study the Qur’aan because it is the word of the Merciful, a
sanctuary from Shaytaan and a causes the tilting of the Balance.
In another Hadith we read that the Prophet (s) has said: The
recitor of the Qur’an will be spared from the calamities of the
Hereafter.

5. It is the only Divine book that has remained unchanged . Allah

sent the Qur’aan to His Prophet. A book sent by Allah to people
is known as a Divine Book or a Heavenly Book. Other Divine
Books were also sent to previous prophets. These are: Suhoof
to Prophet Ibraheem ‘alayhis salaam; Zaboor to Prophet
Dawood ‘alayhis salaam; Tawraah to Prophet Moosaa ‘alayhis
salaam; and Injeel to Prophet ‘Eisaa ‘alayhis salaam.
The difference between the Qur’aan and past revealed books is
that the Qur’aan is the only Divine Book that has remained
unaltered. The Qur’aan we have with us contains exactly the
 same message that was sent to Prophet Muhammad by Allah
through Jibra’eel.

6. Our supplications get answered if we were to pray after

reading the Holy Qur’aan. The Prophet (s) said: One who starts
the Qur’an and finishes it, Allah will grant him one answered
supplication. It also helps in strengthening our faith. Imam Ali
(a) said:  Reciting the Qur’an plants the seed of faith.

7. The Qur’aan is the best companion. It can be of great help

when a child or adult is feeling lonely. Imam Ali Zaynul
‘Aabideen (a) said: If all who live between the East and West
perish, I will have no fear as long as I have the Qur’an with me.

8. Students get wise when they start reading the Qur’aan in their
childhood. Prophet Muhammad (s) said: Whoever reads the
Qur’an before becoming Baaligh, has indeed been given wisdom
as a child. The Holy Book is the best intellectual treasure a
student can have. Prophet Muhammad (s) said: The Qur’an is a
wealth with which there is no poverty, and without which there
is no wealth. On the other hand not caring to read and study the
Qur’aan is a great loss. Prophet Muhammad (s) said: Surely the
person in whose heart lacks the trace of the Qur’an is like a
ruined house.

9. Muslims read the Qur’aan to understand the true teachings of

Islam. Prophet Muhammad (s) left the Holy Book and the Ahlul
Bayt (a) as the most important legacy for Muslims after him. He
said: I leave tow weighty things among you: The Book of Allah
and my family – the Ahlul Bayt. Indeed these two will never
separate until they reach me near the pool of Kawthar.
 10. All Muslims recite some Soorahs in their prayers .
However, it is good to memorize more Soorahs and read them
in Salaat. Imam Muhammad Al-Baaqir (a) said: Whoever recites
the Qur’aan while standing in his prayer, Allah will bestow on
him a hundred blessings for every letter; and whoever recites it
while sitting in his prayer, Allah will reward him fifty blessings
for every letter; and whoever recites it outside of his prayer,
Allah will grant him ten blessings for every letter.

11. The Qur’aan is a cure to mental and spiritual diseases :

Imam Hasan al-‘Askaree (a) said: The Messenger of Allah (s)
said: I advice you to the Qur’aan since it is the beneficial cure,
the blessed medicine, the protection (‘Isma) for he who holds fast
to it, and the salvation for he who follows it. Neither does it
cause crookedness so that it departs (from the truth) nor does it
deviate so that it causes trouble. Its marvels do not come to end
and the vastness of refutations does not wear it.

The Holy Quran:

The Qur’an is the religious text of Islam, also sometimes

transliterated as Quran, Kuran, Koran, Qur’ā n, Coran or al-Qur’ā n. It
is widely regarded as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic
language. Muslims hold that the Qur’an is the verbal divine guidance
and moral direction for mankind. Muslims also consider the original
Arabic verbal text to be the final revelation of God--the Final
Testament.

The Qur’an was repeatedly revealed from Allah to Muhammad

verbally through the angel Jibrīl (Gabriel) over a period of
approximately twenty-three years, beginning in 610 CE, when he
was forty, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death. Followers
of Islam further believe that the Qur’an was memorized, recited and
written down by Muhammad's companions after every revelation
dictated by Hazrat Muhammad (SAW). Most of Muhammad's tens of
thousands of companions, called Sahabas, learned the Qur’an by
heart, repeatedly recited in front of Muhammad for his approval or
the approval of other Sahabas. Muslim tradition agrees that
although the Qur’an was authentically memorized completely by
tens of thousands verbally, the Qur’an was still established textually
into a single book form shortly after Muhammad's death by order of
the first Caliph Abu Bakr suggested by his future successor Umar.
Hafsa, Muhammad's widow and Umar's daughter, was entrusted
with that Quran text after the second Caliph Umar died. When
Uthman, the third Caliph, started noticing slight differences in the
Arabic dialect; he requested Hafsa to allow him to use the Qur’an
text in her possession to be set as the standard dialect, the Quraish
dialect aka Fus'ha (Modern Standard Arabic). Before returning that
Qur'an text to Hafsa; Uthman immediately made several thousands
of copies of Abu Bakar's Qur’anic compilation and ordered all other
texts to be burned. This process of formalization of the orally
transmitted text to Abu Bakar's Qur'anic text is known as the
"Uthmanic recension".[12] The present form of the Qur’an text is
accepted by most scholars as the original version compiled by Abu
Bakr.

Etymology and meaning

The word qur`ān appears about 70 times in the Qur’an itself,

assuming various meanings. It is a verbal noun (maṣdar) of the
Arabic verb qara`a (Arabic: ‫)قرأ‬, meaning “he read” or “he recited.”
The Syriac equivalent is qeryānā, which refers to “scripture reading”
or “lesson”. While most Western scholars consider the word to be
derived from the Syriac, the majority of Muslim authorities hold the
origin of the word is qara`a itself. In any case, it had become an
Arabic term by Muhammad's lifetime. An important meaning of the
word is the “act of reciting”, as reflected in an early Qur’anic
passage: “It is for Us to collect it and to recite it (qur`ānahu)”.

In other verses, the word refers to “an individual passage recited [by
Hazrat Muhammad (SAW)]”. In the large majority of contexts,
usually with a definite article (al-), the word is referred to as the
“revelation” (wahy), that which has been “sent down” (tanzīl) at
intervals. Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for
example: "So when al-qur`ā n is recited, listen to it and keep
silent".The word may also assume the meaning of a codified
scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah
and Gospel.

The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed
throughout the Qur’an. Each synonym possesses its own distinct
meaning, but its use may converge with that of qur`ān in certain
contexts. Such terms include kitāb (“book”); āyah (“sign”); and sūrah
(“scripture”). The latter two terms also denote units of revelation.
Other related words are: dhikr, meaning "remembrance," used to
refer to the Qur’an in the sense of a reminder and warning; and
hikma, meaning “wisdom”, sometimes referring to the revelation or
part of it.

The Qur’an has many other names. Among those found in the text
itself are al-furqan (“discernment” or “criterion”), al-huda (“"the
guide”), dhikrallah (“the remembrance of God”), al-hikmah (“the
wisdom”), and kalamallah (“the word of God”). Another term is al-
kitāb (“the book”), though it is also used in the Arabic language for
other scriptures, such as the Torah and the Gospels. The term
mus'haf ("written work") is often used to refer to particular Qur'anic
manuscripts but is also used in the Qur’an to identify earlier
revealed books.
Significance in Islam

The Qur’an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for

humanity and consider the text in its original Arabic to be the literal
word of God, revealed to Hazrat Muhammad(SAW) through the
angel Gabriel over a period of twenty-three years and view the
Qur’an as God's final revelation to humanity.

The process by which the divine message comes to the heart of a

messenger of God is tanzil (to send down) or nuzul (to come down).
As the Qur'an says, "With the truth we (God) have sent it down and
with the truth it has come down." It designates positive religion, the
letter of the revelation dictated by the angel to the prophet. It means
to cause this revelation to descend from the higher world. According
to hadith, the verses were sent down in special circumstances
known as asbab al-nuzul. However, in this view God himself is never
the subject of coming down.

The Qur'an frequently asserts in its text that it is divinely ordained,

an assertion. The Qur'an — often referring to its own textual nature
and reflecting constantly on its divine origin — is the most meta-
textual, self-referential religious text. The Qur'an refers to a written
pre-text that records God's speech even before it was sent down.

The present wording of the Qur'anic text corresponds exactly to that

revealed to Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) himself: as the words of God,
said to be delivered to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.
Muslims consider the Qur'an to be a guide, a sign of the
prophethood of Muhammad and the truth of the religion. They argue
it is not possible for a human to produce a book like the Qur'an, as
the Qur'an itself maintains.

Therefore an Islamic philosopher introduces a prophetology to

explain how the divine word passes into human expression. This
leads to a kind of esoteric hermeneutics that seeks to comprehend
the position of the prophet by mediating on the modality of his
relationship not with his own time, but with the eternal source his
message emanates from. This view contrasts with historical critique
of western scholars who attempt to understand the prophet through
his circumstances, education and type of genius.

Text

The text of the Qur’an consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths,

each known as a sura. Chapters are classed as Meccan or Medinan,
depending on when (before or after Hijra) the verses were revealed.
Chapter titles are derived from a name or quality discussed in the
text, or from the first letters or words of the sura. Muslims believe
that Muhammad, on God's command, gave the chapters their names.
[5]
Generally, longer chapters appear earlier in the Qur’an, while the
shorter ones appear later. The chapter arrangement is thus not
connected to the sequence of revelation. Each sura except the ninth
starts with the Basmala, an Arabic phrase meaning (“In the name of
God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful”). There are, however, still 114
occurrences of the basmala in the Qur’an, due to its presence in
verse 27:30 as the opening of Solomon's letter to the Queen of
Sheba.

Each sura is formed from several ayat (verses), which originally

means a sign or portent sent by God. The number of verses differ
from chapter to chapter. An individual verse may be just a few
letters or several lines. The actual number of ayat has been a
controversial issue among Muslim scholars since Islam's inception,
some recognizing 6,000, some 6,204, some 6,219, and some 6,236,
although the words in all cases are the same. The most popular
edition of the Qur’an, which is based on the Kufa school tradition,
contains 6,236 ayat.

There is a crosscutting division into 30 parts of roughly equal

division, ajza, each containing two units called ahzab, each of which
is divided into four parts (rub 'al-ahzab). The Qur’an is also divided
into seven approximately equal parts, manazil, for it to be recited in
a week.

The Qur’anic text seems to have no beginning, middle, or end, its

nonlinear structure being akin to a web or net. [5] The textual
arrangement is sometimes considered to have lack of continuity,
absence of any chronological or thematic order, and presence of
repetition.

Fourteen different Arabic letters form 14 different sets of “Qur’anic

Initials” (the "Muqatta'at", such as A.L.M. of 2:1) and prefix 29 suras
in the Qur’an. The meaning and interpretation of these initials is
considered unknown to most Muslims. In 1974, Egyptian biochemist
Rashad Khalifa claimed to have discovered a mathematical code
based on the number 19, which is mentioned in Sura 74:30of the
Qur’an.

Translations
Translation of the Qur’an has always been a problematic and
difficult issue. Many argue that the Qur’anic text cannot be
reproduced in another language or form. [85] Furthermore, an Arabic
word may have a range of meanings depending on the context,
making an accurate translation even more difficult.

The first complete translation of the Qur'an was completed in 884

CE in Alwar (Sindh, India now Pakistan) by the orders of Abdullah
bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz on the request of the Hindu Raja Mehruk.

Nevertheless, the Qur’an has been translated into most African,

Asian and European languages. The first translator of the Qur’an
was Salman the Persian, who translated Fatiha into Persian during
the 7th century. The first complete translation of Qur'an was into
Persian during the reign of Samanids in the 9th century. Islamic
tradition holds that translations were made for Emperor Negus of
Abyssinia and Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, as both received letters
by Muhammad containing verses from the Qur’an. In early centuries,
the permissibility of translations was not an issue, but whether one
could use translations in prayer.

In 1936, translations in 102 languages were known. In 2010, the

Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review reported that the Qur'an
was presented in 112 languages at the 18th International Quran
Exhibition in Tehran.[89]

Robert of Ketton's translation of the Qur'an, Lex Mahumet

pseudoprophete, was the first into a Western language (Latin) for
Peter the Venerable in 1143. Alexander Ross offered the first English
version in 1649, from the French translation of L'Alcoran de
Mahomet (1647) by Andre du Ryer. 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 translations by Muslims.

The English translators have sometimes favored archaic English

words and constructions over their more modern or conventional
equivalents; 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".

Recitation

One meaning of Qur’an is "recitation", the Qur’an itself outlining the

general method of how it is to be recited: slowly and in rhythmic
tones. Tajwid is the term for techniques of recitation, and assessed
in terms of how accessible the recitation is to those intent on
concentrating on the words.[92]

To perform salat (prayer), a mandatory obligation in Islam, a

Muslim is required to learn at least some sura of the Qur’an
(typically starting with the first one, 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 God" during the salat.

A person whose recital repertoire encompasses the whole Qur’an is

called a qari', whereas a memoriser of the Qur’an is called a hafiz
(fem. Hafaz) (which translate as "reciter" or "protector,"
respectively). Muhammad is regarded as the first qari' since he was
the first to recite it. Recitation (tilawa ) of the Qur’an is a fine art in
the Muslim world.

Schools of recitation

There are several schools of Qur’anic recitation, all of which teach

possible pronunciations of the Uthmanic rasm: Seven reliable, three
permissible and (at least) four uncanonical – in 8 sub-traditions
each – making for 80 recitation variants altogether.

These recitations differ in the vocalization (tashkil) of a few words,

which in turn gives a complementary meaning to the word in
question according to the rules of Arabic grammar. For example, the
vocalization of a verb can change its active and passive voice. It can
also change its stem formation, implying intensity for example.
Vowels may be elongated or shortened, and glottal stops (hamzas)
may be added or dropped, according to the respective rules of the
particular recitation. For example, the name of archangel Gabriel is
pronounced differently in different recitations: Jibrīl, Jabrīl, Jibra'īl,
and Jibra'il.

The more widely used narrations are those of Hafss, Warsh, Qaloon
and Al-Duri according to Abu `Amr Muslims firmly believe that all
canonical recitations were recited by Muhammad himself, citing the
respective isnad chain of narration, and accept them as valid for
worshipping and as a reference for rules of Sharia. The uncanonical
recitations are called "explanatory" for their role in giving a
different perspective for a given verse or ayah. Today several dozen
persons hold the title "Memorizer of the Ten Recitations."

The presence of these different recitations is attributed to many

hadith. Malik Ibn Anas has reported:

Abd al-Rahman Ibn Abd al-Qari narrated: "Umar Ibn Khattab

said before me: I heard Hisham Ibn Hakim Ibn Hizam reading
Surah Furqan in a different way from the one I used to read it,
and the Prophet (sws) himself had read out this surah to me.
Consequently, as soon as I heard him, I wanted to get hold of
him. However, I gave him respite until he had finished the
prayer. Then I got hold of his cloak and dragged him to the
Prophet (sws). I said to him: "I have heard this person [Hisham
Ibn Hakim Ibn Hizam] reading Surah Furqan in a different way
from the one you had read it out to me." The Prophet (sws)
said: "Leave him alone [O 'Umar]." Then he said to Hisham:
"Read [it]." [Umar said:] "He read it out in the same way as he
had done before me." [At this,] the Prophet (sws) said: "It was
revealed thus." Then the Prophet (sws) asked me to read it out.
So I read it out. [At this], he said: "It was revealed thus; this
Qur’an has been revealed in Seven Ahruf. You can read it in any
of them you find easy from among them.
Suyuti, a famous 15th century Islamic theologian, writes after
interpreting above hadith in 40 different ways:

"And to me the best opinion in this regard is that of the people

who say that this hadith is from among matters of
mutashabihat, the meaning of which cannot be understood."

Many reports contradict the presence of variant readings:

 Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami reports, "the reading of Abu

Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Zayd ibn Thabit and that of all the
Muhajirun and the Ansar was the same. They read the Qur’an
according to the Qira'at al-'ammah. This is the same reading
the Prophet (sws) read twice to Gabriel in the year of his death.
Zayd ibn Thabit was also present in this reading [called] the
'Ardah-i akhirah. It was this very reading that he taught the
Qur’an to people till his death".[97]
 Ibn Sirin writes, "the reading on which the Qur’an was read out
to the prophet in the year of his death is the same according to
which people are reading the Qur’an today".[

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi also purports that there is only one recitation
of Qur’an, which is called Qira'at of Hafss or in classical scholarship,
it is called Qira'at al-'ammah. The Qur'an has also specified that it
was revealed in the language of Muhammad's tribe: the Quraysh.
[Qur'an 19:97][Qur'an 

However, the identification of the recitation of Hafss as the Qira'at

al-'ammah is somewhat problematic when that was the recitation of
the people of Kufa in Iraq, and there is better reason to identify the
recitation of the reciters of Madinah as the dominant recitation. The
reciter of Madinah was Nafi' and Imam Malik remarked "The
recitation of Nafi' is Sunnah."
AZ [however] says that the people of El-Hijaz and Hudhayl, and the
people of Makkah and Al-Madinah, to not pronounce hamzah [at all]:
and 'Isa Ibn-'Omar says, Tamim pronounce hamzah, and the people
of Al-Hijaz, in cases of necessity, [in poetry,] do so.

Writing and printing

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. Most are of a

reasonable book size, but there exist extremely large Qur’ans
(usually for display purposes) and very small Qur’ans (sometimes
given as gifts).

Before printing was widely adopted in the 19th century, the Qur’an
was transmitted in manuscript books made by copyists and
calligraphers. Short extracts from the Qur’an were printed in the
medieval period from carved wooden blocks, one block per page; a
technique already widely used in China. However there are no
records of complete Qur'ans produced in this way, which would
have involved a very large investment. Mass-produced less
expensive versions of the Qur’an were produced from the 19th
century by lithography, which allowed reproduction of the fine
calligraphy of hand-made versions.

The oldest surviving Qur’an printed with movable type was

produced in Venice in 1537/1538. It seems to have been prepared
for sale in the Ottoman empire, where all movable type printing
using Arabic characters had been forbidden in 1485. This decree
was reversed in 1588, but there remained strong resistance to
adopting movable type printing for any subjects, let alone the
Qur'an, until the late 19th century. This seems to have been partly
from opposition by the large profession of copyists, and for aesthetic
reasons, and fear of mistakes in the text. [102] 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.

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 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.