What is the Quran?

The Quran is the sacred text of Islam. For Muslims, it is the sacred text of Islam. He verbatim resumes the word of Allah. It is to date the first and oldest authentic literary document known in Arabic; Muslim tradition presents it as the first work in Arabic, with the specific character of inimitability in beauty and ideas.

The Quran is divided into chapters, called “surah”, 114 in number, the first of which is called Al Fatiha (sometimes translated as “the preliminaries”, “the prologue”, “the opening”, or even “the mother of the delivered “). These suras are themselves composed of verses named āyāt (the plural from the Arabic āyah, which means “proof”, but also “sign”). There are 6,236 verses for HAFS (eastern reading) and WARCH (western reading).

Before and After hijra

The Muslim tradition separates the Quran into two parts; by trying to distinguish them by differences in style (vocabulary, length of verses and suras) and themes addressed: the suras of Mecca, before the hijra; and the suras of Medina, after the hijra. This division can also be internal to the Surahs since some so-called Medinese contains Meccan verses.

This division is less geographic than temporal. It is significant that the Surahs in Medina which correspond to the Year I of Islam came in the same period when Muhammad became a political leader. Thus, Islam is indeed a politico-religious doctrine whose mission, assigned by the Koran, is the political and social organization of Muslims. The Meccan period before the hijra must nevertheless be considered as the beginning of the prophecy.

Who wrote the Quran? When was the Quran written?

The revelation begins in the cave of Hira, where Muhammad used to withdraw and communicate with Allah. The archangel Jibril appears, and communicates to him the first verses of the Koran: “Read! (or recite!) In the name of your God who created ”(Quran, Sura 96: Adherence (Al-Alaq)). The word rendered by reading is IQRA ‘, derived from the word Qara’a which means “to collect the scattered”. The Archangel Gabriel and Muhammad during Ramadan had done an annual revision of the Quran. The last one, a double revision, is the one that took place in the year of his death.

Under the Caliphate of Abu Bakr

Caliph Abū Bakr (r. 632-634) is the first compiler of the Koran. This one, advised by ‘Umar who frightens death (during the battle of’ al-‘Aqrabā in 633), of people knowing by heart the whole text, charges Zayd ibn Thâbit, who had been the scribe of Muhammad to prepare a copy of the Quranic text on sheets (Suhuf). Companions were able to memorize the whole Quran during the time of the Prophet. The text was then written on sheets (SAHIFA). Once completed and verified by the companions of Muhammad, Abu Bakr got hold of these sheets. After his death, the second caliph, `Omar ibn al-Khattab (634–644) received them. These would have been transmitted at his death to his daughter Ḥafṣa, one of the widows of Muhammad.

Under the Caliphate of Othmân

A companion, Hudhayfah, notices, under the caliphate of Othmân ibn Affân, the third caliph who reigns between 644 and 656, different pronunciations of certain words of the Koran according to the origin of the reciters. The caliph, perceiving the risks of division, would then have decided to bring together all the suras in a work (MUSHAF). To do this, he asks Hafsa to send him his sheets of the Koran which she has kept since the death of Abu Bakr and then has several copies prepared. Zayd ibn Thabit, `Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr, Sa`id ibn al-As, and Abdur Rahman ibn Harith ibn Hisham are to accomplish this task. `Ali ibn Abi Talib who holds a manuscript compiled by himself after the death of Muhammad whose order of the suras is not the same (this one follows the chronological order) does not object to the MUSHAF established by the commission of Othmân.

What does the Quran say about Jesus (Issâ)?

Îssa is a term that appears as an Arabic transcription of the name of Jesus in the Quran. We must, therefore, distinguish the Quranic Jesus from the Evangelical Jesus because the two religious books give two different interpretations.

How the Quran presents’ Îssa is in strong opposition to the creed developed by the Christian Churches since the first council of Nicea and the Christian trinitarian currents resulting from the seven Ecumenical Councils. Thus, according to the Quran, ‘Isa, although having eminent titles like that of “Word of God”, is neither God nor son of God. He is the penultimate prophet of God.

Îssa’s prophecy, according to the Quran

In the Qur’an, Mary receives a visit from “the Spirit of God” while she is in the Temple. According to most Muslim commentators, it would be the Archangel Gabriel. Because of Mary’s wish for virginity, he announced miraculous motherhood to her.

In the Quran, Îssa, the Messiah, son of Maryam, is a prophet, announcer of Muhammad. He preaches pure monotheism, works miracles, works cures, and knows the secrets of the heart. Îssa confirms the Torah, which he mitigates the legal prescriptions. At the same time, he receives from God the Injil (the Gospel). The Quran talks of it as a “guidance and a light” that Christians would have neglected.

Crucifixion and heritage

Jesus of Nazareth was not crucified by the Jews, although some claimed him provocatively. For them, the Koran explicitly questions the crucifixion of Îssa by the Jews: “Now, they neither killed nor crucified him, but it was only a pretense! And those who have discussed his subject are really in a state of uncertainty: they have no certain knowledge of it, they only follow conjectures and they certainly did not kill him ”(Surat An-Nisa).

The representation of Îssa in the Koran also gives it an eschatological dimension. His return to earth, as a Muslim Masih (Messiah), is the sign of the end of the world and the Last Judgment. At the same time, many hadiths present him as the main companion of the Mahdi, Savior of the end times.