Introduction
sacred text of Islam. The name, in Arabic, means 'read' or 'recited'. This word may be an Arabized form of Syrian origin and applies to the book that contains, for Muslims, a series of revelations from Allah (God) to Muhammad. These revelations began in the first decades of the 7th century, when Muhammad was already 40 years old, and took place in Mecca (Makka), the Prophet's hometown, and Medina (al-Madinah).
The composition of the Quran
The revelations were made in Arabic and, according to Muslim beliefs, through the Archangel Gabriel (Yibrail). When Muhammad proclaimed them, listeners memorized and sometimes wrote them on palm leaves, bone fragments, or animal skins. After Muhammad's death in 632 AD, his followers began to collect them, and during the caliphate of Umar in 650, they were compiled into the Qur'an as we know it today. Arabic writing only displays consonants and not vowels. Legend has it that vowels were introduced into the text later.
Form and Content
The Qur'an is divided into 114 chapters (suras), with random titles that are generally not associated with the text. The chapters are divided into verses (ayat), work after the division into chapters and which, depending on the edition, is not always the same. The Quran is similar in word count to the New Testament of the Christian Bible.
The Arabic in which the Qur'an is written is distinguished from any Arabic idiom variant. It is a mixture of prose and poetry without meter, widespread among the Bedouins, to convey an essentially oral literature. In this language, the Quran was recited and its reduction to the written word - whose grammatical rules began to be fixed, in the eighth century, by philologists - generated classical literary Arabic, which became the official language, although numerous dialects are spoken in the Islamic world. The style of the Qur'an is allusive and elliptical, with difficult grammar and vocabulary. Like other scriptures, it is subject to different interpretations.
In content, the Qur'an consists of a set of ethical and moral precepts and recommendations, warnings about the coming of the Last Day and Last Judgment, stories about prophets before Mohammed and the peoples to whom they were sent, precepts about religion, social life, marriage, divorce or inheritance. The message, in essence, is that there is only one God, creator of all things, who must be served, practicing worship and observing correct conduct. God is always merciful and has addressed humanity so that it may venerate Him in the people of the different prophets sent by Him.
Importance and interpretation
Islamists believe that the Quran is The Word of God. For this reason, it is the center of religious life, being comparable to the Jewish Torah or the Christian New Testament. Mandatory daily prayer includes the recitation of verses and chapters. The education of young Muslims includes their memory learning. For the followers of Islam, the Quran is the main source of the Law of Islam, along with the sunna (behavior and practices of the Prophet).
The interpretation of the Qur'an (tafsir) is a field of investigation that dates back to the time of the codification of the text to the present day. Numerous books have been written on the subject. There are commentaries attributed to scholars from the first three centuries of Islam, but the most important recent work by tafsir belongs to al-Tabari, who died in the year 923. Al-Tabari's work analyzes each verse of the Quran and offers diverse opinions from scholars of the time. in relation to vocalization, grammar, lexicography, ethical and moral interpretation and the text's relationship with the life of Muhammad.
The tafsir tradition often reflects the divergences and trends of Islam. The Shia interpretation of some verses differs radically from the Sunni interpretation. In recent times, both reformist and fundamentalist modernists have interpreted the text in such a way that it fits their respective points of view. Some claim that the Qur'an not only agrees with many ideas of modern science, but also predicted them. It is often the very dubious nature of the Quranic text that favors such divergent interpretations.
Translations
Another cause for controversy has been whether the Quran should be translated from the original Arabic into other languages. If so, under what circumstances can this translation be carried out. Despite this discussion, the Quran has been translated by Muslims and non-Muslims alike into a wide variety of languages. The first translation into a European language was the Latin version, carried out in 1143, by the English scholar Robert of Ketton, at the behest of Peter the Venerable. As far as is known, the first versions in vulgar language were in Catalan, at the behest of Pedro IV, and another trilingual one - Latin, Castilian and Arabic -, by Juan de Segovia (1400-1458), now lost.
Arab Civilization