Islam's Original Texts 1: The Qur'an — Revelation, Compilation, Structure

Thank you for visiting. This article is the first installment in a series explaining the original texts of Islam.

This time, I take up Islam’s fundamental scripture, the “Qur’an,” itself. How it was sent down, how it was gathered into a single book, and what structure it has — we look carefully at its making as a scripture.

For an overview map of Islam’s original texts as a whole, please see this summary article.

The Original Texts of Islam — The Qur'an and Hadith: Full Article Indexen.senkohome.com/myths-religions-origins-islam/

What Is the Qur’an — the Special Position of “the Word of God Itself”

“Qur’an” means, in Arabic, “that which is recited (what should be recited).” In English it has also been called the “Koran.”

Here we need to grasp a point decisively different from other religions’ scriptures. In Islam, the Qur’an is held to be the very “word of God” that the one God Allah sent down, through an angel, to the Prophet Muhammad.

Whereas the Bible is held to be “written by humans inspired by God (Moses, Paul, and others),” the Qur’an is believed to be derived entirely from God, down to every word, word order, and sound. Muhammad is not the “author” but merely the “transmitter” who conveyed the word of God to people as it was.

Because of this idea, the Qur’an has distinctive properties.

• A translation is not recognized as the “original text.” Versions in other languages are taken only as “explanations of the meaning,” and what is recited in prayer must be the Arabic original.
• Being the word of God itself, it is thought to be complete including its sound and rhythm, and “recitation” is extremely valued.
• It is held that not a single dot or stroke may be changed, and that it must not be altered or abridged, and the text has been kept almost identical for 1,400 years.

An Illustrated Introduction to the World’s 5 Great MythologiesView on Amazon → World Mythology for Beginners (illustrated)View on Amazon →

The Arabian Peninsula Before the Revelation — the “Age of Ignorance”

Knowing what kind of world the Arabian Peninsula was before the Qur’an was sent down makes its innovativeness clear.

The pre-Islamic age is later called the “Jahiliyya (the age of ignorance).” On the Arabian Peninsula at the time, polytheism was widespread, with many tribes worshipping their own gods and spirits. In particular, the sanctuary “Kaaba” at the center of the commercial city “Mecca” enshrined many idols and was a hub of religion and trade, visited by pilgrims from all over.

It also held social contradictions — inter-tribal strife and plunder, the skewing of wealth, the disregard of the weak (orphans, widows, slaves). On the other hand, there are also said to have been people called “hanif,” who, unsatisfied with such polytheism, sought the one God. The Qur’an’s message of faith in the one God and of equality and justice appeared against the backdrop of such an age.

The Beginning of Revelation — the Cave of Mount Hira

The protagonist of the story, “Muhammad,” was born in Mecca around 570. Orphaned young, known as a merchant of honest character, he married the older woman merchant “Khadija.” He would often seclude himself in a cave on Mount Hira outside the city, away from the noise, in meditation.

Around AD 610, when Muhammad was about 40 and meditating in the cave, the archangel “Jibril (Gabriel)” suddenly appeared and commanded:

Recite, in the name of your Lord who creates.

Not having learned to read and write, Muhammad was bewildered, “I cannot recite,” but the angel embraced him firmly and repeatedly pressed, “Recite.” This was the Qur’an’s first revelation, now contained as the opening of chapter 96, “The Clot (al-Alaq).”

Muhammad returned home in fear, and his wife Khadija supported him and became the first person to believe that he was chosen as the messenger of God. That Muhammad himself is said to have scarcely read or written is valued in Islam as “proof that this is not a human creation but the word of God.”

The 23 Years of Revelation, and from Persecution to the Hijra

After the first revelation, over the roughly 23 years until Muhammad’s death, revelation kept being sent down intermittently, from time to time. According to circumstances, various content was revealed, from the roots of faith to concrete instructions.

When Muhammad began to preach faith in the one God in Mecca, the powerful, who profited from idol worship and pilgrimage, reacted fiercely, and the believers suffered harsh persecution. So in AD 622, Muhammad migrated with the believers to the northern city “Medina.”

This migration is called the “Hijra (the emigration),” and as the decisive event in which the Muslim community (umma) was built, this year was fixed as the first year of the Islamic calendar (the Hijri calendar). To Muhammad, who became leader of the community in Medina, many practical revelations concerning running the community — prayer, fasting, war, marriage, inheritance — came to be sent down.

The Compilation of the Qur’an — Until It Became a Single Book

It may be surprising, but during Muhammad’s lifetime, the Qur’an was not yet gathered into a single book. The revelation sent down was kept in two forms.

1. Memorization by the believers (a person who completely memorized the Qur’an is called a “hafiz”).
2. Fragmentary records written on date-palm leaves, stone tablets, leather, bones, and so on.

After Muhammad’s death, many believers who had memorized the Qur’an fell one after another in battle, and a crisis of the word of God being lost arose. So under the first caliph (successor) Abu Bakr, the collection of the scattered records and memorizations began.

Further, as the Islamic community spread to various lands, differences in reading began to arise by region. The third caliph “Uthman,” troubled by this, gathered several manuscripts, collated them, established an official “canon (the Uthmanic version)” with standardized notation, and sent it to various places. This is the text of the Qur’an used by Muslims worldwide to this day. Because the tradition of memorization always supported the writing, the text is said to have been kept with astonishingly high accuracy.

The Structure of the Qur’an — the Arrangement of the 114 Chapters

The Qur’an consists of 114 chapters called “suras,” containing in all about 6,200 “ayat (verses).” Each chapter is given a name, such as “The Cow,” “Light,” or “The Pilgrimage.”

Important here is the order of the chapters. The Qur’an is arranged neither in the chronological order of revelation nor in the order of a story’s progress.

At the head is placed the short chapter 1, “The Opening,” of just 7 verses, and from there it is arranged roughly in the order from longer to shorter chapters. The longest, chapter 2 “The Cow,” has 286 verses, while the chapters at the end have just a few. At the head of each chapter (except chapter 9) is placed the phrase “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful (the basmala).” Also, for convenience of recitation, the whole is divided into 30 parts (juz), devised so that reading one juz a day during the month of Ramadan completes it in a month.

Because of this structure, the Qur’an is not, like the Bible, something where “reading from the start in order advances a story.” It is marked by every chapter weaving in the themes of faith, ethics, story, law, and the end times.

The Meccan and Medinan Revelations

Each chapter divides broadly into two by the period in which it was sent down.

The Meccan chapters tend to speak strongly of “what to believe,” and the Medinan chapters of “how to live as a community.”

Famous Chapters — Verses Representative of the Qur’an

Of the 114 chapters, let me introduce some especially beloved by Muslims and considered important.

In particular, the “Throne Verse (Ayat al-Kursi)” within chapter 2 is one of the most famous verses in the Qur’an, as a verse praising God’s omniscience, omnipotence, and dominion. And chapter 112 “Sincerity” — “Say: He is God, the One. He begets not, nor is He begotten” — is recited again and again as the most concise expression of the Islamic view of the one God (tawhid).

The Linguistic Miracle (I’jaz) — Words That Cannot Be Imitated

One basis for the Qur’an being held to be “the word of God itself” is the idea of “i’jaz (inimitability).”

The Qur’an itself contains verses that challenge those who doubt its authenticity: “Then produce even a single chapter like it.” In Islam, its incomparably beautiful and majestic Arabic style has been held to be something humans can never imitate, and itself a proof (miracle) derived from God.

Whereas other prophets showed visible miracles like “a staff becoming a snake” or “raising the dead,” Muhammad’s greatest miracle is understood to be “the Qur’an, the word itself.”

Recitation and Commentary — Living with the Qur’an

The Qur’an is valued not only to “read” but to “recite aloud beautifully.” The rules of its correct pronunciation and intonation are called “tajwid,” and masters who recite the Qur’an sonorously are respected around the world. That many “hafiz,” who completely memorize all the chapters, are still raised is due to this tradition.

On the other hand, the word of God is at times difficult and needs explanation of context. So “tafsir (Qur’anic commentary)” developed, clarifying when, why, and in what meaning each verse was sent down. Further, because depicting God in letters or idols is forbidden, “Arabic calligraphy” and decorative art of geometric patterns developed highly as means of visually expressing that word. The flowing letters adorning a mosque are an expression of reverence for the very word of God.

Why There Is No “Translated Qur’an”

Here let me touch on a great feature of the Qur’an decisively different from other scriptures. It is that what is translated into other languages is no longer called the “Qur’an.”

The Qur’an is held to be the word of God itself, sent down in Arabic. Its sound, rhythm, and multilayered meaning are lost the moment they are replaced by another language. So in Islam, what is translated into Japanese or English is positioned only as “an interpretation (translation) of the Qur’an’s meaning,” distinguished from the original text itself. Even in prayer (salat), believers of any country, as a rule, recite the Qur’an in the Arabic original.

This stance is a fine contrast with Christianity, where the Bible is translated into many languages and those translations too are read as “the Bible.” The idea that sacredness dwells in the word itself has, for 14 centuries, kept a single language, Arabic, as the common prayer language of Muslims worldwide.

To Learn More

Here are some related books. Reading them alongside this series lets you savor this world even more deeply.

The Origins of Religion: Why We Needed a ‘God’View on Amazon → A Complete History of Philosophy and ReligionView on Amazon →

Conclusion

In this article, I explained the making and structure of Islam’s fundamental scripture, the “Qur’an,” in detail. How was it?

The Qur’an is “the word of God itself,” which God Allah sent down to the Prophet Muhammad over roughly 23 years, kept almost completely by both memorization and writing, and standardized into a canon in the time of Uthman. With a distinctive structure in which 114 chapters are arranged from longest to shortest, it is still recited in the original language as the inimitable linguistic miracle.

In the next article (Article 2), I will explain in detail, one by one, the roots of faith this Qur’an teaches — the “Six Articles of Faith” Muslims should believe, from the one God Allah to angels, scriptures, prophets, the afterlife, and divine decree.

The Original Texts of Islam — The Qur'an and Hadith: Full Article Indexen.senkohome.com/myths-religions-origins-islam/

I hope you’ll read the next article too.