Brief Overview of the Qur'an

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Brief Overview of the Qur'an

• Gina Belmonte

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The Qur'an Revealed

• Only Holy Book or Scriptures of Islam
• Qur'an recitation
• Muslims believe it to be revelations of
  Allah/God
• through angel Gabriel
• to prophet Muhammad
• First revelation during Ramadan 610 CE
• Surah 96 Lailat al-Qadr night of power
• Revelations continued 23 years
• Until Muhammad's death, 632 CE

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The Qur'an Written

• Muhammad memorized individual revelations
• He "recited" them to his followers.
• They wrote them down, during his lifetime
• Qur'an not compiled until 640s CE
• Under third Caliph, Uthman ibn Arran
• All other versions destroyed

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Content

• Qur'an contains
• Moral guidelines
• Laws of God
• Rules of Islamic Faith
• In form of
• moral directives
• legal prescriptions
• exhortations
• admonitions
• condemnations
• warnings
• good tidings
• words of consolation

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Language Genre

• Written in Arabic
• Any translations are considered "interpretations"
• Only one genreProphecy
• Speaker is God, through angel Gabriel

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Contents Arrangement

• 114 Surahs
• With 3-285 Ayas each
• Arranged by length
• Decreasing length
• Except Intro Surah 1
• Same heading
• "In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the
  most Merciful"
• All except Surah 9
• Divided into 30 Juz (blocks)
• Muslims read whole Qur'an during Ramadan

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Themes in the Qur'an

• Earlier Surahs(1, 6-7, 10-21, 23, 25-32, 34-46,
  50-56, 67-114)
• Makkan period
• Social justice, conversion, final judgment,
  monotheism
• Later Surahs(2-5, 8-9, 22, 24, 33, 47-49, 57-66,
  98, 110, 55, 76, 99?)
• Madinan Period
• Relationships within Muslim Community
• Relationships with Jews and Christians

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People of the Book

• Ref. to members of monotheistic faiths
• Jew Christians
• Qur'an mentions many HB characters
• Inter-faith marriage
• Marrying Jews or Xns allowed for Muslim men only,
  not women
• Muslims respect these faiths, but Qur'an is
  thought most accurate

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Other Foundational Literature

• Hadiths
• Sayings actions of Muhammad
• Sunna ("custom") become guidelines for Muslim
  life after death of Muhammad
• Compiled 9th cent. CE
• Biographies of Muhammad
• Various editions

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Summary

• Islamic Scripture Qur'an
• Believed to be revelations of God, through
  Gabriel, to Muhammad
• Respect for other monotheistic faiths, but
  Qur'an is most accurate revelation
• 114 Surahs, longer to shorter (except 1)
• Divided into Ayahs
• Originally in Arabic Prophetic Genre
• Makkah Surahs establish Islam
• Madinah Surahs build community
• Other core writings Hadiths, Sira