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| Koran | |
|---|---|
| Name | Quran |
| Caption | Manuscript page from a 9th-century copy |
| Author | Traditionally attributed to the Prophet Muhammad |
| Original title | القرآن |
| Language | Classical Arabic |
| Genre | Scripture, Religious text |
| Published | 7th century CE |
Koran
The Quran is the central religious text of Islam, held by Muslims to be the literal revelation received by the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. It functions as scripture, law, and liturgy across diverse Muslim communities, informing theology, jurisprudence, and devotional practice in regions from the Arabian Peninsula to Southeast Asia. Its recitation, memorization, and interpretation have produced extensive scholarly traditions linked to institutions, courts, and educational centers.
Scholarly discussion of the term traces it to Classical Arabic roots and cognates referenced in inscriptions and lexica associated with the Arabian Peninsula, the Hijaz, Mecca, Medina, and the broader Near East; comparative studies invoke Semitic languages and medieval lexicographers like Ibn Manzur and al-Farra. Early Qur'anic vocabulary appears alongside references in biographies such as those by Ibn Ishaq and historical chronicles like works of al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir, and later philological treatment appears in dictionaries compiled under patrons in Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordoba. Terminology debates have intersected with manuscript discoveries in collections at institutions such as the British Library, Topkapi Palace, and the Sana'a manuscript cache, and with scholarly projects at universities including Oxford University, Harvard University, and Al-Azhar University.
Accounts of revelation and compilation feature prominently in biographical and historiographical sources like Sira literature and histories by al-Tabari and Ibn Sa'd, and in legal codifications from early caliphs including Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, and Uthman ibn Affan. Academic research draws on manuscript evidence from repositories such as the Bodleian Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the Vatican Library, and on analyses by modern scholars linked to projects at University of Birmingham, Princeton University, and the Max Planck Institute. Debates over compilation involve comparative approaches referencing texts and councils like those concerning the Codex Alexandrinus or the transmission of Dead Sea Scrolls and employ methodologies from philology, paleography, and codicology developed in centers such as Leiden University and Heidelberg University.
The canonical text is organized into chapters historically designated in Meccan and Medinan subdivisions and arranged into surahs and verses, reflected in codices preserved in collections at institutions like the Topkapi Palace Museum and the Sana'a manuscript archive. Literary parallels and intertextual references connect passages to narratives found in Biblical books like Genesis, Exodus, and Psalms and to apocryphal and Near Eastern traditions attested in archives such as those of Petra and Palmyra. The text addresses figures and events familiar from traditions involving Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Solomon, and frequents motifs tied to the Arabian milieu including references to locations like Ta'if and Yathrib (later Medina). Canonical division into juz' and hizb underpins recitational practice maintained in mosques such as Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi and in schools like Madrasas linked to University of Al Quaraouiyine.
Major themes include monotheism as articulated in Creeds comparable to formulations found in polemical encounters with communities associated with Byzantium, Sassanian Empire, and Jewish communities in Yathrib; ethical injunctions used in jurisprudence by scholars from Kufa and Basra; eschatological imagery connected to narratives circulating in Late Antiquity; and social regulations later codified in legal manuals by jurists of schools such as Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali. Exegetical traditions (tafsir) were developed by figures like Al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir, Al-Ghazali, and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and shaped by theological movements including Mu'tazila and Ash'ari. Interpretive debates have engaged imperial courts such as the Abbasid Caliphate, dynasties like the Umayyad Caliphate and Fatimid Caliphate, and modern reformers associated with intellectual circles in Istanbul, Cairo, and Riyadh.
The text is composed in Classical Arabic with registers and rhetorical devices studied by philologists linked to institutions such as House of Wisdom traditions and scholars like Al-Jahiz, Ibn Khaldun, and Sibawayh. Literary analysis highlights features including rhyme, assonance, metaphor, allusion, and narrative discontinuity examined in comparative frameworks with pre-Islamic poetry from figures like Imru' al-Qais and with Syriac and Hebrew rhetorical traditions from Antioch and Jerusalem. Recitation sciences (tajwid) codified by authorities in Cairo and Damascus govern phonology, orthography, and melodic patterns transmitted through chains traced to transmitters from Medina and Mecca.
Transmission history combines oral memorization (hifz) traditions and codex production preserved in repositories such as the Topkapi Palace Library, the British Library, and private collections in Mamluk and Ottoman archives. Textual-critical work has been informed by paleographic studies in centers like Leiden and Tübingen, by radiocarbon dating of folios from the Sana'a manuscript finds, and by philological comparisons with inscriptions and papyri discovered at sites including Kufic epigraphic panels and desert libraries near Turfan. Standardization efforts under the third caliph and later orthographic recension affected regional reading schools (qira'at) preserved by scholars in Kufa, Basra, and Damascus.
The text functions centrally in ritual contexts such as daily prayers at mosques like Masjid al-Haram and in rites including Hajj and Salah, and in life-cycle ceremonies across Muslim societies from Mughal Empire regions to Southeast Asian polities like the Sultanate of Malacca. It undergirds legal theory in schools whose jurists drafted treatises implemented by courts in the Ottoman Empire, Safavid Empire, and modern states with Sharia-influenced codes, and informs educational curricula in madrasas including Al-Azhar University and colonial-era reform movements associated with Jamia Millia Islamia and Darul Uloom Deoband. Contemporary engagement spans constitutional debates in countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and scholarly study in secular universities such as Columbia University and University of Oxford.
Category:Islamic texts