What Is the Quran?

The Arabic word qur'an is usually understood to mean "recitation" or "reading". This fits how the book has always lived among Muslims: it is meant to be read aloud. The first word revealed, in 96:1, is a command to read or recite.

The Quran also calls itself by other names, such as al-Kitab (the Book), al-Furqan (the Criterion, as in 25:1) and adh-Dhikr (the Reminder). In 2:2 it describes itself as a book in which there is no doubt, a guide for those who are mindful of Allah.

Muslims believe the Quran is the direct speech of Allah, brought to the Prophet ﷺ by the angel Gabriel (Jibril), and that its wording has been preserved without change. Verse 15:9 states that Allah sent down the Reminder and will guard it.

It is seen as the last in a line of revealed scriptures. The Quran speaks of the Torah given to Moses (Musa) and the Gospel given to Jesus (Isa), and presents itself as confirming the core of what came before, as in 3:3. Because it was revealed in Arabic, translations are treated as explanations of its meaning rather than the Quran itself.

The Quran has 114 surahs, which vary greatly in length. Surah Al-Baqarah has 286 verses, while Surah Al-Kawthar has only three. In the common numbering there are 6,236 verses in total. The surahs are not in the order they were revealed; broadly speaking the long surahs come first and the short ones last, with the brief opening surah, Al-Fatihah, at the very beginning.

For reading and memorizing, the Quran is also divided into 30 roughly equal parts called juz, which many people use to read the whole book across the month of Ramadan.

The central theme is that Allah is One, as in Surah Al-Ikhlas (112:1-4). Around this the Quran speaks about the purpose of life, the Day of Judgment, Paradise and Hell, and how to live well: prayer, charity, honesty, family duties, justice and mercy.

It retells the stories of earlier prophets, including Noah (Nuh), Abraham (Ibrahim), Joseph (Yusuf), Moses and Jesus, usually to draw a lesson rather than to give a full chronicle. It also contains guidance for the early Muslim community in Medina, such as rulings on fasting in 2:183-185. Again and again it asks its readers to reflect, as in 38:29, which says the Book was sent down so people would ponder its verses.

Muslims recite parts of the Quran in each of the five daily prayers, beginning with Al-Fatihah. Many memorize it entirely, and someone who has done so is called a hafiz. People read it at home, listen to recitations, and study its meaning with the help of translations and commentary, called tafsir.