History of the Quran

The study of the origins and development of the Qur'an can be said to fall into two major schools of thought, the first being a traditional Islamic view and the second being a skeptical or non-traditionalist view, finding its origins in the works of orientalist scholars. The traditionalist view, which relies on the early Islamic literature as authentic or reliable, ascribes to the view that the Qur'an began with Muhammad 's claims of divine revelations in 610. Most of these revelations were either memorised or obscurely written down during the lifetime of Muhammad. These revelations were subsequently collected and were standardised in today's version by the caliph Uthman c. 653/654. The text was later given vowel pointing and punctuation in the seventh and eighth centuries. The skeptical view covers a variety of schools of thought generally anathematised by Muslim academia. Their view generally treats the early Muslim traditions, which arose over a century post-hoc, with scepticism and evaluates the claim of the Qur'an as a text on the basis of higher critical analysis, independent evidence and source hypotheses.

The history of the Quran refers to the revelation of the Quran to Islamic prophet Muhammad , and its subsequent compilation. It spans several decades and forms an important part of early Islamic history . Muslim accounts say it began in the year 610 when Gabriel ( Arabic : جبريل, Jibrīl or جبرائيل, Jibrāʾīl ) appeared to Muhammad in the cave Hira near Mecca , reciting to him the first verses of the Sura Iqra (al-`Alaq), thus beginning the revelation of the Quran. Throughout his life, Muhammad continued to have revelations until before his death in 632. Muslims agree that the Quran we see today was compiled by Uthman the third caliph (653-656). Upon the canonization, Uthman ordered the burning of all personal copies of the Quran. The copy of the Quran kept with Muhammad's wife Hafsa was accepted. Until then, several copies of the Quran were available in different regions of Arabia with different dialects, so Uthman'sordered only one version of the Quran to exist to prevent any misinterpretation of Quranic text or word of God ( Allah ). Due to varying historical documents, controversy exists amongst scholars as to whether the Uthmanic codex we have today is authentic and complete. Most Muslim scholars believe the Uthmanic Quran to be the authentic revelation to Muhammad, while some non- Muslim scholars believe verses were removed and other codices of the Quran are more absolute. Nevertheless, even according to secular scholars what was done to the Quran in the process seems to have been extremely conservative and the content was formed in a mechanical fashion as to avoid redactional bias. Muhammad and the Believers: at the Origins of Islam . Encyclopedia of Islam, Second Edition . Brill Online. : CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list ( link ) F.

( Learn how and when to remove this message ) The history of the Qur'an deals with the timeline and origin of the Qur'an , the Islamic holy book and its written compilations into manuscripts . It spans several centuries, based on historical findings, and forms an important part of early Islamic history . According to the Muslim belief and Islamic scholarly accounts, the revelation of the Qur'an began in 610 AD when the angel Gabriel ( Arabic : جبريل, Jibrīl or جبرائيل, Jabrāʾīl ) appeared to Muhammad in the cave Hira near Mecca , reciting to him the first verses of Surah Al-Alaq . Throughout his life, Muslims believe that, Muhammad continued to have revelations until his death in 632 AD. The Qur'an was first compiled into a book format by Zayd ibn Thabit and other scribes under the first caliph Abu Bakr Siddiq and then recompiled at the time of the third caliph Uthman ibn Affan for standardization as the Islamic Empire had extended to far-flung areas resulting in differing recitations of the Qur'an. Hence, the Qur'an was recompiled for uniformity in reciting it.( r. 644–56). According to Professor Francis Edward Peters (1927), what was done to the Quran in the process seems to have been extremely conservative and the content was formed in a mechanical fashion to avoid redactional bias. Muhammad and the Believers: at the Origins of Islam .

Aspect of Islamic historiography ( Learn how and when to remove this message ) History of the Quran is the timeline and origin of the written compilations or manuscripts of the holy book of Islam , based on historical findings. It spans several centuries, and forms an important major part of the early history of Islam . While there are various proposed etymologies, one is that the word قرآن ' Quran ' comes from the Arabic verb قرء 'qaraʾa' 'to read' in the verbal noun pattern فعلان 'fuʿlān', thus resulting in the meaning 'reading'. Others are that it is a name given to the book by God, without any previous etymology, that the word comes from the verb قرن 'qarana' 'to join, to yoke', referring to the gathering together of revelation, and that it comes from قرائن 'qarāʾin', the plural of a word variously translatable as 'evidence', 'yoke', 'union'. Nine out of the ten imams of recitation have it read in their tradition with a hamzah, with only Ibn Kathir's tradition excluding the letter. According to the Muslim belief and Islamic scholarly accounts , the revelation of the Quran began in 610 CE when the angel Gabriel (believed to have been sent by God ) appeared to Muhammad (a trader in the Western Arabian city of Mecca , which had become a sanctuary for pagan deities and an important trading center) in the cave of Hira ., According to Islamic belief, the revelations started one night during the month of Ramadan in 610 CE, when Muhammad, at the age of forty, received the first visit from the angel Gabriel, reciting to him the first verses of Surah Al-Alaq . Muslims believe that Muhammad continued to have revelations until his death in 632 CE. According to Islamic tradition, the Quran was first compiled into a comprehensive book by Abu Bakr . As the Islamic Empire began to grow, and differing recitations were heard, the rasm - or consonantal skeleton of the Quran - was compiled for uniformity in recitation under the direction of the third caliph , Uthman ibn Affan ( r. 644–656 CE). According to Francis Edward Peters (1991), what was done to the Quran in the process seems to have been extremely conservative and the content was formed in a mechanical fashion to avoid redactional bias. Arabic orthography continued to develop into the second century, allowing qira'at , or variant oral readings of the rasm, to be documented in Quranic manuscripts. Puin , a renowned Islamicist scholar at Saarland University, was the head of the Sanaa manuscript restoration project commissioned by the Yemeni government. His findings led Puin to assert that the Quran had undergone a "textual evolution" with textual variations, unconventional ordering of the chapters (surahs), rare styles of orthography, and may include stories that were written before Muhammed began his ministry and which have subsequently been rewritten. The Yemeni government subsequently denied him any further access to the manuscripts. Non-Muslim people questioned the nature and modes of Muhammad's revelations. The Meccans interpreted the Quranic revelations based on their understanding of 'inspiration'. There are disagreements among scholars as to when the Quran was first compiled. A hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari states that the caliph Abu Bakr commanded Zayd ibn Thabit to compile the written Quran , relying upon both textual fragments and the memories of those who had memorized it. Some Shia Muslims believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib was the first to compile the Quran into one written text, a task completed shortly after the death of Muhammad. Turkish Foundation of Religion Encyclopedia of Islam . Muhammad and the Believers: at the Origins of Islam . "Querying the Koran" . the Guardian . The Qur'an: an Encyclopedia . The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'ān .