1 / 10

Brief Overview of the Qur'an

Brief Overview of the Qur'an. Gina Belmonte. 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

dakota
Download Presentation

Brief Overview of the Qur'an

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Brief Overview of the Qur'an Gina Belmonte

  2. 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

  3. 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 until640s CE • Under third Caliph, Uthman ibn Arran • All other versions destroyed

  4. 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

  5. Language & Genre • Written in Arabic • Any translations are considered "interpretations" • Only one genre:Prophecy • Speaker is God, through angel Gabriel

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. “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

  9. 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

  10. 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

More Related