Title page from The Quran, 4 vols.

The Quran, 4 vols.

Tradition holds that during the last decades of Muhammad’s life he received revelations from the angel Gabriel. Muhammad was instructed to repeat these revelations to his community as warnings or instructions from God. During his lifetime, the Qur’an existed primarily in oral form, and was not written down and standardized until after Muhammad’s death. Many believe that the Qur’an exists only in Arabic, and that any translation is an interpretation of the Qur’an, and not the Qur’an itself.

Related People

Critical Responses

Connected Readings