The Qur'an

For all Muslims, the Qur'an is the word of God. It is the final and perfect revelation revealed in Arabic to His Prophet, Muhammad, through the archangel Gabriel in a series of revelations that took place in western Arabia between 610 and 632CE.

The word Qur'an is derived from the Arabic verb "to recite" or "to read" and means simply "recitations, readings".

Islam means submission to the will of God.

A Muslim is one who submits.

Faith is "Iman" and a believer is "mu'min".

The essence of the Islamic faith is stated in the Fatiha, the opening of the Qur'an.

Islam is the last of the three monotheistic religions.

The Qur'an is the final revelation and Muhammad is the final Prophet.

The central message of the Qur'an is to believe in the One God and him alone. He is all powerful and all knowing.

The word for God in Arabic is Allah.

Shirk is polytheism.

Muhammad was illiterate. He proclaimed the revelations he received to his followers, who learned them by heart. Even today, many Muslims have committed the entire Qur'an to memory. One who has done so is known as "hafiz", one who has preserved. If all copies of the Qur'an disappeared, the text could be faithfully reproduced from memory.

Tafsir is commentary on the Qur'an.

The Qur'an contains 114 chapters, called suras. Each sura is divided into verses called ayas meaning "signs". Each sura has a name.

The revelations took place over a period of 23 years,in either Makkah or Madina.

The Meccan suras are short, highly charged and deeply moving.

The suras revealed in Medina are longer and often deal with issues like marriage, divorce, inheritance, and other subjects of concern to the Islamic society.

The Qur'an should only be touched by people in the state of ritual purity.