The Quran (English pronunciation: /kɒˈrɑːn/ kor-ahn; Arabic: القرآن Al-Qurʾān, literally meaning “a recitation”), also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, the verbatim word of God (Arabic: الله, Allah) and the final divine revelation—Final Testament. It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language. The suffix "pedia" is from the Greek root 'paideia' [Παιδεία] meaning education, culture. 'Quran-Pedia' is eduction, learning about Quran.
Muslims believe that the Quran was verbally revealed through the angel Jibrīl (Gabriel) from God to Muhammad [peace be upon him-pbuh] gradually over a period of approximately twenty-three years beginning in 610 CE, when Muhammad was forty, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death. Furthermore, Muslims believe that the Qur'an was precisely memorized, recited and exactly written down by Muhammad's companions, called Sahabas, after each revelation have been dictated by Prophet Muhammad [pbuh].
Muslims regard the Quran as the main miracle of Muhammad [pbuh], the proof of his prophethood and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started, according to Islamic belief, with the messages revealed to Adam, regarded in Islam as the first prophet, and continued with the Suhuf Ibrahim (Scrolls of Abraham), the Tawrat (Torah or Pentateuch) of Moses, the Zabur (Tehillim or Book of Psalms) of David, and the Injil (Gospel) of Jesus. The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in Jewish and Christian scriptures,[being fromsame source-God] summarizing some, dwelling at length on others and in some cases presenting alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance for humanity, sometimes offering detailed accounts of specific historical events, and often emphasizing the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence.The revelations received by the earlier messengers, some available in the form of books in Bible (Torah, Psalms, Gospel etc) were meant for specific people for specific time, besides not being in the original revealed form, their authenticity can not be established due to variant versions. Allah says: “He has revealed to you this Book (Qur’an) with the Truth, confirming whatever there still remains of the scripture which preceded it, as He revealed the Torah and Gospel, aforetime as a guidance unto mankind, and it is He who has bestowed (upon man) the standard by which to discern the true from the false. Behold, as for those who are bent on denying God’s messages- grievous suffering awaits them: for God is almighty, an avenger of evil.”(Qur’an;3:3-4); "Truth has come and Falsehood perished: for Falsehood by its nature is bound to perish.”(Qur’an;17:81). Allah says: “And, verily, (the essence of ) this (revelation, i.e. Qur’an) is indeed found in the ancient books of divine wisdom (as well) (Qur’an;26:196,link 2:42, 61:6) Qur’an was foretold in Bible, Deutronomy;18:15 &18. Hence to discern the true from the false the previous scriptures have been abrogated and replaced with the final revelation.(Qur’an; 2:106-107, 16:101, 5:48).
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Compilation:
The Qur’an consists of 114 chapters (sūrahs) of varying length, revealed in Arabic language. The Qur’an, comprising 6236 verses (ayah) is unrivalled in its recording and preservation. The Prophet (peace be upon him) not only orally passed the Qur’an to the people of Arabia, he also made elaborate arrangements to ensure that its contents are preserved. The companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) participated in this preservation process in large numbers, through writing and memorizing the text and safely transferring to the next generation. The Qur’an is not like the writings of the New Testament, where as per Christian traditions, God inspired a scribe to write down the scripture; the idea and words were those of the scribe while God only supervised the scribe. In other cases, the Christians would like to say that the scribe was inspired by God and revealed a certain idea to him. The scribe then wrote it down in his own words. In case of the Qur’an, the words and ideas are both Divine. The words and verses of the Qur’an were preserved, through the oral as well as the written traditions, in the lifetime of Prophet (peace be upon him), as also evident from the internal evidence from Qur’an, which repeatedly mentions itself as ‘al- kitaab’ (The Book) from the very beginning: “This (Qur’an) is the Book; in it is guidance sure without doubt to those who fear Allah.”(Qur’an;2:2);“Recite from this Book (Qur'an) which has been revealed to you”(Qur’an;29:45); “And recite (and teach) what has been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord: none can change His Words and none wilt thou find as a refuge other than Him.”(Qur’an;18:27). Allah says: “By no means (should it be so)! For it (Qur’an) is indeed a Message of instruction: Therefore let who will keep it in remembrance. It is written in scrolls, which are honored, exalted, purified, and which remain in the hands of scribes, who are noble and virtuous.”(Qur’an;80:11-16). Abdullah Yousaf Ali explains that: “At the time when this Sura Abasa (Chapter Number: 80) was revealed, at Makka; there were perhaps only about 42 or 45 Suras in the hands of the Muslims. But it was a sufficient body of Revelation of high spiritual value, to which the description given here could be applied. It was held in the highest honor; its place in the hearts of Muslims was more exalted than that of anything else; as Allah's Word, it was pure and sacred; and those who transcribed it were men who were honorable, just and pious. The legend that the early Suras were not carefully written down and preserved in books is a pure invention. The recessions made later in the time of the first and the third Caliph were merely to preserve the purity and safeguard the arrangement of the text at a time when the expansion of Islam among non-Arabic-speaking people made such precautions necessary”. The details of the process of compilation of the Holy Qur’an is found in the books of history and exegesis, a glimpse here provide the insight to the process of its preservation and dissemination. Initially (while at Mecca) Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to read out the revealed passages to the small group of his followers who besides committing the revelation to their memory also used to write it down on available writing material. Subsequently, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) himself unlettered, constituted a committee of more than forty of his literate companions, who were assigned the task of writing the Holy Book. On receiving a verse or verses from Allah through revelation, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) used to call one of the members of the committee and dictated it. At this time, the Holy Prophet also used to instruct the Scribe as to where the newly revealed verse or verses were to be placed in the Holy Qur’an. The Holy Prophet thus not only used to dictate scattered verses but also give a divine order of arrangement of each verse. Zaid bin Thabit (one of scribes) reports that after having dictated the verse, the Prophet (peace be upon him) would ask the scribe to read it out. Errors if any were rectified and the final draft was approved. Although the Qur’an had been compiled in the lifetime of the Prophet (died 632 C.E), yet need of preparation of official copy was felt during the reign of Abu Bakar, the 1stCaliph (632-634 C.E), for preservation of standard text to meet the requirements of ever expanding global Muslim community. Abu Bakar constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Zaid bin Thabit. All the companions assisted him and the volume thus compiled was attested by hundreds of companions. During the period of 3rd Caliph (644-656 C.E) Uthman, a large number of non-Arabs also embraced Islam, who were found to be reciting Qur’an in varied dialects. Uthman in consultation with all the companions, got the copies of Qur’an written in accordance with the dialects and calligraphic style of the Quraysh, and these copies were placed in the major cities of the Muslim Caliphate, the expert reciters (Qari) to elucidate and teach the correct recitation were also made available. These copies served as the master copies for all the Muslims and numerous copies were prepared and circulated. Two of the master copies prepared by Uthman are still available in museums at Tashkent, and Istanbul, which are identical to any copy of Qur’an found in Indonesia, China, America, Australia, Morocco, France, Nigeria or any other part of the world. Thus the contribution of Uthman is not that he compiled the Qur’an for the first time, as is generally misunderstood, he in fact united the Muslims on one standard recitation of the Qur’an. (Details are narrated in Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.709, Narrated by Anas and Hadith, 6.510 Narrated by Anas bin Malik).
The Qur’an is the central to the life of Muslims, which is recited to the new born and to the one breathing his last. The devout Muslims routinely recite part of Qur’an daily, some completing one recitation in a month. Those who can not read are content to listen quietly. Every year in the month of fasting (Ramadan), recitation of complete Qur’an is completed by the prayer leaders (Hafiz) in (taraweeh) prayers. Every Muslim has to memorize some parts or chapters of Qur’an, as it is obligatory for every Muslim to recite some verses of Qur’an, in the original Arabic (not translation), in the five daily prayers at least seventeen times (in obligatory, faradh). Besides availability of written script, Muslims feel greatly honored all over the world to memorize the Qur’an word by word as a whole, they are called-Hafiz (Protector). At any one time there are Protectors (Hufaz) among all age groups in every village, town, city and country. Hence there are millions of Protectors (Hufaz) the world over, who are continuously being replaced by new one’s as the elders die in natural process. This process of preservation of Qur’an in the memory and hearts of Muslims is in line with Allah’s saying: “And We have indeed made the Qur’an easy to understand and remember: then is there any that will receive admonition?”(Qur’an;54:17); “Surely We have revealed this reminder (Qur’an); and We will surely preserve it Our self”.(Qur’an;15:9). This is how Qur’an is transferred from ‘generation to generation’ through the process of Historical Continuity (Twater) in its original form without any distortion. Hence amazingly this scripture has remained unchanged over the past fourteen hundred years.
The earliest sūrahs (revealed during initial 13 years, Makkan period) call for strict monotheism, worship and obedience to Allah (One God), the moral and religious obedience in light of the coming Day of Judgment; the ones revealed later (Madni-10 years) generally provide directives for the creation of a social structure that will support the moral life called for by God. The Qur’an also provides detailed accounts of the joys of paradise for pious believers and the terrors of hell for sinners and disbelievers. The God who conveyed the revelations to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), through archangel Gabriel, is the same God, worshiped by Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Jesus and all other prophets mentioned in Bible. The stern justice of God is emphasized in Qur’an along with frequent references to his mercy and compassion for the repentant believers. The Qur’an demands absolute submission (Islam) to God: "Surely Allah’s religion is (Man’s) self surrender to Him (Islam).”(Qur’an;3:19).Both Qur’an and Traditions (Sunnah) of Prophet (peace be upon him) serve as the primary source of Islamic law (Shari’a). Qur’an is immutable in both form and content; the translations are just paraphrases to facilitate understanding of the actual scripture, in no way substitute to the original Arabic script. Qur’an is eternal guide for those who ponder. Allah says: “This Book (Al-Qur’an) which We have sent down to you (O Muhammad) is highly blessed, so that they may ponder upon its verses and the men of understanding may learn a lesson from it.”(Qur’an;38:29). Some Qur’anic verses, draw the attention of humanity towards scientific phenomena, as His signs, related with Astronomy, Physics, Geography, Geology, Oceanology, Biology, Botany, Zoology, Medicine, Physiology, Embryology as well as General Science, mostly un known to humanity fourteen centuries ago, discovered recently proving miraculous nature of Qur’an as word of God. The world's leading authority on orientalism and Middle East, Princeton Professor Philip K. Hitti, in his book ‘Islam, a Way of Life’, writes; “The Koran is dictated (by Allah). Any quotation from the Koran can be introduced with ''saith Allah”. It is now for the mankind to make their own choice; weather to follow the distorted and corrupted ancient scriptures or the Last Testament, the message of divine guidance available in its pure form- The Qur’an! Backed up with practical demonstration of its application by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) available in the form of written and oral record of Traditions (Hadith and Sunnah).
Qur’an provides the basic guide lines, the details of the way of living acceptable and pleasing to Allah are provided through the practical life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the role model, Allah says: “You have indeed, in the life of Messenger of God, the 'Best Model' for him whose hope is in God and the Day of the Hereafter, and who engages himself much in the remembrance of God.”(Qur’an;33:21). Allah says: “O ye who believe! obey Allah and obey the Messenger and make not vain your deeds!”(Qur’an;47:33); “We sent not a messenger, but to be obeyed, In accordance with the will of Allah…”.(Qur’an;4:64). Obedience of Messenger has been repeatedly emphasized in Qur’an; 3:31,32,132, 4:59, 5:92, 8:20, 9:71, 12;8, 24:52, 54, 33:21, 33:71, 47:33, 48:28, 64:12. The Messenger (peace be upon him) practically demonstrated to lead the life according to Qur’an, therefore Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is also referred as living Qur’an. Prophet (peace be upon him) had been entrusted with great responsibility; Allah says: “We sent those Messengers with clear signs and scriptures; and now We have sent down the reminder (Qur’an) to you (O Muhammad), so that you may explain clearly to mankind as to what was sent to them so that they may think about it”(Qur’an 16:44).
The term Hadith derives from the Arabic root Hdth, meaning "to report," "to happen," and so, "to tell a happening," to speak of” or "to have, or give, as news." Hence the traditions are seen as narrative and record. From it comes Sunnah (literally, a "well-trodden path," i.e., taken as precedent and authority or directive), to which the faithful conform in submission to the sanction that Hadith possesses and that legalists, on that ground, can enjoin. Tradition in Islam is thus both content and constraint, Hadith as the biographical ground of law and Sunnah as the system of obligation derived from it. The Sunnah (Traditions) of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a broader term which include his sayings, actions, approvals and disapprovals. Even if some action was performed in the presence and knowledge of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and he kept quite; then it is considered as his approval, because he would not tolerate wrong. There are repeated commands in Qur’an, for the believers to offer Prayer and pay charity: “Therefore establish Salah (prayer), pay Charity (Zakah) and obey the messenger, so that you may be shown mercy.”(Qur’an;24:56). But the detailed procedure to offer the Salah (prayer) and details for payment of obligatory Charity (Zakah) are not found in Qur’an; but in the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He laid down exceptions as elaborations of Qur’anic injunctions; for example it is prohibited to eat dead animals (Qur’an;5:3); Prophet (peace be upon him) specified the exception of fish and locust. Prohibition of donkey meat is not mentioned in Qur’an, but in Sunnah it is found to be prohibited and zebra as permissible. Marriage with aunt of wife is not mentioned in Qur’an, but Sunnah prohibits it. It is normal to say Prayer Call (Adhan) for Salah, but in Sunnah it is found that there is no Adhan for Eid and some other types of prayers. The authentic (Sahih) Hadith do not conflict with Qur’an, any apparent conflict could be due to misunderstanding by an individual, which will get reconciled if one goes in to the details and background. The Traditions (Hadith and Sunnah) have been protected from corruption through record of continuous chain of reliable authentic narrators. It is through Hadith, that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has shaped and determined the behaviour patterns of the household of Islam by the posthumous leadership his personality exercised and will continue to exercise till eternity, Allah says in Qur’an: “It is He who has sent His Apostle with Guidance and the Religion of Truth to proclaim it over all religion: and enough is Allah for a Witness.”(Qur’an;48:28).
While the Qur’an was being received, there had been reluctance and misgiving about recording the words and acts of the Prophet, lest they be confused with the uniquely constituted contents of the divine scripture. At times Prophet (peace be upon him) prohibited some thing, which was later permitted; like initially women were prohibited to visit graves, as they used to make a lot of hue and cry but with more maturity they were later allowed. Although there was no formal system of recording of Hadith like the one followed for Qur’an, there is no authentic prohibition: Abu Saed Khidhri was reportedly prohibited by the Prophet (peace be upon him) to write Hadith along with Qur’an, to keep Qur’an pure. This incidence appears to have been quoted out of context, because some companions had been writing the sayings of Prophet (peace be upon him) in his lifetime with his permission; like Abdullah bin Umro bin Al As, Abu Rafi, Anas Bin Malik, Abu Hurairah; who had kept written record of Hadith in the form of many books, from which he used to teach many of his pupils. Humam bin Minbah being one of them, the book named after him; translated by Dr.Hamid Ullah. The 1st Caliph Abu Bakar wrote 500 Traditions on request of his daughter Aysha, but washed them fearing that some of them which he had listened from others might not be accurately narrated, he did not want to be accused. Aysha (the mother of believers) herself a great scholar, used to refer Traditions in her correspondence on theological matters. Umar, the 2nd Caliph discussed the writing of Traditions but discarded due to the fear, people mixing it up with or relegating Qur’an as done by the Jews and Christians with their scriptures. The 3rd Caliph Ali is reported to have asked the people to bring papers, then he dictated the Traditions. This is sufficient to establish that there was no prohibitions of writing of Traditions, which were transferred from father to son and from teacher to the pupils. The huge record of written letters and instructions of Prophet (peace be upon him) has been preserved in the books of history.
A tradition had to be sustained by an expert "Science of Attestation” able to satisfy rigorous formal criteria of their connection with the person of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) through his "companions," by an unbroken sequence of "reportage". This science became so meticulous that there was no possibility of any error. Pioneers in Hadith in second century Hijra was historian Ibn Ishaq (died AH 150/C.E 767) and Malik ibn Anas, (died AH 179/C.E 795): The most revered of all traditionalists was Muhammad ibn Isma'il al- Bukhari (AH 194-256 /C.E 810-870 ), His Sahih occupied 16 years of editorial pains and scrutiny. He collected 300,000 Ahadith, and memorized 200,000 of which some were unreliable. He included approximately 7,275 traditions with full isnad. Allowing for repetitions, the net total was 2,230, for which there was no doubt about their authenticity. He arranged the whole into 97 books and 3,450 chapters or topics, repeating the traditions that bore on several themes. The others compilers of Hadith are Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj (AH 202-261/C.E 817-875), Abu Da`ud al-Sijistani (AH 202-275/C.E 817-889), Abu 'Isa Muhammad at- Tirmidhi (died AH 279/C.E 892), Abu' Abd ar-Rahman an-Nasa’i (AH 216-303 /C.E 830-915]) and Abu 'Abdallah ibn Maja (AH 210-273/C.E 824-886). Nor did they oust the earlier collection of Malik ibn Anas, but they formed the sources of later popular editions, intended to conflate material for didactic purposes. One such was the work of Abu Muhammad al-Baghawi (died AH 516/C.E 1122) called Masabih as-Sunnah ("The Lamps of the Sunnah"). Commentaries on all these classical musannafat, or compilations, were many, and important in education and piety. The Shi’a collection of Traditions was prepared by Abu Ja'far Muhammad al-Qulini (died AH 328/C.E 939) with the tilte of Kafi fi 'Ilm ad-Din (All You Need About the Science of Religious Practice).
There are special Ahadith attributed to Allah, called Hadith Qudsi, in which the Prophet says, “Allah says so and so”. The meaning of these Hadith was revealed to the Prophet but he put them in his own words, unlike the Qur’an which is the word of Almighty Allah and the Prophet conveyed it exactly as it was revealed to him. The Prophet says the Allah says: “I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus he who does an action for someone else's sake as well as Mine will have that action renounced by Me to him whom he associated with Me.”(Hadith Qudsi 5). The status of Hadith Qudsi is next to Qur’an but they can not be recited in prayer (salah). Thus along with Qur’an, the Traditions (Hadith &Sunnah) of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) are the source of guidance for the humanity for ever. After Qur’an the authenticity of Hadith literature is doubtless, compared to any religious scripture, including the Bible, where even the names of authors are not known what to talk of the chain of transmission.
Conclusion:
The guidance made available in the form of sacred scriptures was meant for the specific people for specific time, hence God did not Himself took responsibility of their protection except Qur’an. The Israelites repeatedly disobeyed the commandments of God, altered the scriptures, and even killed the prophets. They did not believe in Prophet Jesus Christ (peace be upon him) and even tried to kill him, but Allah raised him to Himself. His followers deviated from the monotheism of Abraham, Jacob and Moses (peace be upon them all), invented a different religion known as Christianity based on the concepts of Original sin and Trinity, disregarding the Law. Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) had settled his eldest son Ishmael at Makka, a deserted place which became a town on the main trade route. Prophet Ishmael (peace be upon him) became the ancestor of Arabs. His descendents also corrupted the original teachings of Abraham and Ishmael (peace be upon them), they became polytheists and Idolaters. For nearly over next 2000 years no messenger was sent to them. Due to the persistent disobedience and rebelliousness of the Children of Israel, and corruption of original message of God; He changed the leadership role from the Children of Israel to the Children of Ishmael (peace be upon them), by appointing Muhammad, peace be upon him (an Arab, from the progeny of Ishmael) as His last messenger in 610 C.E. He reveled to him, Qur’an; the last book of guidance for the humanity and named the faith as Islam (surrender to will of Allah), the faith of all previous messengers. Allah Himself took the responsibility to protect His last scripture: “We have without doubt sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption)”.(Qur’an;15:9);“No falsehood can approach it from before or from behind. It is a revelation from the One Who is Wise and Praiseworthy.”(Qur’an;41:42). Qur’an is the final and the Last Testament, which supersedes the Old and New Testament. Now it is obligatory for the humanity including Jews and Christians to follow the guidance of Qur’an. Many Jews and Christians have reverted to Islam while others decline. The message of truth was spread all over the world and now there are around 1.5 Billion Muslims in the world. Miraculously during last fourteen centuries, Qur’an is available in its original form and will continue to guide the humanity till eternity. Allah says: “Or do ye say that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes were Jews or Christians? Say: Do ye know better than Allah? Ah! who is more unjust than those who conceal the testimony they have from Allah? But Allah is not unmindful of what ye do!”(Qur’an;2:140). While Jews and Christians claim to be heirs of Abraham, but only Muslims can strongly claim to be followers of the true legacy of Abraham, Tawheed (monotheism).
Practical implementation of Qur’anic teachings was demonstrated by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), which is also available in the form of the traditions of Prophet (Sunnah). The question arises that after Muhammad (peace be upon him) the last messenger, who is responsible for preaching of this Message to the mankind? Allah says: “We have given the Book (Qur’an) as an inheritance to those of Our servants (Muslims) whom We have chosen...”(Qur’an;35:32). At the end of his last sermon during last Hajj (632 C.E) the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “O’ People, no Messengers or prophet will come after me and no new faith will be born. Reason well, therefore, O’ People, and understand my words which I convey to you. I leave behind me two things, the Qur’an and my example, the Sunnah and if you follow these you will never go astray. All those who listen to me shall pass on my words to others and those to others again; and may the last ones understand my words better than those who listen to me directly.” The custodians of the Qur’an after the holy Prophet are the People of Islam. They are chosen for the Book, not in any narrow sense, but in the sense that the Book is given for their age and they are charged to believe, read, understand, obey, preserve and propagate it, so that all mankind should receive the Message. In this present era of high-tech communications and media, with the efforts of believers this guidance is available to the increasing numbers of people every day, who are embracing Islam in great numbers. There is no doubt that this Message will remain available to the humanity till the Day of Judgment. The legacy of Prophet Abraham (peace be upon them) continues.
“Our Sustainer! Do not punish us if we forget or make a mistake.” (Qur’an;2:286)
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Translation is not Quran
The Qur’an was revealed in Arabic, the language of Prophet, peace be upon him (and his clan Quraish of Makka). The translation (Tarjama) of the Qur’an means the expression of the meaning of its text in a language different from the language of the Qur’an, for understanding by those not familiar with Qur’anic Arabic. It is customary to quote the original Arabic Qur’anic text (ayah, verses) along with the translation, however this require special handling due to reverence of the sacred text, hence in this book for the convenience of handling by all categories of the readers, only the translation is given, which should also be handled with due respect. It is more appropriate for the reader to also consult the original Arabic Qur’an. Here mostly the translation of verses from Qur’an by Abdullah Yousaf Ali, M.Pickthall, Muhammad Asad and F.Malik have been given at various places. There is agreement among Muslim scholars that it is humanly impossible to transfer the meanings of original Qur’an word by word in an identical mode into another language. This is due to several reasons: firstly the Qur’an itself is a miracle and cannot be imitated by man. As a consequence of this, the translation of Qur’an is not considered as Qur’an. The translations of the Qur’an; e.g. into English, French, German and Urdu, etc, in principle are regarded as paraphrases. These translations can not be used in place of original Arabic Qur’an for ritual purposes. Secondly the words of different languages do not express all the shades of meanings of their original Arabic word, though they may express specific concepts. Hence narrowing down the meaning of the Qur’an to specific concepts in a foreign language would mean missing out other important dimensions. While reading the translations of Qur’an these aspects must always be kept in view. The example of verse: “wa- huwa ‘alladhe khalaqa as- samaawaat wa- al- ‘ard. fe sittah ayyaam..” (Qur’an;11:7) is considered here. The word ayyaam in Arabic means; days or ‘long periods’ or ‘eons’ or ‘epoch’. The four translations being given here differ in their understanding: “And it is He who has created the heavens and the earth in six eons” (M.Asad); “He is the One Who created the heavens and the earth in six periods” (F.Malik); “And He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days” (Pickthall); “He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days” (Yousaf Ali). The translation of ayyaam as ‘eons’ appears more scientific and accurate. Hence if some contradictions appear, it is due to the limitations of translation, not of Qur’an.
The Qur’an comprises 114 chapters, called Surahs, of very unequal length and each Surah comprises number of verses. The translation of references from Qur’an are generally given within brackets “xyz” followed by reference of Surah and Ayah in bracket i.e. : “Praise be to Allah the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds.”(Qura’n;1:2). It implies that the translation is from Surah (chapter) Number 1 and verse number 2 of the same Surah. The name of Chapter (Surahs) can be found from the Appendix II . In this case the name of Surah Number 1 as given in Surah Index is Al-Fatiha meaning ‘The Opening’. The names of Chapters (Surahs) in Qur’an, in most of the cases have no special relation to the subject of the Surah but has been used merely as a symbol to distinguish it from other Surahs. The name comprise of a word used some where in the Surah. Taking example of 2nd Surah AL-BAQARAH (the Cow), which has been so named from the story of the Cow occurring in this Surah (verse number 67-73). Although this Surah is an invitation to the Divine Guidance and all the stories, incidents etc. revolve round this central theme. As this Surah has particularly been addressed to the Jews, many historical events have been cited from their own traditions to admonish and advise them that their own good lies in accepting the Guidance revealed to the Holy Prophet. It has not, however, been used as a title to indicate the subject of the Surah. It will, therefore, be as wrong to translate the name Al-Baqarah into “The Cow” or “The Heifer” as to translate any English name, say Baker, Rice, Wolf etc., into their equivalents in other languages or vice versa, because this would imply that the Surah dealt with the subject of “The Cow”. Many more chapters (Surahs) of the Qur’an have been named in the same way because no comprehensive words exist in Arabic (in spite of its richness) to denote the wide scope of the subject discussed in them. As a matter of fact all human languages suffer from the same limitation. However in some cases the name of Chapters (Surahs) indicate the subject matter i.e. the first Surah Al-Fatihah, which means ‘that which opens a subject or a book or any other thing’ or in other words, Al-Fatihah is a sort of ‘Preface’. Similarly Surah ‘Al Yousaf’ (Joseph) Surah number 12, is related with the story of Prophet Joseph (pbuh).
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Qur’an – Surah (Chapters) Index
Surah /Chapter Name
|
Surah /Chapter Name
|
#
|
Arabic
|
English
|
#
|
Arabic
|
English
|
1
|
Al-Fatiha
|
The Opening
|
47
|
Muhammad
|
Muhammad
|
2
|
Al-Baqara
|
The Cow
|
48
|
Al-Fat-h
|
The Victory
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3
|
Al-i’Imran
|
The Family of Imram
|
49
|
Al-Hujurat
|
Private Apartments
|
4
|
An-Nisaa
|
The Woman
|
50
|
Qaf
|
Letter –‘ Q’
|
5
|
Al-Maida
|
Table Spread
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51
|
Az-Zariyat
|
Winnowing Winds
|
6
|
Al-An’am
|
The Cattle
|
52
|
At-Tur
|
Tur
|
7
|
Al-A’raf
|
The Heights
|
53
|
An-Najm
|
The Star
|
8
|
Al-Anfal
|
The Spoils of War
|
54
|
Al-Qamar
|
The Moon
|
9
|
At-Tauba
|
The Repentance
|
55
|
Ar-Rahman
|
The Beneficent
|
10
|
Yunus
|
Jonah
|
56
|
Al-Waqi’a
|
The Event
|
11
|
Hud
|
Hood
|
57
|
Al-Hadid
|
The Iron
|
12
|
Yusuf
|
Joseph
|
58
|
Al-Mujadila
|
She that Disputes
|
13
|
Ar-Ra’d
|
Thunder
|
59
|
Al-Hashr
|
The Gathering
|
14
|
Ibrahim
|
Abraham
|
60
|
Al-Mumtahna
|
To be Examined
|
15
|
Al-Hijr
|
The Rocky Tract
|
61
|
As-Saff
|
The Ranks
|
16
|
An-Nahl
|
The Bee
|
62
|
Al-Jamu’a
|
Friday Congregation
|
17
|
Bani Israel/Israa
|
ChildrenofIsrael/Ascension
|
63
|
Al-Munafiqun
|
The Hypocrites
|
18
|
Al-Kahf
|
The Cave
|
64
|
At-Tagabun
|
Mutual Disillusion
|
19
|
Maryam
|
The Mary
|
65
|
At-Talaq
|
Divorce
|
20
|
Ta-ha
|
Ta-Ha
|
66
|
At-Tahrim
|
Banning
|
21
|
Al-Anbiyaa
|
The Prophets
|
67
|
Al-Mulk
|
The Sovereignty
|
22
|
Al-Hajj
|
The Pilgrimage
|
68
|
Al-Qalam
|
The Pen
|
23
|
Al-Muminun
|
The Believers
|
69
|
Al-Haqqa
|
The Reality
|
24
|
An-Nur
|
The Light
|
70
|
Al-Ma’arij
|
Ascending Stairway
|
25
|
Al-Furqan
|
The Criterion
|
71
|
Nuh
|
Noah
|
26
|
Ash-Shu’araa
|
The Poets
|
72
|
Al-Jinn
|
The Jinn
|
27
|
An-Naml
|
The Ant
|
73
|
AlMuzzammil
|
Enshrouded One
|
28
|
Al-Qasas
|
The Story
|
74
|
Al-Muddathir
|
Cloaked One
|
29
|
Al-Ankabut
|
The Spider
|
75
|
Al-Qiyamat
|
Rising of the Dead
|
30
|
Ar-Rum
|
The Romans
|
76
|
Ad-Dahr
|
The Time
|
31
|
Luqman
|
Luqman, The Wise
|
77
|
Al-Mursalat
|
The Emissaries
|
32
|
As-Sajda
|
The Prostration
|
78
|
An-Nabaa
|
The Tidings
|
33
|
Al-Ahzab
|
The Clans
|
79
|
An-Nazi’at
|
Ones, Drag Forth
|
34
|
Saba
|
Sheba
|
80
|
Abasa
|
He Frowned
|
35
|
Fatir
|
The Creator
|
81
|
At-Takwir
|
The Overthrowing
|
36
|
Ya-Sin
|
Ya S’in
|
82
|
Al-Infitar
|
The Cleaving
|
37
|
As-Saffat
|
Who Set Ranks
|
83
|
Al-Mutaffifin
|
Defrauding
|
38
|
Sad
|
Word- ‘S’
|
84
|
Al-Inshiqaq
|
The Sundering
|
39
|
Az-Zumar
|
Troops
|
85
|
Al-Buruj
|
Mansions of Stars
|
40
|
Al-Mu’min
|
Believer
|
86
|
At-Tariq
|
The Morning Star
|
41
|
HaMim
|
HaMim(letters H,M)
|
87
|
Al-A’la
|
The Most High
|
42
|
Ash-Shura
|
The Counsel
|
88
|
Al-Gashiya
|
The Overwhelming
|
43
|
Az-Zukhruf
|
Ornaments of Gold
|
89
|
Al-Fajr
|
The Dawn
|
44
|
Ad-Dukhan
|
The Smoke
|
90
|
Al-Balad
|
The City
|
45
|
Al-Jathiya
|
The Crouching
|
91
|
Ash-Shams
|
The Sun
|
46
|
Al-Ahqaf
|
The Sand Dunes
|
92
|
Al-Lail
|
The Night
|
93
|
Adh-Dhuha
|
Morning Hour
|
104
|
Al-Humaza
|
The Traducer
|
94
|
Al-Sharh
|
Solace
|
105
|
Al-Fil
|
The Elephant
|
95
|
At-Tin
|
Fig
|
106
|
Quraish
|
The Tribe Quraish
|
96
|
Al-Alaq
|
The Clot
|
107
|
Al-Ma’un
|
Small Kindness
|
97
|
Al-Qadr
|
The Power
|
108
|
Al-Kauthar
|
Abundance
|
98
|
Al-Baiyina
|
The Clear Proof
|
109
|
Al-Kafirun
|
The Disbelievers
|
99
|
Al-Zalzalah
|
The Earthquake
|
110
|
An-Nasr
|
Succor
|
100
|
Al-Adiyat
|
The Courses
|
111
|
Al-Lahab
|
Palm Fiber
|
101
|
Al-Qari’a
|
The Calamity
|
112
|
Al-Ikhlaas
|
The Unity
|
102
|
AtTakathur
|
The Rivalry
|
113
|
Al-Falaq
|
The Daybreak
|
103
|
Al-Asr
|
The Declining Day
|
114
|
An-Nas
|
The Mankind
|
