The Holy Qur'an Unlike the Hebrew Bible, which is the accumulated record of many centuries of oral tradition, and unlike the biographical and theological account of Jesus in the Gospels, the Qur'an is a collection of statements by God, who as subject is referred to as Allah, or He, or We. The term He is masculine in grammar but not in gender, as the Allah is beyond gender, and the 'We' is a plural of majesty, not of number. As such, there is no real beginning or end to the Qur'an; it is not a chronological survey of mankind like Genesis, nor a detailed summary of divine Law like Deuteronomy. The passages defy attempts to categorize them into too rigid a structured thematic organization, as sober narratives are juxtaposed with dramatic exhortations, and legalistic verses are followed immediately by sublime and esoteric verses. A verse describing Divine Sovereignty may be followed by a verse prescribing noble manners. Each chapter or surah contains prophecies, admonitions or instructions; what's more, these verses (or ayat) often use the stories of biblical prophets or Jesus to illustrate a particular point.

Page from a manuscript of the Holy Qur'an produced in Al-Andalus (Moorish Spain) in the early 13th century

There are a total of 114 chapters in the Qur'an, all of varying length, since according to Muhammad the revelations themselves often differed in form and substance. In his later years it is said that there was no intervention by the angel Gabriel, but simply the word of God as revealed by way of divine inspiration - the harder of the two forms of transmission to bear. The Qur'an itself states that God sent his words "by illumination, or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger to suggest what He pleases" (Q 42.50-52). Usually the revealed text is rhymed prose, so as to assist in the memorization.

Modern scholars distinguish between the revelations given in Makkah and those that followed after Muhammad's journey to Yathrib. In general, the earlier verses are short, simple and straightforward; they still carry the imprint of the lyrical poetry (although are not poetry proper) of the pre-Islamic era. The Yathrib (Medina) passages tend to be longer and elaborate, and appear to be more legalistic in tone. However, there are many exceptions to this trend. Islamic scholars suggest that this trend reflected the exigencies which precipitated the Revelation through Muhammad, for in Makkah Muhammad was a lone prophet in the desert, surrounded by only a handful of followers; in Yathrib (or Madinah) Muhammad became a statesman, preoccupied with managing the practical needs and aspirations of a large community.

The Qur'an is roughly organized by the length of the surahs, starting with the longest. That is why most of the recent chapters are at the very beginning of the Qur'an, whereas the oldest revelations dating back to the days in Makkah are found near the end

The principal focus of the Qur'an is to instruct the believer on the just and noble path for mortal existence as desired by God. Moreover, the Qur'an considers itself a reminder that echoes the prior religious teachings of other acknowledged prophets (27 are named in the Qur'an) regarding the post mortal states of existence, and of eschatological realities to take place upon accounting before God. " Surely this Qur'an guides to that which is most upright," we read in verse 9 of Surah 17, 'The Children of Israel;' "and (it) gives good news (injil) to the believers who do good that they shall have a great reward." In doing so, the Qur'an offers guidance in virtually every aspect of life, including ethical, civic and legal issues.

Hence, this 'good news' (a phrase that is possibly inspired by the Christian word euangelion or 'gospel') has more in common with Jewish and Christian scripture than one would assume at first blush. The Qur'an agrees -- and repeatedly asserts -- that God is the only God of the universe. "Do not associate with God any other god, lest you sit down despised, neglected," says ayah 22 of Book 17; "Your Lord has commanded that you shall not serve (any) but Him, and goodness to your parents."

This is the cardinal meaning of Islam, for the word Islām itself means a state of peace, or submission, in which the human ego is in a state of submissive peace to Divinity - and all that this implies. The word Muslim is derived from the same root and means "he who has submitted himself to God." According to the Qur'an (and Genesis), this God was in existence before anything else, even before Creation. In fact, the Creation stories in both scriptures run almost parallel:

The Qur'an holds that it is divinely revealed scripture, but not the only one. In fact, the Qur'an believes that God has made His will known throughout the history of mankind, beginning with Adam. It therefore sees itself not as the first, but the very last in a long line of revelations to other prophets. This is why the Qur'an accepts the Jewish Bible and the New Testament as authentic revelations by God, and calls Jews and Christians the 'People of the Book:'

and Christians succumbed to the temptation of altering and misrepresenting Divine Scripture for a variety of secondary gains, both material and non-material. Thus such folks and those who willingly and consciously follow suit are culpable for betraying the original message bearers, Moses and Jesus, respectively.

Many Western Jews and Christians will be astonished to find that there are extended references to Jewish and Christian figures throughout the Qur'an. Among the most prominent are Adam, Abraham (Ibrahim), Moses (Musa), Joseph (Yusuf), Solomon (Sulaiman), Mary (Miriam) and Jesus (Isa). Biblical stories of these figures are sprinkled throughout the revelations to illustrate a particular saying about faith, devotion or divine beneficence. Mary, Abraham and Joseph have entire chapters devoted to them. The most oft recurring prophetic theme is Moses' struggle against Pharaoh.

Many of the stories are similar to the biblical tradition, but in some cases (notably the account of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba) the Qur'an offers details not found in the biblical tradition. Some scholars, however, have suggested that the source of this and other extracanonical material may be Talmudic texts that were circulating in Arabia in the time of Muhammad. Islamic scholars do not agree, for they believe that every word in the Qur'an came as a result of Revelation.

The Qur'an argues that it is the most complete and authentic of all revelations, and that the prophethood of Muhammad is literally 'the Seal', the end of the line. With the Qur'an, God has said his final word. However, the idea of post-mortal Salvation is not limited to the followers of Muhammad, and is open to anyone who practices religion sincerely for the 'sake of God' (which is a phrase that connotes 'absence of any egoism, pride, arrogance, greed, or intent of secondary gain); hence, there is no eschatological exclusivism found in the Qur'an, although of recent times there is an imposed interpretation of eschatological exclusivism in some extremist Muslim theological circles.