The Qur A Broad Overview

The Quran: A Broad Overview and History With 1.6 billion followers worldwide, Islam is the world’s second largest and fastest growing religion. It is a religion which has had a huge impact on the world past and present since its foundations early in the seventh century of the Common Era when the Prophet Muhammad received revelations from the angel Gabriel. The first of these revelations came to Muhammad when he was 40 years old and was on a retreat in the cave of Hira’, located in the hills outside Mecca. These revelations continued for another 13 years of the Prophet’s life in Mecca and another 9 years after that while he was in Medina for a total of 22 years. By the time of Muhammad’s death, these revelations amounted to 114 different

Many believe that it is inerrant and infallible and has remained completely the same since the first official, or Uthmani, Quran was completed over 1300 years ago. It is important to note that in the 7th century in Arabia few people were literate and much of their history and stories were passed down through oral traditions. This is why it is quite astounding that a singular form of the Quran that we have today was able to be formed and widely distributed within 50 years after Muhammad’s death. This is yet another stark difference between the Quran and many other religious texts which were formed over hundreds of years during many different times and in many different geographical locations. I believe that because of this, there has been much less discussion and debate about the formation of the Quran when compared to the sacred-texts of other religions. Also due to this, practically all Muslims, despite disparities such as the Shia and Sunni split, which I will discuss later, believe the Quran as we have today to be the exact words God spoke to

But there is still another sect of Islam which varies widely from these two, this being the traditions and beliefs of the Sufis. The Sufi interpretation and view on the sacred texts of Islam differ widely from those of mainstream Shia or Sunni Muslims. The Sufi tradition is one of mysticism and places a high importance on the importance of religious practice and experience and much less importance on the textual guidelines outlined in the Quran. [5] Despite their relatively small population, they have certainly had an impact on mainstream Islam. One example of this is the concept of the Mahdi, or rightly guided one. Due to the preaching of the Sufi’s, the idea of a Mahdi at the end of times who will come to spread justice and peace has taken hold. [6] The concept of the Mahdi is a central tenet of Shia theology, but many Sunni’s also believe in the coming of a Mahdi.