The Quran,[c] also romanized Qur'an or Koran,[d] is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God (Allāh).

Most suras (also usually transliterated as Surah) were in use amongst early Muslims since they are mentioned in numerous sayings by both Sunni and Shia sources, relating Muhammad's use of the Quran as a call to Islam, the making of prayer and the manner of recitation.

[j] In 1972, in a mosque in the city of Sana'a, Yemen, manuscripts "consisting of 12,000 pieces" were discovered that were later proven to be the oldest Quranic text known to exist at the time.

Apart from semi-historical events and characters such as King Solomon and David, about Jewish history as well as the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, tales of the hebrew prophets accepted in Islam, such as Creation, the Flood, struggle of Abraham with Nimrod, sacrifice of his son occupy a wide place in the Quran.

"[101][102] Even though Muslims do not doubt about the existence and unity of God, they may have adopted different attitudes that have changed and developed throughout history regarding his nature (attributes), names and relationship with creation.

Mustafa Öztürk points out that the first Muslims believed that this god lived in the sky with the following words of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal: "Whoever says that Allah is everywhere is a heretic, an infidel.

(42:51) nubuwwah (Arabic: نبوة 'prophethood') is seen as a duty imposed by God on individuals who have some characteristics such as intelligence, honesty, fortitude and justice: "Nothing is said to you that was not said to the messengers before you, that your lord has at his Command forgiveness as well as a most Grievous Penalty.

"[108][citation needed] Islam regards Abraham as a link in the chain of prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad via Ishmael[109] and mentioned in 35 chapters of the Quran, more often than any other biblical personage apart from Moses.

[142][143] The following statement in the Quran is thought to be the general rule of testimony in Islamic jurisprudence, except for crime and punishment - for example, debt, shopping, etc.

[Quran 4:11][145] As a different example, in the necklace story of Aisha, called Asbab al-Nuzul for surah An-Nur :11-20 four witnesses were required for the accusation of adultery.

The jurisprudence of later periods stipulates that witnesses must be men, covering all hadd crimes and people who did not have credibility and honesty in society (slaves, non-adl; sinners, infidels) could not testify against believers.

The place of hadiths in legislation is controversial; for example, in the Hanafi sect, in order to claim that something is obligatory, that issue must be clearly expressed in the Quran.

[152] The verse talks about the punishment of criminals by killing, hanging, having their hands and feet cut off on opposite sides, and being exiled from the earth, in response to an -abstract- crime such as "fighting against Allah and His Messenger".

Expanding or narrowing the conditions and scope of this crime according to new situations and universal legal standards are issues that continue to be discussed today[152] such as punishing in addition to rebellion against the legitimate government on "concrete sequential criminal acts" ie massacre, robbery and rape as preconditions.

[183] In Islam, ’i‘jāz (Arabic: اَلْإِعْجَازُ), "inimitability challenge" of the Qur'an in sense of feṣāḥa and belagha (both eloquence and rhetoric) is the doctrine which holds that the Qur’ān has a miraculous quality, both in content and in form, that no human speech can match.

[195] Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry was an element of challenge, propaganda and warfare,[196] and those who incapacitated their opponents from doing the same in feṣāḥa and belagha socially honored, as could be seen on Mu'allaqat poets.

[187] Angelika Neuwirth lists the factors that led to the emergence of the doctrine of ’i‘jāz: The necessity of explaining some challenging verses in the Quran;[201] In the context of the emergence of the theory of "proofs of prophecy" (dâ'il an-nubuwwa) in Islamic theology, proving that the Quran is a work worthy of the emphasized superior place of Muhammad in the history of the prophets, thus gaining polemical superiority over Jews and Christians; Preservation of Arab national pride in the face of confrontation with the Iranian Shu'ubiyya movement, etc.

[202] Orientalist scholars Theodor Nöldeke, Friedrich Schwally and John Wansbrough pointing out linguistic defects held a similar opinions on Qur'anic text as careless and imperfect.

[215] Muslims believe the Quran to be God's literal words,[16] a complete code of life,[216] the final revelation to humanity, a work of divine guidance revealed to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.

[25][217][218][219] On the other hand it is believed in Muslim community that full understanding of it can only be possible with the depths obtained in the basic and religious sciences that the ulema (imams in shia[220]) might access, as "heirs of the prophets".

There is no standardization in Qur'an translations,[223] and interpretations range from traditional scholastic, to literalist-salafist understandings to esoteric-sufist, to modern and secular exegesis according to the personal scientific depth and tendencies of scholars.

Islamic verses appear in many other media, on buildings and on objects of all sizes, such as mosque lamps, metal work, pottery and single pages of calligraphy for muraqqas or albums.

A Quranic tafsir attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding and conviction of God's will in Islam.

[232]: 13 One of the notable authors of esoteric interpretation prior to the 12th century is al-Sulami's (d. 1021) book named Haqaiq al-Tafsir ('Truths of Exegesis') is a compilation of commentaries of earlier Sufis.

[237] Ismail Hakki Bursevi's (d. 1725) work ruh al-Bayan ('the Spirit of Elucidation') is a voluminous exegesis written in Arabic, combines the author's own ideas with those of his predecessors (notably Ibn Arabi and Ghazali).

These studies contain reflections and even distortions[240][241] caused by the region, sect,[242] education, ideology and knowledge of the people who made them, and efforts to reach the real content are drowned in the details of volumes of commentaries.

[note 9] Islamic tradition also holds that translations were made for Negus of Abyssinia and Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, as both received letters by Muhammad containing verses from the Quran.

Ibn Mujahid did not explain why he chose seven readers, rather than six or ten, but this may be related to a prophetic tradition (Muhammad's saying) reporting that the Quran had been revealed in seven ahruf.

[269][270] Whilst the majority of Islamic scribes were men, some women also worked as scholars and copyists; one such woman who made a copy of this text was the Moroccan jurist, Amina, bint al-Hajj ʿAbd al-Latif.

[o] In 1786, Catherine the Great of Russia, sponsored a printing press for "Tatar and Turkish orthography" in Saint Petersburg, with one Mullah Osman Ismail responsible for producing the Arabic types.