The Holy Quran is the religious book of the Islamic community, and it is said to be the word of God. As God is alive and knows, He must have life, power, knowledge, and speech. His speech is the word, the Quran. The Quran contains the revelations given to the Holy Prophet of Islam, Prophet Muhammad. The literal meaning of Islam was revealed through angel Gabriel (on whom be peace) and was thus preserved in the Holy Quran. The main message of Islam is to worship God and to treat all God`s creation with kindness and compassion.

The Quran contains the spoken words of Allah. The word is revealed in the Arabic language and it is noted for its inimitable excellent language. It has 114 chapters, which are not chronologically arranged. These revelations had not been collected during his lifetime though partial collections had been made. A definitive collection was begun during the reign of his successor and this was revised during the reign of Caliph Uthman (645-656). The different pronouncements by the Prophet at different intervals were recorded and arranged in their present form by orders of Uthman. It must be remembered that the imperfect script of the time was more like a shorthand report of a speech than the printed version. The methods of collection varied- short prosaic pieces were often joined together to make long chapters. Many of the short poetical passages were left as separate chapters. Finally the resultant chapters were arranged roughly in accordance with length, beginning with the longest. The prophet was not a man of letters. Therefore, the utterances in the Quran are considered to be genuine speech of God himself.

The contents of the Holy Quran fall into two groups- those delivered at Mecca and those at Medina respectively. In the first, illusions to current events are few, and as little is known about Muhammad`s life at Mecca there are no external means of dating the various pieces. The only way for determining their order is on the basis of the style. In the Medina period are references to current events and the history is well known so the sections can be dated. The sentences are long and the language has become prose with rhyming words at intervals. The subject matter is laws, comments on public events, statements of policy, etc.

There are seven or ten different `readings` of the Quran. These are for the most part different ways of pronouncing the text, omission or assimilation of certain letters. The contents of the Quran were either divided into the obvious and the ambiguous. It was recognized that some passages were capable of more than one interpretation.

The Quran is referred by the Muslims for all teachings about God, Angels, the Prophet, Resurrection, and the day of reckoning and the theory of heaven and hell. The Quran contains the final and definite revelation of God`s will for the guidance of man. It is the foundation of the whole Islamic structure.