What is Quran?

[A Qur’an manuscript held by the University of Birmingham’s Cadbury Research Library has been placed among the oldest in the world thanks to modern scientific methods. Radiocarbon analysis has dated the parchment on which the text is written to the period between AD 568 and 645 with 95.4% accuracy. The test was carried out in a laboratory at the University of Oxford. The result places the leaves close to the time of the Prophet Muhammad, who lived between AD 570 and 632. Researchers conclude that the Qur’an manuscript is among the earliest written textual evidence of the Islamic holy book known to survive. This gives the Qur’an manuscript in Birmingham global significance to Muslim heritage and the study of Islam.]

Unique Among the World’s Sacred Texts

The Quran is one of the few books that literally changed the course of human history. Believers in this Book currently make up about a fifth of the human race. It is therefore not an understatement to say that the Quran occupies a unique place among the scriptures of the world.

The Quran is the only scripture that makes the following claims:

It is the direct, verbatim Word of God (6:104; 25:6; etc.)It is protected by God from any tampering or interpolation (15:9; 41:42);If anyone doubts the Quran is from God, they should produce a work comparable to it (2:23; 11:13; 17:88)

The Quran was revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace) from 610 to 632 CE. The first people to whom the Prophet conveyed the message of the Quran were masters of the Arabic language. The Quran challenged its detractors to produce a book like it if they thought the Quran was not from God Almighty (17:88). Later, the challenge was reduced to only 10 chapters (11:13). Finally the Quran’s challenge was to compose a single chapter of equal merit (2:23). The challenge was never met and continues to this day!

And it was not [possible] for this Quran to be produced by other than God, but [it is] a confirmation of what was [revealed] before it and a detailed explanation of the Scripture … (10:37)

The eloquence and beauty of the Quran, the clarity of its discourse, the power of its message were unsurpassed. In fact, the Quran was the first book in the Arabic language and remains to this day the foundational source of its grammar and morphology.

What may surprise many people is that the message of the Quran is not a new one. The Quran reminds us that God conveyed the same essential teachings to human beings throughout history.

And certainly We sent to every nation a messenger, (proclaiming): Worship God and shun false deities. (16.36)

What distinguishes the Quran for Muslims is that it is the last of a series of divinely revealed scriptures. Similarly, the Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace) is believed to be the last in a long line of divinely chosen guides and teachers.

Indeed We inspired you (O Prophet) as We inspired Noah and the prophets after him, as We inspired Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and as We imparted unto David the Psalms; And messengers We have mentioned to you before and messengers We have not mentioned to you; and God spoke directly to Moses … (4:163-4)

The spiritual kinship of the Prophets (may God bless them and grant them peace) is reflected in the unity of the human family. One human family; one message; One God.

O mankind! We have created you from a male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you might come to know one another. Indeed the most noble of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him. Surely God is All-Knowing, All-Aware. (49:13)

one-god-one-mankind-one-faith
http://houseofpeaceblr.blogspot.in/2013/03/one-god-one-mankind-one-faith.html