History of the Quran

The history of Quran deals with the timeline and origin of the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book and its written compilations into manuscripts. It spans several centuries, based on historical findings and forms an important part of early Islamic history.

According to Muslim belief and Islamic scholarly accounts, the revelation of the Quran began in 610 A.D. when the angel Gabriel (Arabic: جبريل, Jibrīl or جبرائيل, Jibrāʾīl) appeared to Muhammad in the cave Hira near Mecca, reciting to him the first verses of Surah Al-Alaq. Throughout his life, Muslims believe that Muhammad continued to have revelations until before his death in 632.[1] The Quran as it is known in the present, was first compiled into book format by Zayd ibn Thabit and other scribes under the third caliph Uthman (r. 644 - 56).[2] For this reason, the Quran as it exists today is also known as the Uthmanic codex.[3] According to Professor Francis Edward Peters (1927), what was done to the Quran in the process seems to have been extremely conservative and the content was formed in a mechanical fashion to avoid redactional bias.[4]