Introductory Notes on the Quran

Abstract: The Quran is a compilation of utterances by the Prophet Muhammad which all Muslims hold to be divinely inspired. The Quran is thus understood in Islam as a revelation from God (Allah). Muslim intellectuals spent a great deal of effort, in subsequent history, to understand and elucidate these ideas. The precise way in which the 'speech' of God, who in the monotheistic traditions is seen as beyond space and time, and beyond human attributes or expressions (including 'speech') enters into historical discourse was one of the issues which exercised their minds (though it was not cast or conceived of in quite these words).