Qur'an

The Qur'an ({{lang-ar|أَلْقُرآن}} al-qur'ān literally "the recitation"; also called Al Qur'ān Al Karīm or "The Noble Qur'an"; or transliterated Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. It is a tenet of Islam that the Qur'an is the literal word of God in Arabic and the culmination of God's revelation to mankind, revealed to Muhammad, the final prophet of Islam, over a period of 23 years through the angel Jibril (Gabriel).

'Created' vs. 'uncreated' Qur'an

The most widespread varieties of Muslim theology consider the Qur'an to be eternal and 'uncreated'. Such an approach echoes Greek philosophy, especially Plato's theories that all ultimate realities and truths had to be eternal and unchanging. Given that Muslims believe that Biblical figures such as Moses and Jesus all preached Islam, the doctrine of an unchanging, uncreated revelation implies that contradictions between their statements according to the Qur'an and the Bible must be the result of human corruption of the earlier divine revelations.

Related Topics:
Philosophy - Plato - Moses - Jesus

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However, some, notably including the Mu'tazili and Ismaili sects, dispute this doctrine of the uncreated Qur'an. Various liberal movements within Islam implicitly or explicitly question the doctrine of the uncreated Qur'an when they address questions related to the application of Islamic law; some contemporary Muslim thinkers, such as Reza Aslan, have argued that such laws were created by God to meet the particular needs and circumstances of Muhammad's community.

Related Topics:
Mu'tazili - Ismaili - Liberal movements within Islam - Islamic law - Reza Aslan

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Among the many reasons the dissenting voices have offered for their critique of the doctrine of an eternal Qur'an has been its implications to the doctrine of tawhid, or unity of God. Holding that the Qur'an is the eternal uncreated speech of Allah, speech that has always existed alongside Him, seemed to some thinkers to be a step in the direction of a more plural concept of God's nature (which could lead to what Muslims consider the sin of shirk, the association of something with God). Concerned that this interpretation appeared to echo the Christian conception of God's eternal Word or logos, some Muslim philosophers and theologians rejected the notion of the Qur'an's eternality.

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