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).

The temporal order of Quranic verses

Belief in the Qur'an's direct, uncorrupted divine origin is considered fundamental to Islam by most Muslims. This of course entails believing that the Qur'an has neither errors nor inconsistencies.

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: "This is the book in which there is no doubt, a guide to the believers": Surat al-Baqarah, verse 2.)

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However, there are instances where some verses presuppose that a given practice is allowed, while others forbid it. These are interpreted by Muslims in the light of the relative chronology of the verses: since the Qur'an was revealed over a course of 23 years, many verses were clarified or abrogated (mansūkh) by later verses. Muslim commentators explain that this is because Muhammad was directed to gradually lead his small band of believers towards the straight path, rather than reveal the full rigor of the law at once. For example, the prohibition of alcohol was accomplished gradually rather than immediately. The earliest verse tells the believers to "Approach not prayers with a mind befogged, until ye can understand all that ye say, ..." (4:43), a prohibition of drunkenness but not alcohol. Later verses expanded prohibition to all alcohol consumption: "They ask thee concerning wine and gambling, say: "In them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit..."(2:219).

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In addition, there are cases where most Muslim scholars accept the doctrine of "abrogation" (naskh), whereby verses revealed later sometimes supersede verses received earlier. Which verses abrogate which others, if any, is, however, a controversial matter.

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