The Qur'an
📖 In short
The Qur'an is the word of God, sent down to our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ through the angel Gabriel, peace be upon him, as a light and guidance for people. We recite it in prayer, learn its surahs by heart, and learn from it how to worship God and be good to people.
خيرُكم مَن تعلّم القرآنَ وعلّمه.The best of you are those who learn the Qur'an and teach it.
🤩 Did you know?
- The Qur'an has 114 surahs.
- The Qur'an is divided into 30 juz' and 60 hizb.
- Surat al-Baqarah is the longest surah, with 286 verses.
- Surat al-Kawthar is the shortest surah, with only 3 verses.
🔎 Find out more
🌟 The first revelation
The Prophet ﷺ used to worship in the cave of Hira near Makkah, when Gabriel came to him and said: “Read!” The first verses sent down were: “Read in the name of your Lord who created.” Then the Qur'an was sent down bit by bit over about twenty-three years.
🔍 Surahs and juz'
The Qur'an has one hundred and fourteen surahs. The first is al-Fatihah, the longest al-Baqarah and the shortest al-Kawthar. It is divided into thirty parts (juz'), so reading one part a day finishes it in a month.
💡 Memorizing the Qur'an
God has protected the Qur'an, so not a single letter of it has changed. Today millions of Muslims know it by heart, many of them young children. We usually start with the short surahs at the end of the mushaf.
🎯 Manners of reciting
We read the Qur'an in a state of purity, calmly and slowly, with a beautiful voice. We listen carefully when it is recited, and try to understand its meanings and act on them.
📚 Key words
- Surah
- A group of verses with a name, a beginning and an end
- Verse
- A sentence of the Qur'an with a beginning and an end inside a surah
- Mushaf
- The book the Qur'an is written in
🌱 Put it into practice today
Pick a short surah you don't know yet, and read one verse of it each day with one of your parents until you know it all, then play “Put the verses in order”.
🧩 Test yourself
1 Who was the Qur'an sent down to?
2 Where were the first verses of the Qur'an sent down?
3 How many juz' are in the Qur'an?