Qur'an: Béda antarrépisi

Dina [[tata basa]] Arab, kecap "qur'an" mangrupakeun masdar ([[kecap barang verbal]]) tina kecap gawé basa Arab قرأ ''qara'a'' ("maca" atawa "nyaritakeun"<ref>BYU Studies, vol. 40, nomer 4, 2001. Kaca 52</ref><ref>Lisan al-Arab[http://www.hawahome.com/books/open.php?cat=16&book=468 Lisan al-Arab]</ref>. Kecap ieu digunakeun dina Al Qur'an sorangan minangka istilah keur Al Qur'an, misalna dina Q.S [[Yusuf (surat)|12]]:2:

{{mainutama|Surat}}

Al Qur'an eusina aya [[114 (nomer)|114]] [[surat]] kalayan total 6236 [[ayat]].

[[Image:Large_KoranLarge Koran.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Page from a Qur'an<br />

170 x 109cm109&nbsp;cm (66 15/16 x 42 15/16in.)<br />

Most Muslims today use printed editions of the Qur'an. There are many editions, large and small, elaborate or plain, expensive or inexpensive [http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050605/images/05koran.jpg]. Bilingual forms with the Arabic on one side and a gloss into a more familiar language on the other are very popular.

Qur'ans are produced in many different sizes, from extremely large Qur'ans [http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/news/images/muslimcollege.jpg] [http://www.islamhoy.org/imagenes/quranweb.jpg] for display purposes, to extremely small Qur'ans [http://www.khabar.kz//khabar-images/img_pictures/koran.jpg].

Qur'ans were first printed from carved wooden blocks, one block per page. There are existing specimen of pages and blocks dating from the 10th century CE. Mass-produced less expensive versions of the Qur'an were later produced by [[lithography]], a technique for printing illustrations. Qur'ans so printed could reproduce the fine calligraphy of hand-made versions.

It is extremely difficult to render the full Qur'an, with all the points, in computer code, such as [[Unicode]]. The [[Internet Sacred Text Archive]] makes computer files of the Qur'an freely available both as images [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/quran/index.htm] and in a temporary Unicode version [http://www.sacred-texts.com/isl/uq/]. Various designers and software firms have attempted to develop computer fonts that can adequately render the Qur'an. See [http://www.diwan.com/mishafi/main.htm] for one such commercial font.

[[Gambar:Holy_quran_coverHoly quran cover.gif|right|thumb|150 px|The Qur'an]]

{{mainutama|Translation of the Qur'an}}

The Qur'an has been [[translated]] into many languages; there are several translations for many languages, including [[English language|English]]. These translations are considered to be glosses for personal use only, and have no weight in serious religious discussion. [[Translation]] is an extremely difficult endeavor, because each translator must consult his or her own opinions and aesthetic sense in trying to replicate shades of meaning in another language; this inevitably changes the original text. Thus a translation is often referred to as an "interpretation," and is not considered a real Qur'an. Just as Jewish and Christian scholars turn to the earliest texts, in Hebrew or Greek, when it is a question of exactly what is meant by a certain passage, so Muslim scholars turn to the Qur'an in Arabic.

[[Alexander Ross]] offered the first English version in 1649. In 1734, [[George Sale]] produced the first scholarly translation of the Qur'an into English; another was produced by [[Richard Bell]] in 1937, and yet another by [[Arthur John Arberry]] in 1955. All these translators were non-Muslims. There have been numerous translation by Muslims; the most popular of these are the translations by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan, Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al Hilali, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, M. H. Shakir, Muhammad Asad, and Marmaduke Pickthall.

There are many repeated epithets (e.g. "Lord of the heavens and the earth"), sentences ("And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis"), and even stories (such as the story of Adam) in the Qur'an. Muslim scholars explain these repetitions as emphasizing and explaining different aspects of important themes.

(Note that verse-final vowels are unpronounced when the verses are enunciated separately, a regular pausal phenomenon in [[classical Arabic]]. In these cases, ''î'' and ''û'' often rhyme, and there is some scope for variation in syllable-final consonants.) It should also be noted that many words rhyme in Arabic with or without the addition of a [[Declension|case]] ending [[suffix]] due to the repetition of common [[vowel]] sounds. [[Arabic poetry]] frequently makes use of this type of rhyme, often referred to as [[monorhyme]].

Twenty-nine suras begin with letters taken from a restricted subset of the [[Arabic alphabet]]. Thus, for instance, surat [[Maryam (sura)|Maryam]] begins

The Qur'an has sparked a huge body of commentary and explication. As discussed earlier, later Muslims did not always understand the Qur'an's Arabic, they did not catch allusions that were clear to early Muslims, and they were extremely concerned to reconcile apparent contradictions and conflicts in the Qur'an. Commentators glossed the Arabic, explained the allusions, and perhaps most importantly, decided which Quranic verses had been revealed early in Muhammad's prophetic career, as being appropriate to the very earliest Muslim community, and which had been revealed later, canceling out or "[[naskh (exegesis)|abrogating]]" (''nāsikh'') the earlier text. Memories of the ''occasions of revelation ([[asbab al-nuzul|asbāb al-nuzūl]])'', the circumstances under which Muhammad had spoken as he did, were also collected, as they were believed to explain some apparent obscurities. It should be noted that not all Muslims believe that there are abrogations in the text of the Qur'an, and insist that there are no contradictions or unclear passages to explain.

Most commentators considered it extremely important for commentators to explain how the Qur'an was revealed -- whenrevealed—when and under which circumstances. Much commentary, or [[tafsir]], was dedicated to history. The early tafsir are considered to be some of the best sources for Islamic history. Famous early commentators include [[at-Tabari]] and [[Ibn Kathir]].

{{mainutama|Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an}}

The Qur'an retells stories of many of the people and events recounted in [[Judaism|Jewish]] and [[Christianity|Christian]] sacred books ([[Tanakh]], [[Bible]]) and devotional literature ([[Apocrypha]], [[Midrash]]), although it differs in many details. [[Adam and Eve|Adam]], [[Enoch]], [[Noah]], [[Heber]], [[Shelah]], [[Abraham]], [[Lot]], [[Ishmael]], [[Isaac]], [[Jacob]], [[Joseph]], [[Job]], [[Jethro]], [[David]], [[Solomon]], [[Elijah]], [[Elisha]], [[Jonah]], [[Aaron]], [[Moses]], [[Zechariah]], [[Jesus]], and [[John the Baptist]] are mentioned in the Qur'an as prophets of God (see [[Prophets of Islam]] )(a list with additional people is in [[Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an]]). Muslims believe the common elements or resemblances between the Bible and other Jewish and Christian writings and Islamic dispensations is due to the common divine source. Muslims believe that the Christian or Jewish texts were authentic divine revelations given to prophets. Some Muslims claim that they were neglected or corrupted (''[[tahrif|]]''tahrif'']]) by the Jews and Christians and have been replaced by God's final and perfect revelation, which is the Qur'an. <ref> [[Bernard Lewis]], [[The Jews of Islam]] (1984). Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00807-8. p.69 </ref> However the historical biblical archaeological record refutes this assertion because the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] (Old Testament and other Jewish writings) have been fully translated <ref> The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible: The Oldest Known Bible Translated for the First Time into English (2002) HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 0-06-060064-0 </ref>, validating the authenticity of the greek [[Septuagint]] (Old Testament)<ref> http://www.septuagint.net </ref>.

{{mainutama|Origin and development of the Qur'an}}

Other scholars have proposed that some development of the text of the Qur'an took place after the death of Muhammad and before the currently accepted version of the Qur'an stabilized. Western academic scholars associated with such theories include [[John Wansbrough]], [[Patricia Crone]], [[Michael Cook]], [[Christoph Luxenberg]], and [[Gerd R. Puin]].

Keith L. Moore is mostly known for his Embryology textbook. He has claimed that the Quran is divine and contains accurate scientific statements about the formation of the embryo from the mixing of the male and female gametes up to the embryo’s full development. He's said to have remarked "It has been a pleasure for me to help clarify statements in the Qur’an about Human Development. It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God or Allah because almost all of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later."{{cn}}

* [[Gerd R. Puin|Puin, Gerd R.]] -- "Observations on Early Qur'an Manuscripts in Sana'a," in The Qur'an as Text, ed. Stefan Wild, , E.J. Brill 1996, pp. 107-111&nbsp;107–111 (as reprinted in ''What the Koran Really Says'', ed. Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books, 2002)