Muhittin Akgul - The Quran in 99 Questions

The Quran is the final Revelation sent by God to humanity. The Holy Scripture, which guides humanity to being prosperous in both this world and in the Hereafter, has numerous distinctive features, such as its universality, inimitableness, power of expression, its preservation from the time of the Revelation to the present time, and the Divine promise that it will be guarded until the end of time.

The Quran has reached us today without the least change since the time of its revelation fourteen centuries ago. The Companions of the Prophet and the following Muslim generations were devoted to their Book more than any other people being devoted to their own, and they preserved it without the smallest alteration. They committed the Quran in its entirety to memory and compiled Quranic manuscript as a single volume so that it could be soundly transmitted to following generations. The later generations employed the same precision, meticulous care, and dedication in studying, reflecting upon, and committing the entire Quran to memory.

Peculiar only to the Quran is that fact that it is actively taught for memorization to thousands and thousands of people. Muslim girls and boys are taught to read and memorize the passages of the Quran, and throughout different stages of life, people recite the Quran on various occasions and in their day-to-day life. The endeavor to memorize the Quran in its entirety is such a widespread practice among Muslims that there are many people, from young to old, all over the world who can recite the whole Quran from memory without any errors.

Gods Messenger had more than forty scribes of Revelation who were responsible for recording the Quran. The Prophet summoned his scribes and carefully dictated the Revelations to them in the presence of the Companions. In addition, the Companions exerted great efforts to have the revealed portions of the Quran written down for their personal copies. They also recited the coming Revelations in the presence of the Prophet so that they would be able to commit them to memory with no errors.

It is possible that some people may attempt to speak against the Quran, thus casting doubt on its authenticity; this is something that has been done since the first Revelations. However, when one contemplates the verses of Gods Message, as they understand it better, and become acquainted with how it has been preserved with the same care and dedication after the Prophet passed away, remaining exactly the same as it was revealed, then they are better to understand how the Quran we hold in our hands today is no different from the texts the Companions held in their hands.

There is no difference between the Quran that was recited during the earliest period of Islam and any Quran that is printed and recited today. In addition, a great number of studies and resources are available on the Quran, and there are practically no subjects about the Quran that have not yet been talked or written about. However, many people have little or no time to free themselves from their doubts and search for that which they want to learn from or about the Quran, particularly with the hectic pace of modern daily life. Taking into account the use of the media to feed the flames of anti-Islamic prejudice and to spread false information about the Quran, it is absolutely necessary that there are publications that provide answers to questions and which present practical information that will help gain easy access to the Quran.

God willing, I hope that the answers to the questions discussed in the book are accessible to everyone, regardless of their cultural or religious background, including those who are interested in exploring the fundamentals as well as the different aspects of the Quran. The references used in this work, directly or indirectly, except verses from the Quran and the hadiths, have not been included so as not to distract the reader; they are given as shared sources in the bibliography. I humbly submit this work, hoping that it will be of benefit to the readers and pray that it may become a means for Divine blessings.