Islamic Holy Books

Islamic Holy Books

1. The Qur'an

   • Revelation
     • -The Qur'an has 114 chapters which contain 6237 verses
     • 86 chapters were revealed to the prophet Muhammad during his 13 years in Makkah, the others while he was in Madinah
     • the first revelation happened on the night of power, a direct message from Allah through the angel Jibril
     • The book is the will of Allah
     • All muslims believe the revelations were complete by the time Muhammad died
   • Compilation
     • Some Hadith say Muhammad left behind 2 examples, the Qur'an and the Sunnah
     • Many Muslims Claim different things about when the book was finished
     • The competed copies were passed onto the Caliphs, the 3rd Caliph made sure the Qur'an spread with Islam
     • Since the 7th century, there have been many different versions but they all have the same teachings
   • Importance
     • The Qur'an is the direct word of Allah and is only infallible in its original language because the translation isn't the complete word of Allah
     • The Qur'an has supreme Authority because it covers every aspect of life, past,present and future
     • It contains the Shari'ah law and social systems
     • It contains the basics of worship
     • It influences a person throughout their lives
     • It explains the creation and other ultimate questions
     • It provides guidance

2. The Torah

   • The first five books of the bible
   • It was put together by his followers but some texts were changed so it isn't the complete word of Allah
   • it doesn't exist in its original text or language
   • The revelations given to Moses
   • The Qur'an states that it confirms what happened before
   • The Qur'an refers to it as 'guidance and light', revealed by Allah and very important. the Qur'an also suggests that it was taught by all

3. The scrolls of Ibrahim

   • Very little is known about the scrolls
   • The revelations were said to have been received on the first day of Ramadan
   • The scrolls contain Parable like stories
   • the scrolls were written on parchment but perished over time
   • It is agreed that they weren't a book but individual revelations

4. Psalms (Zabur)

   • One of the other 2 holy books of Islam
   • They are the Psalms of Dawud
     • Dawud was a great king whose people were God fearing and righteous
   • They contain lessons of guidance for people and Dawud recited them in song verse
   • They are a collection of prayers to Allah
   • an important message is the idea of the Messiah.
     • For Muslims Jesus was the Messiah and will return

5. Gosples (injil)

   • good news about Isa written by his disciples
     • Muslims highly respect Isa as there are revelations about him in the Qur'an
   • Muslims believe that
     • He was born of a Virgin mother
     • He was the messiah
     • That he wasn't the son of Allah because Allah could have no followers. Instead they believe he followed Allah
     • He wasn't crucified, he only ascended to heaven
     • He didn't die to save sins because Allah is all compassionate
     • That the gospels contain mistakes because they were written years after his death

6. Authority

   • All four books are referred to in the Qur'an so they are all important
     • Muhammad talked about them this gives them authority
     • They are associated with key prophets
     • However
       • some are lost and no one knows what they say
       • It is alleged that they have been changed
       • The Qur'an has supreme authority
       • They weren't preserved like the Qur'an