The Qur’an: Islam’s Central Text

Muslims believe the Qur’an is the literal word of Allah, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Jibril over roughly 23 years, and preserved in its original Arabic without alteration since then — Allah describes Himself in the text as its guardian: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian” (15:9). This is different from how the earlier scriptures are generally understood to have been transmitted, and is part of why the Qur’an holds the central place it does in Islam.

Structurally, the Qur’an is divided into 114 surahs (chapters) of varying length, further divided into ayat (verses). It is not arranged chronologically by when each part was revealed, or as a single continuous narrative — a new reader often finds this unfamiliar at first compared to reading a book start to finish, and that is a normal adjustment, not a sign of doing something wrong.

For a new Muslim, reading in translation from the beginning is a completely reasonable way to start engaging with its meaning, alongside gradually learning to read the Arabic script itself — the two are separate skills that can be developed side by side rather than one strictly before the other. This site’s Qur’an Reading & Tajweed course covers the Arabic reading skill step by step, and the Qur’an Reader provides the Arabic text alongside translation and audio recitation for following along.

There is no expectation that a new Muslim will immediately memorise large portions or understand every verse in depth — even lifelong Muslims continue studying the Qur’an throughout their lives. A practical starting point is learning a small number of short surahs needed for salah, then building outward from there at a manageable pace.