Ted DeNicola, age 16, of Meridian, Miss., for his question:
WHEN WAS THE KORAN WRITTEN?
The Koran is the sacred book of the Muslims. The name Koran means a recitation or something to be recited, presumably in worship. Muslims believe its contents are the revelations made to Muhammad by Allah.
The revelations started about A.D. 610 and continued until Muhammad's death in 632.
After Muhammad's death, his followers started to write down many of the revelations they had memorized. They collected them into the book that is now known as the Koran.
The standard text of the Koran was formed about 652, during the reign of Caliph Othman. Muslims consider the Koran to be the words of God Himself, and in no sense the composition of Muhammad. They believe that the earthly book, bound between covers, is a copy of the "Well Preserved Tablet," an eternal book that is preserved in heaven.
The Koran is a bit shorter than the New Testament. It consists of verses grouped into 114 chapters, called "suras." The chapters vary in length from a few lines to several hundred verses. The Koran is written in rhymed Arabic. The language is especially rich, forceful and beautiful.
The word for God in Arabic is "Allah." The central teaching of the Koran is that there is only one Allah and He is the creator of the universe and requires Islam or submission to Himself. Allah, in His mercy, sent the Koran as a guide for mankind
Another important teaching concerns the prophets who have been God's messengers to different peoples. The Koran mentions prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and others. It decribes Muhammad as the last of the prophets.
The Koran speaks of a day of judgment when each man shall stand before God to account for his life. It contains many specific teachings designed to regulate the daily lives of Muslims. It stresses charity, brotherly love and a need for daily prayers.
The Koran also teaches that one should be humble in spirit, temperate, brave and just.
The Koran is one of the most widely read books in the world and its influence is great. Its teachings formed the basis of the great Islamic civilization of the past and it still guides and inspires millions of Muslims.
The Koran is the final authority in matters of faith and practice for all Muslims. The reverence for the holy book is so great that thousands of Muslims learn it by heart.
For hundreds of years, Muslims refused to translate the Koran into other languages. They thought they should preserve the words of God in their original form. But recently, the Koran has been translated into Eastern and Western languages.