The definition of the Qur'an

From: http://www.dislam.org/content/view/335/38/

Written by Ali Unal

According to most scholars, the word Qur'an is an infinitive form of the verb qa-ra-e (reading or reciting) and so literally means a thing recited by adding letters and words to one another. Others say it comes from another infinitive, qar'ü (to collect), and so the Qur'an means "that which collects." 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas narrates that qur'an in: It is for Us to collect it and promulgate it (75:17) means being collected and established in the heart. For this reason, some assert that since the Qur'an collects and contains the "fruit" of all previous Scriptures and all knowledge, it is called Qur'an.

According to Abu Musa al-Ash'ari and those sharing his opinions, Qur'an is derived from the verb qa-ra-ne (adding and attaching one thing to another) and, since it consists of chapters and verses arranged together, it was named Qur'an. Other scholars, among them Imam Shafi'i, affirm that qur'an was not derived from any word, but rather is the proper name given to the Book that God revealed to His Last Messenger.

The Qur'an is the Word of God and therefore eternal (having no beginning in time) and uncreated. But as a book conveyed to the Prophet by Archangel Gabriel and composed of letters and words, recited, touched, and listened to, it is not eternal.1

The general definition of the Qur'an is as follows: The Qur'an is the miraculous Word of God revealed to Prophet Muhammad, written down and transmitted to succeeding generations by many reliable channels, and whose recitation is an act of worship and obligatory in daily prayers.2

The Qur'an describes some of its features as follows:
The month of Ramadan in which the Qur'an was sent down as a guidance for humanity and clear proofs of the Guidance and the Criterion. (2:185)
This Qur'an could not have been invented (by anyone) apart from God, but confirms what was (revealed) before it, a fuller explanation of the Book—wherein there is no doubt—from the Lord of the Worlds. (10:37)
We have sent it as an Arabic Qur'an that you may understand and use your reason. (12:2)
This Qur'an guides to that which is most right, and gives good tidings to believers who do deeds of righteousness, that theirs will be a great reward. (17:9)
And in truth We have made the Qur'an easy to reflect and take lesson, but will any take heed? (54:17)That this is a noble Qur'an, in a hidden, guarded Book. (56:77-78)

The Qur'an has other titles, each of which describe one of its aspects and thus can be regarded as one of its attributes, such as: the Book, the Criterion, the Remembrance, the Advice, the Light, the Guidance, the Healer, the Noble, the Book in Pairs, the Mother of the Book, the Truth, the Admonishment, the Good Tiding, the Book Gradually Revealed, the Knowledge, and the Clear.

The Qur'an is the book that Prophet Muhammad conveyed to humanity as God's Word and that testifies to his Prophethood. Being his greatest miracle, it challenges the Arabs of that time and all people to come until the Last Day to produce even a single chapter like it. The Qur'an is unparalleled among Divine Scriptures as regards its preservation and transmittal to later generations without the slightest alteration. There is no difference among the copies of the Qur'an that have circulated throughout the world since its first revelation.

Concerning the Qur'an, Prophet Muhammad says:
The Qur'an distinguishes between truth and falsehood. It is not for fun, for those who reject it will be punished. It contains the history of previous peoples and tidings of those who will come later, and rules on people's disagreements. Those who look elsewhere for guidance are led astray by God. It is God's strong rope, the wise instruction, and the Straight Path. It is a book that desires cannot deviate or tongues confuse, one that does not bore scholars or wear them out due to repetition, and one possessing uncountable admirable aspects. All who hear it say: "We heard a wonderful Qur'an guiding to righteousness, and so we believe in it." Those who base their words on it speak truly. Whoever judges by it judges justly, and whoever calls to it calls to truth.3

We close this topic with Said Nursi's definition:
The Qur'an is an eternal translation of the great book of the universe and the everlasting translator of the various "languages" in which Divine laws of the creation and operation of the universe are "inscribed"; the interpreter of the books of the visible, material world and the world of the Unseen; the discoverer of the immaterial treasuries of the Divine Names hidden on Earth and in the heavens; the key to the truths which lie beneath the lines of events; the tongue of the Unseen world in the visible, material one; the treasury of the favors of the All-Merciful One and the eternal addresses of the All-Glorified One coming from the world of the Unseen beyond the veil of this visible world; the sun of the spiritual and intellectual world of Islam and its foundation and plan; the sacred map of the worlds of the Hereafter; the expounder, the lucid interpreter, articulate proof, and clear translator of the Divine "Essence," Attributes, Names and acts; the educator and trainer of the world of humanity and the water and light of Islam, which is the true and greatest humanity; the true wisdom of humankind and their true guide leading them to happiness; and for human beings it is both a book of law, a book of prayer, a book of wisdom, a book of worship and servanthood to God, and a book of commands and invitation, a book of invocation, and a book of reflection, a holy book containing books for all the spiritual needs of humankind, and a heavenly book which, like a sacred library, contains numerous booklets from which all the saints and the eminently truthful, and all the purified and discerning scholars have derived their ways peculiar to each, and which illuminates each of these ways and answers the needs of all those with different tastes and temperaments who follow them.

Having come from the Supreme Throne of God, and originated in His Greatest Name, and issued forth from the most comprehensive rank of each Name, the Qur'an is both the word of God as regards His being the Lord of the worlds, and His decree in respect of His having the title of the Deity of all creatures, and a discourse in the name of the Creator of all the heavens and Earth, and a speech from the perspective of the absolute Divine Lordship, and an eternal sermon on behalf of the universal Sovereignty of the All-Glorified One, and a register of the favors of the All-Merciful One from the viewpoint of the all-embracing Mercy, and a collection of messages some of which begin with a cipher, and a holy book which, having descended from the surrounding circle of the Divine Greatest Name, looks over and surveys the circle surrounded by
the Supreme Throne of God.

It is because of all these that the title of "Word of God" has been, and will always be, given to the Qur'an most deservedly. After the Qur'an come the Scriptures and Pages which were sent to some other Prophets. As for the other countless Divine words, some of them are conversations in the form of inspirations coming as the particular manifestations of a particular aspect of Divine Mercy, Sovereignty, and Lordship under a particular title with particular regard. The inspirations coming to angels, human beings and animals vary greatly with regard to their universality or particularity.

The Qur'an is a heavenly book, which contains in brief the Scriptures revealed to the previous Prophets in different ages, and the content of the treatises of all the saints with different temperaments, and the works of all the purified scholars each following a way particular to himself; the six sides of which are bright and absolutely free of the darkness of doubts and whimsical thoughts; whose point of support is with certainty Divine Revelation and the Divine eternal Word, whose aim is manifestly eternal happiness, and whose inside is manifestly pure guidance.

And it is surrounded and supported: from above by the lights of faith, from below by proof and evidence, from the right by the submission of the heart and the conscience, and from the left by the admission of reason and other intellectual faculties. Its fruit is with absolute certainty the mercy of the Most Merciful One, and Paradise; and it has been accepted and promoted by angels and innumerable people and jinn through the centuries.4

1. 'Abdurrahman Cetin, Kur'an Ilimleri ve Kur'an-i Kerim Tarihi (Istanbul: 1982), 30-32.18 2. Hayreddin Karaman, Fikih Usulu (Istanbul: n.d.), 67. 3. O. Zeki Mollamehmedoglu, Sunen-i Tirmizi Tercumesi, vol. 5, hadith no: 3069, 3093.4. Said Nursi, The Words (trans.) (Izmir: Kaynak, 1998), 2:2-4.