QURA'N

   the HOLY BOOK of ISLAM which was REVEALED by GOD through the ANGEL GABRIEL to MUHAMMUD who commissioned various scribes to record it. The name means "that which is 'read' or 'recited.'" The essential teachings are that God is One and that He demands absolute submission from mankind; hence the name of the religion

   ISLAM. MUSLIMS believe that the QUR'N was given by WAHY--REVELATION--which is not to be confused with ILHM or INSPIRATION. For Muslims the QUR'N is the eternal WORD OF GOD and as such is a DIVINE attribute. Islamic teaching about the QUR'N does not correspond to CHRISTIAN views about the person of CHRIST as the INCARNATION of God instead, Christ is seen by the QUR'N as a prophet of God. While Christians believe that the BIBLE was inspired by God they also accept that it was written by men. Muslims reject such a view insisting that the QUR'N is uniquely the Word of God without human intervention. Therefore, while it is correct to speak of PAUL as the author of Romans, it is incorrect to say that the QUR'N was written by Muhammad. Nevertheless, originally a number of variant readings existed which were destroyed on the orders of AB BAKR to avoid confusion and the type of problem CHRISTIANS face with the SYNOPTIC GOSPELS. A further difficulty involves the question of translation. Because the QUR'N is believed to have been spoken by God its language is SACRED and considered inimitable, therefore, pious Muslims argue that it cannot be translated and only truly exists in Arabic. To the extent that English versions exist, they must be regarded as renditions rather than translations. Such an approach is taken by Marmaduke Pickthall in his The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'n (1930).