23-Aug-15 Why is the Qur’an so important to Mislims? Learning Objectives To be able to describe the contents of the Qur’an To be able to explain why and how Muslims respect the Qur’an.

Task 1 Complete the word square on the Qur’an. It should read; The Qur’an is the holy book of Islam. Muslims believe its content was revealed by Allah to the Prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel over a period of twenty three years as Muhammad meditated in a cave on Mount Hira quite near Mecca.

What is the Qur’an? The Qur’an is the holy book of Muslims. Muslims believe that it is the word of Allah and was revealed to Muhammad by the Angel Jibril (Gabriel). Muhammad received the first messages whilst meditating in Cave Hira. Cave Hira

According to tradition Muhammad could not read or write, so everything he heard from the Angel Jibril had to be remembered and then written down by his followers. They wrote on camel bones, scraps of paper, leather and leaves.

What is the Qur’an like? It is written in Arabic and Muslims believe that it must not be changed. Because of this they do not accept translations into other languages as being a ‘proper’ version of the Qur’an. All Muslims have to learn to read it in Arabic. It is organised in 114 chapters called Surahs, each of these has a name and a number. Apart from Surah 9 each of these starts with “In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful”.

The Qur’an is written in Arabic and is read from right to left – so people start reading the Qur’an from what WE think is the back of the book. Muslims feel the words of the Qur’an are so sacred and special that they should be written in the most perfect and beautiful way possible. To show how precious and important the words of Allah are they decorated copies of the Qur’an into works of art There are no pictures of humans or animals in the Qur’an because Muslims feel it is wrong to try and copy the works of Allah.

How do Muslims respect the Qur’an? The Qur'an is never laid on the floor. When not in use it is wrapped in silk and kept on top of the highest piece of furniture in the room. Muslims must not eat, drink, chew or use bad language in front of the Qur’an. Muslims try to sit in a special position to read the Qur'an to remind themselves that it is no ordinary book. They often sit cross-legged on the floor, with the Qur'an on a special stand called a kursi.

Muslims take great pleasure in learning portions of the Qur’an off by heart. Some people learn the whole of the Qur’an off by heart and are given the special title of Hafiz.

Task 2 Draw a Qur’an in the centre of a clean page in your exercise books and add information about the Qur’an around it (like a spider diagram).

An Example What does it contain? How was it written? How is respect for the Qur’an shown? How is it used?

The Last Piece of Paper in the World. You are in possession of the very last piece of paper in the world. This is your one and only opportunity to provide advice and guidance to future generations. What would you write on this precious piece of paper?

Homework Task Create the Last Piece of Paper in the World Add to it the advice and guidance you think would be most useful and valuable to future generations. You may use a computer or produce a handwritten version. You may use methods to make the paper look like parchment (old-fashioned paper).