The only real theological argument I have ever seen in Islam was over the status of the Qur'an as either uncreated or created. The consensus which came out is that the Qur'an is like the attributes of Allah subhannahu wa ta'ala(Glorified and Exalted be He!) and is uncreated, and has existed for all time.
The Qur'an is in Arabic. English versions are essentially commentary, and are not considered to be the Qur'an at all, but simply the explanation of the meaning according to the translator. There are seven qirâ'ât (usually translated as "variant readings") of it, with different pronunciations and manners of recitations of the text.
The Holy Quran translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali in 1934, is one of the most widely used English translation of the Quran. He included commentary and interpretation to the translation. Though muslims believe no translation can replace the original Quran in Arabic.
The Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translations of the verses of the Quran are available on the net including at following web sites, most courtesy of The Islamic Computing Centre, London.
The Abdullah Yusuf Ali's translation by Surah / Chapters.
A number of Surah / Chapters are too big, bigger than 32,725 bytes. Linked to robwicks wup for Surah 2 The Cow - II
updated September 13, 2003
The Koran is the word of God as revealed to Muhammed on the road to Medina around AD 600.
Muslims believe the Koran to be the exact words as spoken by God to Muhammed.
But in AD 633 a large number of Huffaz, men who memorise and recite the Koran, were killed in various battles and so the Muslim community began to use writing to communicate. The Arabic script spread to three continents following the founding of Islam.
It's beautiful, is all I can say. It lights up your mind even without knowledge of what the sounds mean, it is after all a recitation, and of superb poetry to boot.
You can listen to some of it here:
http://www.kuran.gen.tr/html/english2/#kapat
No body ever converts to Islam by reading the Quran, I think the process is more one of realizing that you are a Muslim, have been since birth, and have only now come to see it. It is not a burden to be added to your back, a set of new duties, rules, or restrictions, to be adhered to dogmatically. The Quran doesn't liberate you, but it does give you the tools and strength to liberate yourself. It forces you into independence of mind, making you consider the truth of things in open light of day. It encourages critical thought and the gaining of knowledge, directed everywhere, even at itself.
I personally went through a heavily critical period against the Quran and Islam in my early teenagerhood, and I could be said to never have left it. The surprising thing is that 11 years later, I find myself in more awe of the book than when I began, and I would regard myself as being infinitely more capable at pragmatic and cynical analysis than when I began. The Quran is responsible for my entire existence as human being, it dragged me kicking and screaming into being an idealist while others around me chose nihilism and relativism.
The knowledge it gave me of Allah, my life, and what it is to be good, human, and alive are the cornerstones of my foray into the world of sense and thought.
The holy book of Islam, considered to contain the literal words of God Himself.
The Qur'an, also spelled Koran or Quran (but pronounced "Qoor-ann") forms the basis of Islamic teachings. It translates to "The Recitation" or more literally as the thing excessively recited, as it is the most read book.
Suddenly, he felt himself being squeezed so tight that he could not breathe. Before he could bear it no longer, the voice repeated, "Read." Confused, he protested, "But I can't read!" The same crushing feeling overwhelmed him, and he could hardly stand it anymore when the pressure was released and the voice gave the command for a third time, "Read." Muhammad, not wanting to endure the pain again, asked, "What should I read?"
The voice began to recite melodious-sounding words:
"Read in the name of your Lord who created humans from a clinging [Zygote]. Read for your Lord is the Most Generous. He taught people by the pen what they didn't know before."(Qur'an 96:1-5)
For the next 23 years, Muhammad (pbuh) would receive revelations from God, delivered by the archangel Gabriel (as). The Qur'an was given orally to Muhammad, who would then ask people to write down and preserve the verses as he dictated them. Therefore, the Qur'an was not revealed all at once. It grew larger over time, until the last month of Muhammad's life when the revelation was complete and all the chapters and verses were complete.
The Qur'an was, and still is, divided into 114 chapters called Surahs, each of different length. The Surahs constitute over 6,600 verses called ayahs that cover an extremely wide variety of subjects. Sometimes entire surahs were revealed at once, on other occasions groups of ayahs would come, and Muhammad (pbuh) would tell people in which Surah to include them. Muslims believe all of this went on, arrangement and all, under the direction of the archangel Gabriel.
The revelations usually concerned issues at hand when the verse was provided to Muhammad. When Muhammad and his followers were in Mecca and struggling to lay a foundation for their faith, the surahs that were revealed revolved around themes like monotheism, living righteously and virtuously, and the eventual triumph and victory of Islam (even though it was persecuted at the time). Those are known as the Meccan Surahs. After that, when he and his followers went to Medina and Islam settled into the life of the city, the core of the message focused on laws and social principles.
Sometimes non-Muslims would challenge Muhammad to talk about subjects they knew he wouldn't know anything about, and suddenly a revelation would appear that explained the matter. For example, a group of people in Medina asked Muhammad (pbuh) about the prophet Joseph (pbuh) and his adventures in Egypt, thinking that he would be stumped as he had never read the Torah. Surah Yusuf (Joseph), an entire chapter of over 100 verses, was revealed on the spot in answer. People were amazed, because they knew Muhammad was illiterate and never read a bible or Torah, and was suddenly able to recite a revelation immediately on the topic, in a style better than any Arabic poetry, when he was not known for being a poet or anything similiar.
Muhammad(pbuh) described four ways in which he received revelations from God. The first was through dreams at night, when the verses of the Qur'an
