The Qur’an, literally “the recitation” is the main religious text of Islam, also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Kuran, Koran, Qur’ān, Coran or al-Qur’ān. Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the verbal divine guidance and moral direction for mankind. Muslims also consider the original Arabic verbal text to be the final revelation of God.

Muslims believe that the Qur’an was revealed from God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel from 610 to 632 CE, the year of his death. Muhammad recited the Qur’an to his followers, numbering tens of thousands, who recited after him, until they had memorized it. He also dictated it to his scribes (Muhammad was illiterate) who wrote down its verses during his life. Shortly after Muhammad's death the Qur’an was established textually into a single book form by the order of the first Caliph Abu Bakr. During the reign of Uthman, the third Caliph, the Qur'an was standardized: Uthman compiled Abu Bakr's copy of the Qur’anic text, set it in the standard Quraish dialect called Fus'ha (Modern Standard Arabic), made several copies of the now standardized text and burned the non-standard texts. Muslims hold the present form of the Qur’an as exactly the same as that revealed to Muhammad. Most scholars and historians accept the present day Qur'an is the original version compiled by Abu Bakr shortly after Muhammad's death.

Muslims regard the Qur’an as the main miracle of Muhammad, as proof of his prophethood, and as the culmination of a series of divine messages. These started, according to Islamic belief, with the messages revealed to Adam, regarded in Islam as the first prophet, and continued with the Suhuf Ibrahim (Scrolls of Abraham), the Tawrat (Torah or Pentateuch) of Moses, the Zabur (Tehillim or Book of Psalms) of David, and the Injil (Gospel) of Jesus. The Qur'an assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in Jewish and Christian scriptures, summarizing some, dwelling at length on others, and, in some cases, presenting alternative accounts and interpretations of events.The Qur'an describes itself as a book of guidance, sometimes offering detailed accounts of specific historical events, and often emphasizing the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence.