The Qur’an was given by Allah to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam). The book wasn’t given all at once. Allah revealed, or gave, the book to him a little at a time over the period of 23 years.

The first part of the Qur’an was given to Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) when he was fourty years old. At that time, Muhammad didn’t know about Allah. But because he hated the idols and statues which his people bowed down to and prayed to, Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) tried to find his Creator in his own way.


Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) used to go to a mountain called Jabal an-Nur (Mountain of Light) outside of his home town of Makkah, in Arabia, to think and look for answers to all his questions.

Everyone in town thought Muhammad was nice, honest and friendly. They used to give him different nick-names like Al-Amin ('the trustworthy one'), but Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) wanted more than just to be a nice guy. He wanted to know what was true and what was false. Soon his wish was going to be answered because Allah was going to choose him to be His Last Messenger to the people of the earth.

On that lonely mountain, in a small cave, called Cave Hira, Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) was resting after a lot of heavy thinking. Suddenly a bright Angel appeared in front of him and said the word, “READ.”


Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) was born in a place where there were no school, so he never learned to read or write. He was so scared of the bright creature that all he coud say was, “I..I can’t read.”

The angel took hold of him and squeezed him tightly and repeated the word he said before, “Read.”
Muhammad cried, “I can’t read!”
The Angel grabbed him again and squeezed the breath out of his chest and repeated, “Read.”
To save himself from any further pain, Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) answered quickly, “What should I read?”
Then the angel gave the new Prophet his new message from Allah. He said,

“Read in the Name of your Lord Who created humans from a clot of blood (embryo). Read for your Generous Lord. He is the One Who taught people with the pen what they didn’t know before.”

Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) ran home to his wife, Khadijah, who comforted him from his strange vision. But from then on, the angel, whose name was Jibra’il, came back to him often and taught him more and more of the Qur’an and about Islam.


The Last Messenger of Allah began his mission and the Qur’an wouldn’t be completed until 23 years later. When it was finally done, the world would be changed forever.