Who wrote the Quran?

Muslims believe the Quran is the word of Allah, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over 23 years, and compiled into one book by his Companions.

Muslims believe no human wrote the Quran: it is the word of Allah, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over about 23 years (610 to 632 CE). The Prophet recited it, his Companions memorised and wrote it down, and within a generation it was gathered into the single text read today.

The Quran describes its own origin this way: "this [Quran] is truly a revelation from the Lord of all worlds. The Trustworthy Spirit came down with it, onto your heart, so you may be one of the warners, in clear Arabic" (Quran 26:192-195). The "Trustworthy Spirit" is Gabriel.

The Prophet could not read or write, a point the Quran itself raises as evidence: "Before this, you never recited any book, nor did you write one with your right hand; otherwise the falsifiers would have doubted" (Quran 29:48).

How it became one book

1. During the Prophet's life, each passage was memorised by many Companions and written on whatever was at hand by appointed scribes.
2. Under Abu Bakr, after many memorisers were killed at the Battle of Yamamah, Zayd ibn Thabit gathered the written pieces into one collection, checked against those who knew it by heart (Sahih al-Bukhari 4986).
3. Under 'Uthman, standard copies were made from that collection and sent to the main cities so that recitation would not drift apart (Sahih al-Bukhari 4987).

Historians who do not share the Muslim belief generally attribute the text to Muhammad, but they too date it to his lifetime and the decades after: early manuscripts such as the Birmingham folios have been radiocarbon-dated to that period. The Quran's own claim is that it will be preserved: "It is We who sent down the Reminder, and We will certainly guard it" (Quran 15:9).