The Opening (The First Chapter of the Quran)
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Praise belongs to God, Lord of the all the Worlds, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Master of the Day of Judgement. It is you we worship; it is you we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path, the path of those you have blessed, those who incur no anger and who have not gone astray. [Chapter 1, Verse 1-7]
Quran
This is the Book in which there is no doubt, containing guidance for those who are mindful of God, who believe in the unseen keep up the prayer, and give out of what We have provided for them; those who believe in the revelation sent down to you [Muhammad], and in what was sent before you, those who have firm faith in the Hereafter. Such people are following their Lord’s guidance and it is they who will prosper. [Chapter 2, Verse 2-5]
Concept of God
Say, He is God the One, God the eternal. He does not give birth nor was He born and there is nothing like Him. [Chapter 112, Verse 1-4]
Purpose
[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving - [and] who created seven heavens in layers. You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency. So return [your] vision [to the sky]; do you see any breaks? Then return [your] vision twice again. [Your] vision will return to you humbled while it is fatigued. And We have certainly beautified the nearest heaven with stars [Chapter 67, Verse 2-5]
Divine Love
Your God is the one God: there is no god except Him, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy. In the creation of the heavens and earth; in the alternation of night and day; in the ships that sail the seas with goods for people; in the water which God sends down from the sky to give life to the earth when it has been barren, scattering all kinds of creatures over it; in the changing of the winds and clouds that run their appointed courses between the sky and earth: there are signs in all these for those who use their minds. Even so, there are some who choose to worship others besides God as rivals to Him, loving them with the love due to God, But those of faith are overflowing in their love for God. [Chapter 2, Verse 163-165]
Creation of the Universe
Are the disbelievers not aware that the heavens and the earth were once fused together in a single piece, and then We split them apart? We made every living thing from water? So won’t they believe? And We put firm mountains on the earth, lest it should sway under them, and set broad paths on it, so that they might follow the right direction, and We made the sky a protected ceiling, but they, from its signs, are turning away. It is He who created night and day, the sun and the moon, each floating in its orbit. We have not granted everlasting life to any other human being before you either [O Muhammad] – if you die, will [the disbelievers] live for ever? Every soul is certain to taste death: We test you all through the bad and the good, and to Us you will all return. [Chapter 21, Verse 30-35]
Nature
Do the disbelievers not see how rain clouds are formed, how the heavens are lifted, how the mountains are raised high, how the earth is spread out? So remind, [O Muhammad]; you are only a reminder. You are not over them a controller. [Chapter 88, Verse 17-22]
Signs of God
This Book is sent down from God, the Mighty, the Wise. There are signs in the heavens and the earth for those who believe: in the creation of you, in the creatures God scattered on earth, there are signs for people of sure faith; in the alternation of night and day, in the rain God provides, sending it down from the sky and reviving the dead earth with it, and in His shifting of the winds there are signs for those who use their reason. These are God’s signs that We recount to you [O Muhammad, to show] the Truth. If they deny God and His revelations, what message will they believe in? [Chapter 45, Verse 2-6]
God’s Attributes
If We had sent this Quran down to a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and split apart in its awe of God: We offer people such illustrations so that they may reflect. He is God: there is no god other than Him. It is He who knows what is hidden as well as what is in the open, He is the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy. He is God: there is no god other than Him, the Controller, the Holy One, Source of Peace, Granter of Security, Guardian over all, the Almighty, the Compeller, the Truly Great; God is far above anything they consider to be His partner. He is God: the Creator, the Originator, the Shaper. The best names belong to Him. Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies Him: He is the Almighty, the Wise. [Chapter 59, Verse 21-24]
Using your Gifts
It is God who endowed you with hearing, sight, and hearts–how seldom you are grateful! It is He who made you multiply on earth. It is to Him that you will be gathered: it is He who gives life and death; the alternation of night and day depends on Him; will you not use your minds? [Chapter 23, Verse 78-80]
Gratitude
He creates you in your mothers’ wombs, in one stage after another, in threefold depths of darkness. Such is God, your Lord; He holds control, there is no god but Him. How can you turn away? If you are ungrateful, remember God has no need of you, yet He is not pleased by ingratitude in His servants; if you are grateful, He is pleased [to see] it in you. No soul will bear another’s burden. You will return to your Lord in the end and He will inform you of what you have done: He knows well what is in the depths of [your] hearts. [Chapter 39, Verse 6-7]
Signs
We shall show them Our signs in every region of the earth and in themselves, until it becomes clear to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord witnesses everything? Truly, they doubt that they will meet their Lord; truly He encompasses everything. [Chapter 41, Verse 53-54]
Worship
I created jinn and humankind only to worship Me. [Chapter 51, Verse 56]
Disbelievers
Say [O Muhammad], ‘Disbelievers: I do not worship what you worship, you do not worship what I worship, I will never worship what you worship, you will never worship what I worship: you have your religion and I have mine.’ [Chapter 109, Verse 1-6]
Common Kindness
[Muhammad], have you considered the person who denies the Judgement? It is he who pushes aside the orphan and does not urge others to feed the needy. So woe to those who pray but are heedless of their prayer; those who are all show and forbid common kindnesses [Chapter 107, Verse 1-7]
True Charity
You who believe, do not cancel out your charitable deeds with reminders and hurtful words, like someone who spends his wealth only to be seen by people, not believing in God and the Last Day. Such a person is like a rock with earth on it: heavy rain falls and leaves it completely bare. Such people get no rewards for their works: God does not guide the disbelievers. But those who spend their wealth in order to gain God’s approval, and as an affirmation of their own faith, are like a garden on a hill: heavy rain falls and it produces double its normal yield; even if no heavy rain falls, it will still be watered by the dew. God sees all that you do. Would any of you like to have a garden of palm trees and vines, graced with flowing streams and all kinds of produce, which, when you are afflicted with old age and feeble offspring, is struck by a fiery whirlwind and burnt down? In this way God makes His messages clear to you, so that you may reflect on them. [Chapter 2, Verse 264-266]
Happiness
O Humankind, there has to come to you instruction from your Lord and healing for what is in the breasts and guidance and mercy for the believers. Say [O Muhammad], “In the bounty of God and in His mercy - in that let them rejoice; it is better than what they accumulate.” [Chapter 10, Verse 57-58]
Guidance
[O Muhammad], if My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I respond to those who call Me, so let them respond to Me, and believe in Me, so that they may be guided. [Chapter 2, Verse 186]
Love of Wealth
Indeed humankind, to his Lord, is ungrateful- and he is witness to this – he is truly excessive in his love of wealth. Does he not know that when the contents of graves burst forth, when the secrets of hearts are uncovered, on that Day, their Lord will be fully aware of them all? [Chapter 100, Verse 6-11]
Social Justice
Whoever desires the reward of this world - then with God is the reward of this world and the Hereafter. And ever is God Hearing and Seeing. O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for God, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, God is more worthy of both. So follow not [personal] inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort [your testimony] or refuse [to give it], then indeed God is ever, with what you do, Acquainted. [Chapter 4, Verse 134-135]
Ten Commandments
Say [O Muhammad], ‘Come! I will tell you what your Lord has really forbidden you. Do not ascribe anything as a partner to Him; be good to your parents; do not kill your children in fear of poverty’– We will provide for you and for them–‘ stay well away from committing obscenities, whether openly or in secret; do not take the life God has made sacred, except by (legal) right. This is what He commands you to do: perhaps you will use your reason. Stay well away from the property of orphans, except with the best [intentions], until they come of age; give full measure and weight, according to justice’– We do not burden any soul with more than it can bear–‘ when you speak, be just, even if it concerns a relative; keep any promises you make in God’s name. This is what He commands you to do, so that you may take heed’– this is My path, leading straight, so follow it, and do not follow other ways: they will lead you away from it–‘ This is what He commands you to do, so that you may refrain from wrongdoing.’ [Chapter 6, Verse 151-153]
Jesus
O Humankind, the Messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord, so believe; it is better for you. But if you disbelieve - then indeed, to God belongs whatever is in the heavens and earth. O People of the Book, do not go to excess in your religion, and do not say anything about God except the truth: the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was nothing more than a messenger of God, His word, directed to Mary, a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers and do not speak of a ‘Trinity’– stop [this], that is better for you– God is only one God, He is far above having a son, everything in the heavens and earth belongs to Him and He is the best one to trust. The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of God, nor would the angels who are close to Him. He will gather before Him all those who disdain His worship and are arrogant: to those who believe and do good works He will give due rewards and more of His bounty; to those who are disdainful and arrogant He will give an agonizing torment, and they will find no one besides God to protect or help them. O Humankind, there has come to you a conclusive proof from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a clear light. So those who believe in God and hold fast to Him - He will admit them to mercy from Himself and bounty and guide them to Himself on a straight path. [Chapter 4, Verses 170-175]
Trinity
Those people who say that God is the third of three are defying [the truth]: there is only One God. If they persist in what they are saying, a painful punishment will afflict those of them who persist. Why do they not turn to God and ask His forgiveness, when God is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful? The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a messenger; other messengers had come and gone before him; his mother was a virtuous woman; both ate food [like other mortals]. See how clear We make these signs for them; see how deluded they are. Say, ‘How can you worship something other than God, that has no power to do you harm or good? God alone is the All Hearing and All Knowing.’ [Chapter 5, Verse 73-76]
Equality
For men and women who are devoted to God– believing men and women, obedient men and women, truthful men and women, steadfast men and women, humble men and women, charitable men and women, fasting men and women, chaste men and women, men and women who remember God often– God has prepared forgiveness and a rich reward. [Chapter 33, Verse 35]
Jihad
God will defend the believers; God does not love the unfaithful or the ungrateful. Those who have been attacked are permitted to take up arms because they have been wronged– God has the power to help them–those who have been driven unjustly from their homes only for saying, ‘Our Lord is God.’ If God did not repel some people by means of others, many monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, where God’s name is much invoked, would have been destroyed. God is sure to help those who help His cause– God is Strong and Mighty. [Chapter 22, Verse 38-40]
Resurrection
O Humankind, be mindful of your Lord, for the earthquake of the Last Hour will be a mighty thing: on the Day you see it, every nursing mother will think no more of her baby, every pregnant female will miscarry, you will think people are drunk when they are not, so severe will be God’s torment. Yet still there are some who, with no knowledge, argue about God, who follow every devilish rebel fated to lead astray those who take his side, and guide them to the suffering of the blazing flame. O Humankind, [remember,] if you doubt the Resurrection, that We created you from dust, then a drop of fluid, then a clinging form, then a lump of flesh, both shaped and unshaped: We mean to make Our power clear to you. Whatever We choose We cause to remain in the womb for an appointed time, then We bring you forth as infants and then you grow and reach maturity. Some die young and some are left to live on to such an age that they forget all they once knew. You sometimes see the earth lifeless, yet when We send down water it stirs and swells and produces every kind of joyous growth: this is because God is the Truth; He brings the dead back to life; He has power over everything. And [that they may know] that the Hour is coming - no doubt about it - and that God will resurrect those in the graves. [Chapter 22, Verse 1-7]
Summary of Islam
Say [O Muhammad], ‘I am only a human being, like you, to whom it has been revealed that your God is One. Anyone who fears to meet his Lord should do good deeds and give no one a share in the worship due to his Lord.’ [Chapter 18, Verse 110]