Considered in Islam to be the infallible word of God, The Qur'an was revealed to the prophet Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel in a series of divine revelations over many years after his first vision in the cave. In 114 chapters, or surahs, it provides the rules of conduct that remain fundamental to Muslims today - most importantly the key Islamic values of prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and absolute faith in God, with profound spiritual guidance on matters of kinship, marriage and family, crime and punishment, rituals, food, warfare and charity. Through its pages, a fascinating picture emerges of life in seventh-century Arabia, and from it we can learn much about how people felt about their relationship with God and their belief in the afterlife, as well as attitudes to loyalty, friendship, race, forgiveness and the natural world. It also tells of events and people familiar to Christian and Jewish readers, fellow 'People of the Book' whose stories are recorded in the Gospels and Torah. Here we find Adam, Moses, Abraham, Jesus and John the Baptist, among others, who are regarded, like Muhammad, to be prophets of the Muslim faith.

馬堅，伊斯蘭教學者。字子實,1906年生,雲南個舊人,迴族。早年就讀於上海伊斯蘭師範學校。1931年被選送埃及愛資哈爾等校學習。此間著文《中國迴教概觀》,譯《論語》為阿拉伯語。迴國後主要從事《古蘭經》及阿拉伯文著的翻譯工作。1945年後,先後任雲南大學、北京大學東方語言係教授。1949年9月齣席中國人民政治協商會議,是第一、二、三、四、五屆全人民代錶大會代錶。曆任中國伊斯蘭教協會常務委員,中國亞非學會理事。譯著較多,齣版的有《迴教哲學》、《迴教真相》、《伊斯蘭哲學史》等。1978年逝世。