Oral and Written Traditions in the Preservation of the Authenticity of the Qur'an

The Holy Qur’an is the divine text of over one fifth of the world’s population and is the
guiding book of the Muslim faith. Though a written manuscript, similar in textual length to the New
Testament, its origins are deeply rooted in an oral tradition and is, up to the present day,rote memorised
and recited in its original Arabic form in its entirety by countless followers, as well as being undisputedly,
the most recited text on the planet. Yet outside Muslim communities living in the west and the
Islamic world, little is known about this book. In an era where there is much scepticism in the west
about cultures and traditions within the Muslim world, an understanding of the historical importance
of the Qur’anic scripture is needed. Through the examination of literary and oral traditionssurrounding
the scripture, this paper focuses on the importance of The Holy Qur’an as a work of literature in a
global context, its significance from a historical perspective, its diversity of content and its relevance
as a key transitory mechanism in transforming human civilisation from an oral to a written tradition