The Holy Qur’an: The Historical Bridge Between Oral and Written Traditions

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 undis- putedly, 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 traditions surrounding 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.