The most difficult Quran riddles

In the Islamic Quran, an Āyah is a "verse," one of the statements of varying length that make up the chapters (surah) of the Quran and are marked by a number. The word means "evidence," "sign" or "miracle," and in Islam may refer to things other than Quranic verses, such as religious obligations (ayat taklifiyyah) or cosmic phenomena (ayat takwiniyyah).

In Islam, hadiths are second in importance only to the Quran, and Muslims are encouraged to emulate Muhammad's actions in their daily lives. Unlike the Quran, which was compiled under the official direction of the early Islamic State in Medinah, the hadith reports were not compiled by a central authority. Today, they are classified by Muslim clerics into categories of "authentic", "good" or "weak".

In Islam, shirk is the sin of practicing idolatry or polytheism, i.e., the deification or worship of anyone or anything besides the singular God, i.e., Allah. Literally, it means ascribing or the establishment of "partners" placed beside God. Those who practice shirk are termed mushrikun. Within Islam, shirk is an unforgivable crime if it remains unpardoned before death: Allah may forgive any sin if one dies in that state except for committing shirk.

Muslims believe the Quran to be verbally revealed through the angel Gabriel (Jibril) from God to Muhammad, gradually over a period of approximately 23 years, beginning on 22 December 609 CE, when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death.

According to Muslim beliefs, the Quran was revealed to Muhammad by the archangel Jibril (Gabriel). Muhammad was illiterate, so the "canonical" version was written by Zajd ibn Sabit, his personal secretary.

The Quran recounts stories of many of the people and events recounted in Jewish and Christian sacred books. Jesus is mentioned more often in the Quran than Muhammad, while Mary is mentioned in the Quran more often than in the New Testament.