The Shari'ā, Islamic law, is based on two sources, the Qu'rān and the Sunna (sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad). The Qu'rān contains the ‘words of Allah’ (God) inspired upon the Prophet and uttered by him in the presence of others who memorised these utterances and wrote fragments of them at that time. The Qu'rān was definitively transcribed some forty years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad by the third Khalifa, Uthman ibn Affan. It was completed in 651 AD. The work on that compilation commenced under the first Khalifa, Abu Bakr. Four copies were made in 651 AD (some say seven) and the text was verified by the Prophet's surviving companions, the sahaba. One copy was kept in Makkah, one was sent to Damascus, another to Iraq, and the fourth to Yemen. These four master copies were called ‘Imam’, and all subsequent books containing the Qu'rān were based on them. No one ever questioned the authenticity or accuracy of that original transcription. The Qu'rān, meaning readings, is arranged in 114 Sura or chapters of unequal length and numbered consecutively. Each Sura differs in the number of Ayat or verses, which range from three to 286 verses.

The Qu'rān is the principal source of the Shari'ā, which is supplemented by the Sunna. The complete record of the Sunna was compiled by Ishaq ibn Yassar 136 years after the death of the Prophet, in 11 AH.