Getting to Know the Qur'an Through the Qur'an

The word Qur’an is mentioned seventy times in the Qur’an. This was explained by Muhammad Fuad Abd al-Baqi in Al-Mu’jam al-Mufahras li Alfadh al-Quran. The term is used in various senses. According to the majority of scholars, the word Qur’an is a derivative (musytāq) of the word qara’a, which means ‘to gather’, ‘to study’, and ‘to read’. From this, the term al-Qur’an is understood as ‘recitation’. The Qur’an refers to itself by several names. Among them is the Qur’an itself (Surah al-Isra: 9). It also calls itself al-Kitab (Surah al-Anbiya: 10), al-Furqan (Surah al-Furqan: 1), adz-Dzikr (Surah al-Hijr: 9), and al-Tanzil (Surah ash-Shura: 129). From these names, al-Qur’an and al-Kitab are the most popular among Muslims. This, according to Manna al-Qaththan in Mabahits fi ’Ulum Alquran, implies that in safeguarding and preserving the authenticity of the Qur’an, Muslims must attend to two aspects simultaneously: recitation (al-qur’an) and writing (al-kitab). They must not rely on one alone but must adhere to both at the same time.