Reference: Rev. Edward Sell (1869-1932), The Historical Development of the Qur'an, (Facsimile of [probably] the 4th ed., London, 1923), People International, Tunbridge Wells, England, 1989?, pp. 206.

Background:  This book offers insights into the historical development of the Qur'an.  It is not a history of the life of Muhammad.  Rather, it discusses the historical background that prompted Muhammad to recite different portions of the Qur'an.  By observing the historical events that impacted Muhammad's thinking, it is possible to trace the gradual development of the Qur'an.

Qur'an Citation Index:  The Qur'an Citation Index is helpful to find the discussion of different verses (ayat) of the Qur'an.

Subject Index:  In addition to the Table of Contents, the Subject Index is helpful to find subjects of interest in the book.

Table Showing The Approximate Chronological Order of the Chapters of the Qur'an:  This Qur'an Chronology Table shows the chronological order of the Qur'an.  It lists the chronological order as suggested by three scholars: Jalalu'd-Din as-Syuti, T. Nöldeke, and W. Muir.

Note:  The zip'ed HDQuran.zip (310 KB) file is available for downloading.  The text of the on-line HTML and zip'ed files are the same.  See the Download Instructions for assistance in downloading and extracting the files.  Use a web browser to view the pages after they have been uncompressed.

Arabic text:  There are quotations from Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew sources.  These different languages are all encoded in Unicode.  It may be necessary to configure your web browser to visualize this Unicode text.  This site has Unicode Information files for your assistance.  Make sure that your web browser properly displays the Unicode Arabic characters at Unicode.

Last edited 11-27-2000