Dear Ali: How was the Quran revealed to Muslims? BV, Dubai
Dear BV: I love these straightforward short questions. I have an interesting story to share with you, which is also very inspiring at the same time.
Prophet Mohammed was born and raised in the city of Mecca, and when he was nearly 40 years old, he began to spend more time alone, thinking and speculating over the aspects of creation and started to conduct more prayers. On one of these nights while he was conducting this spiritual activity of praying, the Angel Gabriel appeared before him and said to him: “Read”, to which he replied, “I am unable to read”.
The angel caught hold of him and embraced him heavily. This happened two more times after which the angel commanded Mohammed to recite the following verses: “Iqra” “Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created, created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful, who taught (the use of) the pen, taught man that which he knew not.” [Quran 96:1–5]
Prophet Mohammed was simply perplexed by this new experience, so he made his way back to his home and straight to his wife Khadijah, and told her what had happened. She comforted him and told him that it was important to speak to her cousin Waraqa who was familiar with Jewish and Christian scriptures.
After hearing what had happened to Prophet Mohammed she testified to his prophethood, and convinced him that the revelation was from God.
Waraqa said: “What did you see?” and after Prophet Mohammed explained every detail of what happened to him, she replied saying: “This is Namus (meaning the Angel Gabriel) that the almighty Allah sent to Moses. I wish I were younger. I wish I could live up to the time when your people would turn you out.”
Prophet Mohammed asked: “Will they drive me out?” Waraqah answered in the affirmative and said: “Anyone who came with something similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility; and if I should be alive until that day, then I would support you strongly.”
A few days later Waraqa died. God rested all of their souls in peace. And from that point, the Angel Gabriel showed himself another two times to continue the revelation to Prophet Mohammed, and that’s where the beginning of Islam started to spread the revelation of the message of Islam that came from the same God of Moses, Jesus and Mohammed.
Muslims around the world take the day of revelation seriously and continue to pray and conduct all rituals, since it’s believed that the day the Holy Quran was revealed was during the last days of the month of Ramadan, and this particular night is referred to as “Laylat-AlQadr” translated closely in English as the “Night of Power”, “Night of Value”, “Night of Destiny”, or the “Night of Measures”.
It occurs some time during the last 10 days of Ramadan, and is widely believed to take place on an odd night.
According to tradition, Allah’s blessings are especially bountiful on this night, and prayers offered can be equivalent to 1,0000 months of prayers. Throughout the night, Muslims try to stay awake at mosques or at home to perform extra prayers and read from the Holy Quran.
Ali Al Saloom is a cultural adviser and public speaker from the UAE. Follow @AskAli on Twitter, and visit www.ask-ali.com to ask him a question and to find his guidebooks to the UAE, priced at Dh50.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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%3Cp%3E1.%20Send%20EU%20border%20guards%20to%20Balkans%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E2.%20%E2%82%AC40%20million%20for%20training%20and%20surveillance%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E3.%20Review%20EU%20border%20protection%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E4.%20Reward%20countries%20that%20fund%20Balkans%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E5.%20Help%20Balkans%20improve%20asylum%20system%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E6.%20Improve%20migrant%20reception%20facilities%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E7.%20Close%20gaps%20in%20EU%20registration%20system%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E8.%20Run%20pilots%20of%20faster%20asylum%20system%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E9.%20Improve%20relocation%20of%20migrants%20within%20EU%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E10.%20Bolster%20migration%20unit%20in%20Greece%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E11.%20Tackle%20smuggling%20at%20Serbia%2FHungary%20border%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E12.%20Implement%20%E2%82%AC30%20million%20anti-smuggling%20plan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E13.%20Sanctions%20on%20transport%20linked%20to%20smuggling%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E14.%20Expand%20pilot%20deportation%20scheme%20in%20Bosnia%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E15.%20Training%20for%20Balkans%20to%20deport%20migrants%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E16.%20Joint%20task%20forces%20with%20Balkans%20and%20countries%20of%20origin%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E17.%20Close%20loopholes%20in%20Balkan%20visa%20policy%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E18.%20Monitor%20migration%20laws%20passed%20in%20Balkans%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E19.%20Use%20visa-free%20travel%20as%20leverage%20over%20Balkans%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E20.%20Joint%20EU%20messages%20to%20Balkans%20and%20countries%20of%20origin%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Hotel Data Cloud profile
Date started: June 2016
Founders: Gregor Amon and Kevin Czok
Based: Dubai
Sector: Travel Tech
Size: 10 employees
Funding: $350,000 (Dh1.3 million)
Investors: five angel investors (undisclosed except for Amar Shubar)
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
if you go
The flights
Flydubai offers three daily direct flights to Sarajevo and, from June, a daily flight from Thessaloniki from Dubai. A return flight costs from Dhs1,905 including taxes.
The trip
The Travel Scientists are the organisers of the Balkan Ride and several other rallies around the world. The 2018 running of this particular adventure will take place from August 3-11, once again starting in Sarajevo and ending a week later in Thessaloniki. If you’re driving your own vehicle, then entry start from €880 (Dhs 3,900) per person including all accommodation along the route. Contact the Travel Scientists if you wish to hire one of their vehicles.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets