Buddha once said: “Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, so men cannot live without spiritual life. » He understood the need that men have to believe in a higher power. This belief transcends all religions and beliefs across the earth. With religion comes a sacred text provided through the words of a prophet. The problem we have with these texts is that they can be tainted by historical revision. Every form of religious text can encounter this problem, including the Quran. This would be a difficult concept to understand for many Muslims today who believe that the current text is the exact recitation of the Prophet Mohammad. To understand the historical context of Mohammad and the Quran, we will follow the timeline of how Mohammad became the man who shares this sacred scripture, and how the current form of the Quran came to be. In doing so, opinions can be developed as to whether the current form of the Quran could correspond exactly to what Mohammad said. The exact details surrounding Mohammad's birth are subject to debate even today. Some scholars have said he was born in 570, while others have said the correct year would be around 552. Aslan talks about this extensively in his book "No God But God", in which he explains that this era and society was not big on using years to determine events. It was only after Muhammad's death that they attempted to set a date for his birth (Aslan, 2011). The closest event corresponding to his birth would be what they called "the year of the elephant." The story behind such an event involves the ruler of Yemen, who brought an army of elephants to destroy the Kaaba in hopes of building a sacred structure in his home. The people of Mecca ran in fear, and just middle of paper ...... story of the life of Muhammad through the development of the Quran, and considered the possibility that it was a exact recitation of Muhammad. himself.ReferencesAslan, R. (2011). No God but God. New York: Rand House. Brown, D. (2009). A new introduction to Islam. New York: Blackwell Publishing. Gordon, M. (2009). Islam. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group. History of Mohammed and the Koran. (March 1, 2014). Retrieved from Answering Islam: http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/Fisher/Topical/ch01.htmMattson, I. (2007). The story of the Koran. New York: Wiley-Blackwell. Miracle of the Quran. (March 1, 2014). Retrieved from the Wisdom Fund: http://www.twf.org/Library/Miracle.html Sa-id, L. (1975). The Quran recited. Ann Arbor: Darwin Press. The origin of the Quran. (March 1, 2014). Excerpted from Why Islam: http://www.whyislam.org/the-origin-of-the-quran/#