Editors' note: The Koran was a psychological, ethical and spiritual teaching, giving a structure for people to live by. It was unquestionably received by the Holy Prophet from a very high source which Mohammed believed to be the angel Gabriel.

Mohammed gave out the teaching orally. People would learn a verse by heart and later this was transcribed. Passages were constantly being received and written. The Koran would have been completed 10 to 20 years after Mohammed’s death and has not changed since it was first written down. There are many similarities between the Koran, the Old Testament and the Christian gospels; the same prophets feature in all three, and Muslims, Christians and Jews are all considered to be ‘people of the Book’.