May peace and blessings be upon Muhammad   the beloved Messenger of God. 

I have often came across these one-liners, is Koran word of God ? Who is Muhammad ? What is Islam ? Who are muslims ? As an ordinary muslim, I wrote a detailed response to that at forum. It is more of self-learning and re-affirming the faith and belief with reasoning and logic. I am reproducing that information here with some more insights and ideas. Please do keep in mind that I am not a voice or authentic speaker of religion and this information is accurate and authentic to the best of my knowledge and belief, but may be subject to errors and God knows better. This article that I wrote from an ordinary muslim's perspective, might serve as a very basic starter on what Islam as a religion really is, an Introduction to Islam and what is the Legacy and Legend of The Last Prophet Muhammad.

Prophet Muhammad محمد is regarded as the most successful human in the history of mankind by both muslims and non-muslims alike. He was the only man on the face of this planet who in just 23 years gave a complete religion to the world, made it happen, and formed the largest and most peaceful empire of his time. Even today, more than fourteen hundred years after him, his followers are more than a billion and love his teachings. He was a successful man, a shepherd, a merchant, a husband, a father, a friend, a leader, a teacher, a philosopher, a guide, a prophet, and a human. No man in the history of mankind has been respected by followers and enemies alike, as is Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings of God be upon him). Prophet Muhammad is the Last Prophet of God; the Leader of all Prophets, who was sent to end the chain of 124000 Prophets that started with Prophet Adam - the first human, and includes Prophet Moses, Prophet Jesus, Prophet Abraham, Prophet David, Prophet Solomon, Prophet Noah and others. The most significant blessing of the Holy Prophet Muhammad is Quran, the Last of the Four Holy Books (Torah, Psalms of David, Bible, Quran) that summarizes and completes all the previous scriptures sent by the same One and Only Creator. Islam is not a new religion, it is the continuation and completion of all previous scriptures in the form of a Book revealed to us through Prophet Muhammad. Quran describes Islam as the complete religion - the way of life chosen and sent by the Creator Himself, for all the mankind till the End of Times. The life and teachings of Prophet Muhammad is the complete example and demonstration of life according to Quran. A person believing in the existance of One and Only Creator  - Allah, the God Almighty, in all four of His Holy Scriptures, in all His Prophets, in Muhammad as the Last Prophet, and in the End of Times is considered a muslim, the follower of Islam.

The subject of Islam as a religion is very important and also comparing Islam to other religions gives a new dimension of thought to the mind. The main problem that I have seen while living in Europe and the West is that most people are very much misled about Islam and a majority is far less informed about Islam and the customs and beliefs of this great religion. Mostly people take the propaganda media and negative material online as the source of information and make their opinions based on what they are shown, rather than thinking and researching about it themselves. We are not talking about the rates of latest electronic gadget or the cost of gas today, we are talking about the reason and purpose of existance and the way of life explained by the Creator of life Himself. Those who have the excuse of not having enough time to research, are perhaps those who are denying the Creator of Time, the few moments He requires to be appreciated and praised. To keep living in the bliss of ignorance or to start looking for the truth, is always a personal call. The truth is in the heart. We dont need to travel millions of miles to discover Creation. Its all around us and it only requires a few moments to realize the Creator. Just some thoughts to start the journey of exploring our own existance and the reality.

All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white person has no superiority over a black person nor a black person has any superiority over a white person - except by piety and good actions. - Prophet Muhammad

The topic of discussing Islam or comparing Islam with other religions is very sensitive and mostly people get emotional and disrespectful. However, if we do stay in the lines of decency and discuss this topic as mature adults, then we all can learn a lot from such discussions. Major problem would be to answer the question in one line. Because, those who are muslims would easily understand that one line and those who are non-muslims and infact asking one liners like "is koran the word of God" would actually not be satisfied with the answers like "yes, ofcourse" because they simply dont know the background of Islam, its origin, its concepts, its beliefs and its facts. So, till we have a topic on introducing and explaining Islam in depth, here is a brief answer to the above question, from a muslim point of view.

First, just for the sake of records, "Quran" is a more likely pronunciation of the word in English from the Arabic word Al-Qur'an. However, Koran, Kooran, Quraan all can be used. The actual sound of oriental letter "Q" does not exist in english language, neither an english-only speaker can say correctly the last syllable "an".  More likely way to say it will be Q as in Qwho and ur - as in guru and an - as is in nah'n

Is Quran the word of God ? now to answer this question that we are asking, we have to believe in three things. First, we want to know the truth. Second, we believe in God. Third, we want God to tell us His message and we are curious if Quran is that message or not. If we dont believe in these three basics, there is no point in asking or answering cause then it simply wont mean anything. So if someone asks these kind of direct questions, its these three points he or she wants to clarify, if the intentions are to seek and learn.

To find out if Quran is the word of God, first lets get back into history and study some basic facts of how it all actually started. These are not stories. These are facts that are many times researched and verified by historians (muslims and non-muslims both). Before Islam was formally revealed and Quran sent to the mankind, Prophet Muhammad (saw : short for arabic salle Allah wassalam, meaning peace be upon him) was living the life of an ordinary man in the then Arabian land (now Saudi Arabia), till he was forty years old. He used to trade, raise cattle and indulged in a normal life, as an ordinary civilian living in his society. Note the fact that he was not a Prophet by birth nor was Islam yet revealed as a religion. However, and this is testified and authenticated by non-muslims of that time too, that Prophet Muhammad (saw) was believed to be an honest, sincere and peaceful person and was respected equally among the then arabian tribes. He was not involved in the customs of that time like drinking, profanity, and other immoral acts. He also did not worshipped any of the idols that his forefathers and other tribesman used to pray to. Prophet Muhammad was a disbeliever of the pagan faith of Mecca (the city where he used to live, also called Makkah or Makka). Instead, Prophet Muhammad (saw) used to go to a nearby cave (called Gar-e-Hira in Arabic, where Gar = cave and Hira = name of the cave) in the mountain of Jabal (The Mountain of Light, Jabal Al-Nur). That mountain and cave still exist in the present Saudi Arabia. He would spend hours and days in solitude praying in that cave to a God whom He and his heart believed was THE creator and not anything like those man-made idols and statues that others used to worship. Prophet Muhammad was raised as an orphan by his uncle, Abu-Talib, for whom the Prophet Muhammad used to work as a shepherd. Prophet Muhammad's father, Abdullah, died six months before he was born, and his mother, Amina, died before he was six years old (may peace and blessings of God be upon them). Also it is important to note that Prophet Muhammad was not formally educated anywhere, meaning he could not read or write.

Now, knowing these facts, at the age of forty, when Prophet Muhammad was one day praying in that cave, according to the Islamic belief, he heard a voice. The voice (angel Jibrael, also called Gabriel) who was sent by the Almighty God, said the first word to the Prophet as "iqra". (Iqra in arabic means READ). Now the Prophet, who at that time was unable to read or write and was in the state of shock and terrified with the presence (and voice of the heavenly angel who had appeared in a disguise), replied to the stranger (the angel) that he can not read. The angel holded the Prophet firmly (i.e took him in the arms and pressed tightly till he could take it no more), then the angel let him go and again said the same word "iqra". Again the prophet replied the same thing. The angel again holded him firmly and let go. This happened the third time too.

Then the angel said "iqra", and this time the angel added a few more verses in arabic which in english translates to the Quranic verses shown in quotes below.

Read, in the name of the God who created. Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood. Read and your Lord is Most Honorable. Who taught (to write) with the pen. Taught man that which he knew not. - Quran: Al-Alaq: Chapter 96: Verse 1-5

A great majority of Islamic scholars agree that these verses form the very first Revelation of the Holy Quran that were revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad on that day in that cave by the angel Jibrael (also called Gabriel in english). That day was according to the Islamic calendar, the 27th of Ramadan (called Lailatul-Qadr in arabic, meaning the greatest night or the night of respect), coinciding with the english date of 14th of August 610 A.C.

This article is continued on next page with more information and videos on the subject.