The Quran is the Muslim’s Holy Book - they call it "The Glorious Quran" or Al-Mushaf Al-Shareef.  It contains one hundred and fourteen suras ( a surat is a chapter).  The suras are not arranged chronologically but by length. As those who arranged the Quran put the longest suras first and the shortest at the end. [TOP]

Strange Names

Many suras in the Quran are named after animals or small creatures or other objects.  One surat is named after the jinn ( evil spirits).
Surat Al-Baqarah (Number 2) The Cow
Surat Al-An’am (Number 6) The Cattle
Surat Al-Ra’d (Number 13)  The Thunder
Surat Al-Nahl (Number 16) The Bee
Surat Al-Kahf (Number 18) The Cave
Surat Al-Naml (Number 27) The Ant
Surat Al-’Ankabut (Number 29) The Spider
Surat Al-Dukhan (Number 44)  The Smoke
Surat Al-Tur (Number 52)  The Mount
Surat Al-Najm (Number 53) The Star
Surat Al-Qamar (Number 54) The Moon
Surat Al-Hadid (Number 57) The Iron
Surat Al-Qalam (Number 68) The Pen
Surat Al-Jinn (Number 72) The Jinn
Surat Al-Buruj (Number 85) The Mansions of the Stars
Surat Al-Fajr (Number 89) The Dawn
Surat Al-Shams (Number 92) The Night
Surat Al-Layl (Number 92) The Night
Surat Al-Duha (Number 93) The Morning Hours
Surat Al-Tin ( Number 95) The Fig
Surat Al-’Alaq (Number 96) the Clot
Surat Al-Asr (Number 103) The Declining Day
Surat Al-Fil (Number 105) The Elephant
Surat Al-Falaq (Number 113) The Day Break

These are strange names for section of a book which Muhammad claimed was the book of Allah.  It is difficult to understand why Allah would name the chapters of his book.  The Cow, The Bee, The Ant, The Spider, The Star, The Sun, The Night, the Fig, The Elephant and even the Jinn.

How the Quran Was Written

Sheikh Abd El-Fatah El-Kady wrote in his book Al Mushaf Al-Shareef             (The Quran - Its History and Tests), pages 14 and 55.

The Quran was not delivered to Muhammad all at once.  It came piecemeal according to the events and occasions, as we read in the Quran. [It is] a Quran which we have divided [into parts form time to time], intervals:  We have revealed it by stages
(Surat Al-Isra 17:106)
He continues:

The Quran was written during Muhammad’s like, on the branches of palm trees, on thin stones, on paper, on skin, on shoulders and side bones of animals.
All of the Quran was written during Muhammad’s life, but was not collected in one volume. Its suras were not organized.  It was scattered on the branches of palm trees, skin and in the memories or breasts of Muhammad's "close friends" (Al-Sahaba in Arabic).
Not only were the Quranic writings disorganized, but there were seven different versions of them.  The reason for these different versions of the Quran is that the Quran was revealed to Muhammad in seven different ways (Al-Mushaf Al-Shareef, page 64).
Muhammad said in the Hadith:

The Quran has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it that which is easier for you (Sahih-al-Bukhari, Vol. 6, page 510).
Tabari, the great expositor of the Quran, said that the difference between, the seven versions of the Quran (Al-Ahruf Al-Sabaa) was not in the meaning but in the words.  To illustrate: A person can use the word grace, gracefulness. Or the work goods, possessions, or property. But the fact is that the difference in those seven versions were not purely of words but at times related to the basic content of the Quran's text itself.

After Muhammad’s death, at the time of caliph Abu-Bakr, ,many of those who had memorized the Quran died while fighting the apostates in the battle of " Alyamama, "Omar feared that the death of those men would result in the loss of a great portion of the Quran and suggested to Abu-Bakr that the Quran should be collected in one volume.  Abu-Bakr was reluctant to do that, because Muhammad did not collect the Quran in one volume during his life.  After much discussion Omar persuaded Abu-Bakr to order the collection of the Quran. Abu-Bark ordered Aid Bin Sabot to do the job (Al-Mush Al-Shareef, page 59,60).

By Allah!  If they had ordered me to shift one of the mountains, it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Quran.  Zaid Ibn Sabit said.  Then I said to Abu-Bakr, " How will you do something which Allah's Apostle did not do?"
Abu-Bakr said " By Allah, it is a good thins"
(Sahih-al-Bukhari, Part 6, page 477).
It is quite clear that the collection of the Quran is something which Muhammad did not do.  It is also clear that the Quran was not completely written in one volume during Muhammad’s life.  This is why Omar and Abu-Bakr feared the loss of great portions of the Quran, If the men who memorized it should die.

Therefore Zaid Ibn Sabit agreed to collect the various pieces of the Quran.  However, when Islam became the religion of many countries, every country used the version of the Quran which was known among them:  the Syrians read AbiKaab’s version, the people of Kofa read Abdallah Ibn Massoud’s version, others read Abu Moussa Alashaby’s version and so on.
When Caliph Uthman took the caliphate, he was confronted by such confusion and sedition concerning the reading of the Quran in the different Islamic countries that he ordered it to be rewritten.

Uthaman ordered Zaid Ibn Sabit and three other men form Quraysh, Abdullah Ibn Al-Zubeer, Saeed Ibn El-Uss, and Abdelrahman Ibn Al-Harith Ibn Hesham, to rewrite the Quran.  It was Uthman’s order to the scribes " If you disagree  with Zaid Ibn Sabit in anything of the Quran, write it in the language of Quraysh, because the Quran was revealed in the language of Quraysh."  They did
(Al-Mushaf Al-Shareef, Pages 66,70).
After Uthman competed his Quran he forced all the Islamic countries to have one Quran - and banned all other codices.  He finished the matter by burning all other codices of the Quran.

Dr. Taha Hussein , a well known author, college professor, and minister of education in Egypt, wrote in his book Al- Fitnato Al-Korba (The Great Sedition):

The prophet Muhammad said:  "The Quran was revealed in seven dialects all of them are right and perfect."  When Uthman banned whichever he banned from the Quran, and burned whichever he burned of it, he banned passages Allah has revealed and burned parts of the Quran which were given to the Muslims by the messenger of Allah.  He appointed a small group of the Sahaba (close friends of Muhammad) to rewrite the Quran and left out those who heard the prophet and memorized what he said.  This is why Ibn Massoud was angry, because he was one of the best men who memorized the Quran.  He said that he took from the mouth of the prophet seventy suras of the Quran while Zaid Ibn Sabit was yet a young lad.  When Ibn Massoud objected to the burning of the other codices of the Quran, Uthman took him out of the mosque with violence, and struck him to the ground, and broke one of his ribs (The Great Sedition, pages 160,161,181,182).
It is very clear that much of the orginal Quran was burned, while other parts were rewritten.  How can we reconcile these historical facts with the following words of the Quran?

Nay, this is a Glorious Quran [ inscribed] in a Tablet preserved (Sarat Al-Buru  85:21,22).
That this is indeed a Quran most honorable in a book well guarded ( Sarat  Al-Waqiah 56:77,78).
If the Quran was inscribed in “a tablet preserved,” and in “a book well-guarded,” why was it necessary for Utham to rewrite the Quran?  How could he burn the other codices?  Why were there other codices in the first place?  These are very serious questions regarding a book said to be God’s word.

Read more here www.thespiritofislam.com Quoted from the Islam, Muhammad & The Koran Book.