The Qur'an is the central text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur'an to be the literal word of God (Arabic Allah) as revealed to Muhammad, over a period of twenty-three years. Muslims believe that Muhammad could neither read nor write, but would recite what was revealed to him for his companions to write down and memorize. Adherents to Islam hold that the wording of the Qur'anic text available today corresponds exactly to that revealed to Muhammad himself. The Qur'an is not only considered by Muslims to be a guide but also as a sign of the prophethood of Muhammad and the truth of the religion. Muslims argue that it is not possible for a human to produce a book like the Qur'an. The Qur'an consists of 114 surah (chapters) with a total of 6236 ayat (verses).
No Muslim visual images or depictions of God are meant to exist because such artistic depictions may lead to idolatry and are thus disdained. Such aniconism can also be found in Judeo-Christian theology. Moreover, most Muslims believe that God is incorporeal, making any two- or three- dimensional depictions impossible. Instead, Muslims describe God by His many Names and Attributes
There are a number of Islamic religious denominations, each of which have significant theological and legal differences from each other but possess similar essential beliefs. Present estimates indicate that approximately 85% of the world's Muslims are Sunni and approximately 15% are Shi'a.
The Qur'an desecration controversy of 2005 captured international attention in April 2005 when Newsweek published an article which appeared to confirm several previous allegations that U.S. personnel at the Guantánamo Bay prison camp had damaged a copy of the Qur'an by putting it in a toilet in order to torment the prison's Muslim captives.