Pages from a Qur'an. 13th-century manuscript pages with Arabic text from an elaborately decorated Qur'an (also Koran). The Qur'an is the holy book of Islam. It originates from the period when Islam was founded in Arabia in the 7th century by the prophet and military leader Muhammad. This version was produced in Spain, during the period when much of the Iberian peninsula was ruled by the Moors.