According to Islamic tradition, the Quran was first revealed to Muhammad in 609 CE. Over the next two decades, new surahs were dictated to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel, who was delivering the exact words of God himself. Muhammad's final meeting with Gabriel came in 632 CE. He died in June of that year.

Despite being revealed in a time and place where scholarship was of little concern, the Quran contains a number of interesting scientific facts. These scientific facts were not known to the people of Muhammad's era. In fact, a number of them have only been discovered in the past 100 years.