The Quran

Read through it with open mind, neautralise away from all the negative feed back the media had been pushing into your psyche , think of the many teachings it came out with almost 1500 years ago, think that Muhammad was living is nomadic Arabia away from serious contacts with any intellectual interaction with previous religions, go beyond the make believe orchestrated attacks against Islam the world is encountering nowadays, read again and keep thinking.. maybe the truth is what you really deserve after all...
One last note; make sure the translation you read is an authentic true one and not a version translated to deceive.

XavOdeh,

Can you recommend some English "versions" or "translations" of the Quran? Thanks

I took a class on the Qur'an last year, and it was mind-blowing. Its so much different than people are being led to believe. the Qur'an runs into the same problem the bible does though, in that some parts aren't applied anymore, at least in mainline mosques.

Thanks EncompassedRunner, I'll check these out. I have a copy of The Qur'an The First American Version by T.B. Irving. (I think I got the wrong touchstone). I'll look at these as well.

I read the Quran in its entirety last year with an open mind. My overall impression was that with its message, it's surprising that the jihad is not worse than it is. There is plenty of text that can be interpreted as incitement to violence. There is mere tolerance of "people of the book" (Jews and Christians), but Muslims are admonished not make friends with them.

Yes, there is some good in this book -- the best of 7th century morality. (e.g., don't have sex with anyone but your wife and your slave girls.). But the entire text is addressed only to men. Women are mere cyphers in this book. And oh yes, it is fine to beat your wife if she is disobedient. I believe the only woman mentioned by name is Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Much of the violent language in the Quran can be matched by similar language in the Bible's Old Testament, but at least these extreme passages (e.g, stoning women who engage in adultery) don't seem to be acted upon these days by any significant number of Jews or Christians -- not that these other religions are exempt from criticism. They must be called to account for their own sins against humanity.

While there are inspiring, even poetic, passages in the Quran these are bured in text that is tangled and repetitive. Finally, I must say that I found the 'Quran" to be a crashing bore -- even when read at the rate of one or two chapters a night. If God delivered this message, he lacked a good editor.

While this is a crtical view of he Muslim holy book, I mean no disrepect to the overwhelming number of Muslims who attempt to follow what is best is their religion. I know some of these people and would like to know more of them. I admit I have much to learn about their faith.

This reminds me of a song:

It's a sin to beat your wife on Sunday,
Oh, you can beat your wife on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
But it's a sin to beat your wife on Sunday.

I've read it and actually own a copy myself but I find my inspiration through the Holy Bible.

Here is what I wrote after reading the Qur'an not too long ago:

On the surface Islam appears - to a 'liberal' reader - a peaceful religion. Though enjoined to hate opposition, disbelief and disobedience, and to preach all disbelievers will burn in eternal hellfire, believers are reminded constantly Mohammed was only a 'warner' and 'messenger' (leaving aside for the moment the idea that a 'prophet' was a re-organizer of society), he was not a 'controller' or a 'tyrant' forcing beliefs on others. See Surahs 2:256 & 50:45.

Furthermore, there is no command in the Qur'an to force others to convert, and in Surah 60:7-9 it is said Allah does not prohibit Muslims from being friends with non-Muslims, the only people they are prohibited from are those who oppress Muslims and expel them from their homes, and actively attempt to destroy Islam.

The problems began when Muslims turned from defending Islam to attacking in the cause of Islam - beginning with Mohammad's destroying the idols at the Kabbah in Mecca. At that point, the spread of Islam via the sword (though not always) was virtually guaranteed.

There will alway be fundamentalist fanatics who define 'opposition' and 'disobedience' and 'disbelief' in terms of Muslim world domination.

We can only hope moderate Muslims can interpret their holy book in terms that encourage genuine tolerance and co-existence - something that can be found in the Qur'an. Peace IS possible.

For a 'novel' slant on Qur'anic dictims read The Scarecrow's Daughter by r. muir.

I'm listening to an audio version of The Quran a Biography. I'm finding it confusing and not a real clear primer on Islam. Are there any other good intorductory titles/guides about the Quran or Islam?

Sandydog1: You should read No God But God. My boyfriend - who was raised as a Muslim - has recommended that to me. He says it's a very well-written book that gives an historical account of Islam. He feels that the most important point is makes is how Islam did not develop within a cultural vacuum. Paganism was the prevailing 'religion' at the time and many pagan customs merged with Islam.

These days my boyfriend takes a more intellectual approach to his religion and he wishes more Muslims would read books like this. He hates the fact that the Muslims in his community follow their religion blindly or stick to dogma without understanding the reason behind it (if there is any, or if it's still valid).

I've read a bit of No God But God and, as he said, it's well-written so it reads like a bit like an historical story, so you won't be confused I'm sure.

Holy books are as a rule not easy to read and need time to understand the meaning of most of their verses or sentences.
Concerning the Quran try reading the last chapters (surahs) first beginning with 114. Those last chapters and the first chapter are easier for a newcomer. Later can you try with time read the "big" chapters that need much more time to grasp their contexts and meaning.

LaurenSeraph, re: the Qur'an itself, you might try Approaching the Qur'an: the Early Revelations by Michael Sells. It is said to be helpful and illuminating especially for beginners, non-Muslims and non-Arabic speakers. It comes also with a CD-ROM containing audio recitations (the Qur'an was, after all, oral literature before it was a written book).

i like audio books. can you give me a link to this audioversion? i would appreciate it. thanks.

Well, it's not an audiobook per se. It's a regular book which has an accompanying CD-ROM that contains some Qur'an readings and other audio material. Any retail bookseller should be able to obtain it for you.

If you're interested in audio versions of the Qur'an, you can try a search in Audiobooks for "Qur'an" on Amazon.com. You can also hear an array of recitation styles from around the globe by searching on YouTube.com for "Qur'an recitation" (or "Qur'an recitation woman" or "Qur'an recitation with English translation" or so on). A Google search for "MP3 Qur'an" or the like might yield something as well.

Edited to fix grammar.