How to Read the Qu'ran

Islam has become a ubiquitous presence almost everywhere in the world, but few non-Muslims possess even basic knowledge of this monumental religion. "How to Read the Qur'an" uses Islam's holiest book as a base to elucidate the faith's history, people, and beliefs. All ten chapters revolve around themes quoted in Qur'anic passages. Chapter 1, "The Book As Guidance," begins with one of the Qur'an's first and most cited suras, al-Baqarah 2:1-7, which states "This is the book. In it is guidance without doubt for those who fear God." This section then gives an overview of Islam and the social context in which its most revered book was revealed to Muhammad the Prophet between 610 - 632 CE. Muslims celebrate Ramadan in honor of this event. Tradition says that followers of Muhammad recorded these revelations on various mediums. Some twenty years after the Prophet's death the Qur'an was formed as the unchangeable Uthmanic Mushaf. In recent years modernity has challenged the ideas contained in this 7th century book. The author, a Muslim from Glasgow, bemoans reactionaries who distill the Qur'an down into singular meaning to meet these modern challenges. She believes the Qur'an should remain an open, flexible text containing multiple overlapping meanings. This subtheme, the humane openness of Islam, permeates the entire book. Other chapters explore the earliest suras (scholars tend to agree on 96 as the first revelation), Muslim belief as Muhammad as the last Prophet and the Qur'an as God's final revelation, some differences between Islam, Judaism and Christianity (Muslims see God as indivisible so reject the Christian trinity; Islam also has no notion of "original sin"), Islam's five main rituals: Shahada, Salat, Zakat, Sawn, and Hajj, Shari'a law, attitudes towards other "people of the book," and modern Qur'anical exegesis (some of which tries to "deconstruct" the book). Chapter 7, "Modesty and Modernity," discusses the recent hot topic of hijab and niqab, or women's headscarves and coverings. Many Muslim women see veiling as pious, but modernity often sees it as exclusionary or patriarchal. Some quoted passages from the Hadith, a collection of Muhammad's sayings often seen as complimentary to the Qur'an, suggest the inferiority of women. The author argues that these should be ruled out by the Qur'an's dominantly egalitarian spirit. Womens' rights remain an incendiary issue in Islam to the present day. Some women have begun to speak out. "How to Read the Qur'an" introduces not only Islam's holiest book, but Islam itself. Most of the major themes appear: Muhammad, Hadith, Sunni and Shi'a split, womens' rights, and others. The book does not touch on fundamentalism or martyrdom to any great degree apart from calling it misguided. Don't expect to learn much about the Taliban or Al-Quaeda. Other books exist for that. This book treats Islam as a religion of peace, understanding, and human stewardship of the earth. Though it seems to ignore some of the Qur'an'

Prof. Mona Siddiqui has written a well-researched, intelligent guide to Islam based upon the Quran. Her astute observations about the various cultural/political nuances which have crept into the faith - to the detriment of the basic message of Islam - is timely, especially to those Muslims living in the West. But both Muslims & non-Muslims will be challenged to rethink their preconceived notions about the religion of Islam...as Siddiqui concludes "If we want to draw closer to God, we must respectfully draw closer to each other." Well said - as the co-author of The American Muslim Teenager's Handbook - I'm well aware of the myriad misconceptions about Islam, so any book which contributes to the general body of Islam, especially one so clever & willing to question cultural norms by testing them against the Quranic message of tolerance & social justice...well, this book should be on the shelf of anyone interested in an interfaith dialogue!