The Koran: A Very Short Introduction

Magnificent overview of the Quranic text, some thoughts on how it is interpreted, and also on the different styles of Quranic recitation. The book's scope is impressive for its small size.

Michael Cook's 'very short introduction' is the ideal way to approach the Islamic scripture for the first time. Writing with wit and knowledge intermingled, Cook engages the reader from the introduction on forward--the story of the Koran is a fascinating trip interweaving faith and history, and Cook revels in the ride. Cook provides a solid inroduction not only to the Koran as we know it today, but also to its origins, teachings, and the role it plays both inside and outside of the mosque. His treatment of the Koran is at once a respectful, but inquiring one, and at times he drops in a dash of humor to keep things from becoming overserious. Overall, this book cannot be bettered as an introduction to the Koran, and it should be read with Michael Sells' "Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations" as an essential part of anyone's study into Islam, the Koran (Qur'an), or world literature in general.

In looking for enlightenment on Islam, I have found that the currently available literature falls into three basic categories: anti-Islamic polemic, pro-Islamic apologetic, politically correct circumlocution. None of the three types promotes objectivity. "The Koran: a Very Short Introduction," achieves objectivity. It is sympathetic, but not sycophantic. When it sees problems, it pulls no punches in pointing them out and thoroughly discussing them. When it sees something good, it is unstinting in praise. When you write a rigorously objective book on a hot topic, "true believers" on both sides will rail against you. The fact that this book has drawn fire from "true believers" on both sides is excellent evidence of its objectivity.

There is no better way to learn so much about The Koran in so little time as is possible with Michael Cook's A Very Short Introduction. I own several titles from the series and each has its strengths and weaknesses. This one shares a weakness with several of the other Short Introductions in that the topic is too exhaustive to cover in the less than two hundred pages used by Cook. Nothing I can offer will add or subtract from the previous reviews, but I will claim that the book is a good one and valuable for understanding the sacred text if you find it foreign. Furthermore, it is a handy reference that I have returned to several times as recent political conversations hover around fundamentalism in general, and Islam in particular. Note that the two practices are no more one and the same than Christianity and fundamentalism, but both sets are often interlinked.

I have used this little book (fits in your front pocket with room to spare) in a few different classes and students either love it or hate it. Personally, I love it. Many believing Muslims will find this book either difficult or problematic. A large part of the problem here is that Cook takes a distinctly secular approach, treating the Koran simply as another text to be analyzed. There are, however, some real problems. First, because he chooses "hot" topics as examples(violence against women, treatment of non-Muslims), one may get the mistaken sense that these issues are central to the text of the Koran when in fact, they are a relatively minor aspect. Indeed, you don't get a strong sense from this work about what the Koran actually says. For that, Cook argues somewhat dismissively, you should read the Koran itself. There is also a problem of tone. Cook has a good sense of humor and it lightens the tone of the work. But sometimes his timing is off and I felt myself cringe at his lack of taste. It is one thing to avoid political correctness, but he very occasionaly crosses the line into pointless bad taste. If this volume is not a perfect work, it is an extremely good one, offering a real sense of the variety of ways in which the Koran can be approached, its centrality to Islamic practice, and the problems of textual interpretation. I don't think that this is the best source for finding out about basic precepts of Islam. But for people with some background in the subject, however, it is a remarkably thought-provoking and important work.