Despite its short length, Bruce Lawrence's work is an excellent historic survey on the Qur'an. At times I wished for more material, but I was glad to move quickly through the centuries. This book and a good translation of the Qur'an is all a reader needs to be initiated into the world of Islam and its many influences from the seventh century to today.

Despite its short length, Bruce Lawrence's work is an excellent historic survey on the Qur'an. At times I wished for more material, but I was glad to move quickly through the centuries. This book and a good translation of the Qur'an is all a reader needs to be initiated into the world of Islam and its many influences from the seventh century to today.

This book on the Qur'an is sub-titled "A Biography" and it is issued as part of a series dubbed "Books That Shook the World." Neither of those catch phrases is really a propos. What this book really is is an introduction to the Qur'an, and it is a somewhat quirky one and ultimately only a so-so one.

I say "quirky" because Lawrence organizes his book, and presents the Qur'an, through a series of what he calls "vignettes" -- separate chapters that the author claims "can be read consecutively or selectively" and each of which, according to Lawrence "has a distinct geo-historical context." If the intent was for each vignette to be a piece of a mosaic, the overall design fails because at the end of the book no clear, coherent picture of the Qur'an emerges. Instead, the book has an episodic feel -- snapshots of the Qur'an through time.

The book is short -- just less than 200 pages, type-set in a reader-friendly fashion that has relatively few words per page (it can be read in an afternoon). It contains brief accounts of the Prophet Muhammad as the recipient/source of the Qur'anic revelations/recitations and his wife 'A'ishah and her role in preserving the Qur'an for future generations. In addition, there are individual chapters on seven of the principal "interpreters" of the Qur'an through history, as well as chapters on the Dome of the Rock and the Taj Mahal as architectural embodiments of the Qur'an. Finally, the book closes with three "vignettes" that cursorily discuss the Qur'anic background for three contemporary issues: racial equality, "jihad" a la Osama bin Ladin, and the Qur'an as a cure for AIDs and other earthly illnesses.

The book is well-written. My problem with it is that it is not sufficiently informative, even as an introduction. As noted, the "vignette" structure is not very successful. Many points are presented too cursorily. Some issues relating to the Qur'an are barely discussed at all (for example, the historical process of compiling or assembling Muhammad's revelations as a standard version, and inevitable theological questions associated with that issue). Then there are points that Lawrence evidently believes to be important but their significance is not adequately conveyed. One example in particular is Lawrence's repeated references to the Qur'an as a "Book of Signs"; perhaps I am missing something, but to me (and I, obviously, am not a Muslim) that is as meaningful as calling it "ineffable".

In writing the book, Lawrence certainly is sensitive to the fact that the Qur'an is holy scripture for millions of people. He presents the Qur'an with respect and sincerity. For non-Muslims (and I can't imagine that many Muslims would care to read the book), this introduction is far better than ignorance. But, as said, it is only a so-so introduction. Much better, to my mind, is "The Koran: A Very Short Introduction", by Michael Cook, one of the "Very Short Introductions" series published by Oxford University Press.

Non-Muslim readers - and some Muslims also - may be put off by the simplistically written first two chapters dealing with the life of Muhammad, in which no distinction is made between facts which have been generally accepted and legends. But we learn from this and the following chapter on Aisha, the Prophet's favourite wife, how many verses of the Qur'an refer very specifically to personal dilemmas in which Muhammad found himself at various times of his life.

While the text of the Qur'an is immutable, it has to be interpreted. After the first four chapters, the book describes some of these interpretations, which are of course controversial. So the Shi'ite Ja'afar as-Sadiq (702 to 765) claimed that certain verses of the Qur'an allegorically referred to the Shi'ite imams and to the obligation to follow them - a claim hotly denied by Sunnis like Abu Ja'far at-Tabari (ca.839 to ca. 923), whose work is described in the following chapter. Lawrence often refers to the Qur'an as `the Book of Signs'. Both Sadiq and Tabari had distinguished between Clear and Ambiguous Signs in the Qur'an: Clear Signs are those `whose meaning the reader, with the proper background, can readily decipher'; Ambiguous Signs are those difficult passages of which `God alone knows the interpretation', and which invite imagination and intuition for their interpretation by those few who have access to the Qur'an's esoteric meanings. But whereas the Shi'ites had declared almost a quarter of the Qur'an to consist of Ambiguous Signs, giving them considerable flexibility in innovative interpretation, Tabari restricted the Ambiguous Signs to only a few passages, which did not include those which the Shi'ites had interpreted as referring to their Imams.

Then there is the mystical experience of the Qur'an such as that acquired by the Sufi masters like Muhyiddin ibn Arabi (1165 to 1240) and expressed in his magnum opus, `The Meccan Openings', or by Rumi (1207 to 1273) in his Mathnawi, 27,000 couplets of meditation on the Qur'an.

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817 to 1898), living in the Raj, thought that Sadiq and Tabari had been preoccupied with what in the 19th century, when science seemed to challenge religion, struck him as secondary problems. Instead of distinguishing between Clear and Ambiguous Signs, Sayyid Khan distinguished between verses that were essential and those that were symbolic. As a believing Muslim, he regarded as essential the verses describing God as omnipotent and as Creator, and the revelation of the Qur'an to Muhammad. He took as symbolic those passages in the Qur'an (like, for example, the Night Journey) which in their literal sense conflicted with science, and he felt free to dismiss hadiths and earlier commentators on the Qur'an as historically but not divinely conditioned. As a modern man, he also laid stress on those verses in the Qur'an which had been ignored in practice by Muslims in the past, such as those condemning slavery and injustice to women (such as he saw also in polygamy, since he thought it impossible for a husband to treat all his wives equally as the Qur'an enjoined.)

There is a chapter on Osama bin Laden, whose interpretation of the Qur'an is well known: he focusses entirely on the most violent verses (`slay the idolators wherever you find them' - 9:5) to proclaim militant jihad as the obligation for Muslims second only to the commandment to believe in Allah; and, especially since Americans and Zionists have dominated Muslim lands, he sees jihad as essentially defensive.

In the last chapter Lawrence shows how the physical imbibing of Quranic verses dissolved in water is used by professional healers, with instructions how the use them available on a Sufi internet site from Indonesia.

I have found this book very disappointing and ultimately not very informative. Professor Lawrence is fervently in praise of the Qur'an, and apparently convinced that it was in fact revealed by God to Muhammad. Nothing wrong with that in itself, though a non-Muslim reader looking for a `biography' of the Qur'an would prefer a rather more detached account. In any case we have here an extremely limited `biography'. It deals only with what devout Muslims have seen in the Qur'an. And even in this narrow respect, where there have been the conflicting interpretations Lawrence does mention (as, for example, between Sadiq and Tabari) there is remarkably little detail in these admittedly very short chapters. There should surely have been very much more about Sunnis and Shi'ites. And although the book is about the Qur'an and not about the hadiths and the sira, the opening chapters in particular do not make this distinction. Then, one cannot imagine a `biography' of the Bible, for example, without taking Biblical Criticism into account. The equivalent of this does exist in Quranic studies, but there is no reference to it in this book. There is, for example, nothing on recent scholarship, even if controversial, on what the sources of the Qur'an may have been, or on the suggestion by John Wansborough that in its present form it was committed to writing not ca. 650 but about 150 years later; and he questioned whether it actually consists entirely of the revelations claimed by Muhammad. Also I would have expected from a `biography' to have learnt something more about the diffusion of the Qur'an, first in calligraphic and then later in printed form. That is obviously not the book Professor Lawrence wanted to write.

This is a very simple attempt to explain the Qur'an. I personally don't think it should have been called a biography, for it isn't. However, the book is very well written and easy to read, and will introduce the reader, whether Muslim or not, to how Muslims have used and interpreted the Qur'an throughout the centuries.

The first chapters are on Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), his followers, his wars, and on one of his youngest wives, A'isha. These chapters will introduce the reader to how and why the Qur'an descended to the people of the world. The rest of the chapters are about how Muslims have used and interpreted the Qur'an.

I did enjoy the chapter on the use of the Qur'an for healing. According to the author, Muslims have used the Qur'an to heal themselves from diseases such as cancer and AIDS. Qur'anic verses have also been used to adorn murals such as in the Mosque of the Dome and the Taj Mahal, and the author does a great job explaining their history.

The author points out that not all Islamic scholars or Imams interpreted the Qur'an in the same way. This caused branches in Islam, among which are the Sunnis, Shiites, Sufis, Wahabis, Dancing Dervishes, and Nation of Islam, to name just a few. The author goes through some of these branches of Islam and he does a great job explaining their origins.

I did also enjoy the chapter on jihad, a subject captivating the minds of everyone after 9/11. Some Muslim scholars view Jihad as a means of fighting your enemies (e.g. Osama Binladen), while other scholars view Jihad as a spiritual struggle within oneself.

The author talks about prominent Muslim figures from the United States, India, and Pakistan, and about their differing views on how one should approach the Qur'an. Those chapters were fascinating.
Overall, this is an excellent book for both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

This is a very simple attempt to explain the Qur'an. I personally don't think it should have been called a biography, for it isn't. However, the book is very well written and easy to read, and will introduce the reader, whether Muslim or not, to how Muslims have used and interpreted the Qur'an throughout the centuries.

The first chapters are on Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), his followers, his wars, and on one of his youngest wives, A'isha. These chapters will introduce the reader to how and why the Qur'an descended to the people of the world. The rest of the chapters are about how Muslims have used and interpreted the Qur'an.

I did enjoy the chapter on the use of the Qur'an for healing. According to the author, Muslims have used the Qur'an to heal themselves from diseases such as cancer and AIDS. Qur'anic verses have also been used to adorn murals such as in the Mosque of the Dome and the Taj Mahal, and the author does a great job explaining their history.

The author points out that not all Islamic scholars or Imams interpreted the Qur'an in the same way. This caused branches in Islam, among which are the Sunnis, Shiites, Sufis, Wahabis, Dancing Dervishes, and Nation of Islam, to name just a few. The author goes through some of these branches of Islam and he does a great job explaining their origins.

I did also enjoy the chapter on jihad, a subject captivating the minds of everyone after 9/11. Some Muslim scholars view Jihad as a means of fighting your enemies (e.g. Osama Binladen), while other scholars view Jihad as a spiritual struggle within oneself.

The author talks about prominent Muslim figures from the United States, India, and Pakistan, and about their differing views on how one should approach the Qur'an. Those chapters were fascinating.
Overall, this is an excellent book for both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

This is more a question than a review. If you do not brook independent thought, skip what I have to say. It will offend you.

This book is typical studies type fare that has been coming from US professors who "study" other countries and cultures, regions outside the United States of America. Unlike similar professors elsewhere in the world, I began noticing in the early 1970s that in USA to be a professor of Asian, Arab, Russian studies was to be a defender of these people and a cultural snob to the American people.

Lawrence is no exception. His book de facto "promotes" Islam & Muslims. A controlling theme of his book is how much we misunderstand Islam, muslims and in effect Arabs. I have seen much of the world. I could not find the foreign American Studies professors who write to their people how misunderstood are the Americans. What gives? Perhaps American professors are an American elite part of the Oligarchy that dominates today?

Beware the professors who insist what we read and see is not what is truly there or written. Clergy elites used claims to special comprehension to the invisible as horsewhips to ride dominant over people; Professors are elites who use invisible claims to supreme comprehension of all things material and invisible to horsewhip us.

Bruce Lawrence provides a "biography" of the Qur'an that is well designed to introduce the significance of the Qur'an before one attempts to wrestle with the text itself. Lawrence is a serious scholar of Islam and Sufism who here has found a way to simplify that does not oversimplify and is therefore extremely useful for those new to the study of Islam and also others with much more familiarity to get fresh perspective. It is well worth reading by a fairly broad range of readers, Muslim and non-Muslim.

After two chapters on Prophet Muhammad and one on A'isha (the `favorite' wife of his later days in Medina after a long monogamous marriage to Khadija), chapters are about the Qur'an and its interpretation, introducing issues in simple and effective terms via those who have written about and been inspired by the Qur'an.. The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Taj Mahal have extensive quotations carved into them, one emphasizing the oneness of God and the other the character and image of Paradise.

Others chapters introduce writings and inspiration for the likes of Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Iqbal in India, Ibn Arabi the mystic and philosopher, and still others. In this way one begins to see "life story" -- the role of traditional interpretation, the critical importance of in depth study to understand, as well as the place of "science" and inspiration. One Another chapter discusses Osama bin Laden's warped use of the Qur'an - so very like the selective quotations to portray Islam by its detractors. Of course detractors and bin Laden "feed" off each other.

This well written "biography" is about interpretations and many important people moved by the Qur'an.

(There are other books in the series - major books of Plato, Darwin, Marx, Thomas Paine - and more to come. The first reviewer missed the point of the series and yet still enjoyed this book.)

I bought this book, hoping to learn more of the Qur'an. While I did learn and did enjoy the book, I felt as though it covered more of the history after the Qur'an. Specifically how different people interpret the Qur'an. I wanted to dig into the Qur'an more I guess.
Dan

I bought this book, hoping to learn more of the Qur'an. While I did learn and did enjoy the book, I felt as though it covered more of the history after the Qur'an. Specifically how different people interpret the Qur'an. I wanted to dig into the Qur'an more I guess.
Dan