Both the curious and the believer alike find themselves pondering the same question: What is the Qur'an, and what is so special about the Qur'an that drives almost one-quarter of the world's population to believe in it? The Qur'an is not what one would consider an easy read, whether talking about Arabic speaking peoples reading the Arabic Qur'an or non-Arabic speaking peoples reading translations of the text in other languages. Most people think that reading the Qur'an once or even several times readily enables them to understand what the Qur'an is saying. That surely would be true if one were a native Arabic speaker living in the space-time of the revelation fourteen hundred years ago. However, for us living in other space-time, the present author assures the reader that such is not the case.
This book is part of a series. It is the first volume of "The Qur'anic Revelation: A Reformed Understanding"-published concurrently with the second and third volumes. In this book the author argues that the religion of Islam is an unacceptable representation of the Qur'anic revelation. Furthermore, that the religions based on God's revealed scriptures, as we know them today, including but not limited to the religion of Islam, deviate from the essence of God's revelations-mainly bringing Judaism and Christianity into the discussion. The author puts forward his own interpretation of the Qur'anic revelation and, in this volume, primarily addresses its inclusiveness aspect by exploring how the Qur'an understands both inclusiveness and religion.
What Islam is the book talking about? Is it one Islam that around one-fourth of the world's population follows? Are all of the commands in the Qur'an of eternal applicability? Did the Qur'an come with a new religion and how did the Qur'an define membership in the religion? What impact did the Qur'an have on the beliefs and practices of those who accepted the revelation from the peoples of previous scriptures in the space-time of the Prophet, yet as argued, who at the same time maintained their religious identities? This volume addresses these questions and a multitude of others.
This book is self-contained. It does not require the reader to have previous knowledge in any of the topics discussed. The book discusses topics you do not find in your typical book about the Qur'an or Islam. It would interest those who want to learn about the Qur'an and its message. Among this group would be those searching for a reformed understanding of the Qur'an and how it applies today; those curious to learn how the Qur'anic message affects followers of the previous revealed scriptures; and those interested in monotheistic religions in general.
