A Concise Guide to the Quran: Answering Thirty Critical Questions

by Ayman S. Ibrahim

Overview

What is so unique about Islam's scripture, the Quran? Who wrote it, and when? Can we trust its statements to be from Muhammad? Why was it written in Arabic? Does it command Muslims to fight Christians? These are a few of the thirty questions answered in this clear and concise guide to the history and contents of the Quran.

Ayman Ibrahim grew up in the Muslim world and has spent many years teaching various courses on Islam. Using a question-and-answer format, Ibrahim covers critical questions about the most sacred book for Muslims. He examines Muslim and non-Muslim views concerning the Quran, shows how the Quran is used in contemporary expressions of Islam, answers many of the key questions non-Muslims have about the Quran and Islam, and reveals the importance of understanding the Quran for Christian-Muslim and Jewish-Muslim interfaith relations.

This introductory guide is written for anyone with little to no knowledge of Islam who wants to learn about Muslims, their beliefs, and their scripture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493429288
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/03/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	192
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Ayman S. Ibrahim (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary; PhD, Haifa University) is Bill and Connie Jenkins Professor of Islamic Studies and director of the Center for the Christian Understanding of Islam at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He was born and raised in Egypt and has taught in various countries in the Muslim world and in the West. His articles on Islam and Christian-Muslim relations have appeared in the Washington Post, Religion News Service, and First Things, among others. Ibrahim is the author of The Stated Motivations for the Early Islamic Expansion.

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction: My Earliest Encounters with the Quran
Part 1: The History of the Text of the Quran
1. What Is the Quran?
2. What Does "Quran" Mean?
3. Are There Other Scriptures in Islam?
4. What Do Muslims Believe about the Quran?
5. Who Is Muhammad, the Recipient and Proclaimer of the Quran?
6. Did Muhammad Really Exist?
7. When and Where Did Muhammad Receive the Quran?
8. What Is the Most Important Feature of the Language of the Quran?
9. Why and How Was the Quran Compiled?
10. Did Uthman Burn False and Forged Qurans?
11. What Do Shiite Muslims Believe about the Collection of the Quran?
12. Do Sunnis and Shiites Have the Same Quran Today?
13. What Do We Know about the 1924 Royal Cairo Edition of the Quran?
14. Are There Any Other Qurans?
15. Are All Arabic Versions of the Quran the Same?
Part 2: Content, Features, and Themes of the Quran
16. How Should I Begin Reading the Quran?
17. What Are the Recurring Features at the Beginning of All Suras?
18. What Is Abrogation in the Quran?
19. What Are the Satanic Verses in the Quran?
20. What Is the Most Important Concept for Muslims in the Quran?
21. Are Jews and Christians Infidels?
22. Does the Quran Really Say the Bible Is Corrupt?
23. Who Is Jesus in the Quran?
24. Who Are the Prophets in the Quran?
25. Did Muhammad Perform Miracles?
26. What Does the Quran Say about Jihad and Fighting?
27. How Do Muslims Treat the Quran's Verses on Violence Today?
28. Who Are "the People of the Quran"?
29. What Do Today's Non-Muslim
Scholars Say about the Quran?
30. Concluding Question: How Does This All Fit Together?
Glossary
Index

Editorial Reviews

09/28/2020

Ibrahim (Muslim Conversions to Christ), an Egyptian Coptic Christian and theology professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, attempts to explain the Quran to an evangelical audience in this deceptive work. Ibrahim writes in the introduction that his aim is to help non-Muslims understand Islam’s holy book and the beliefs Muslims hold about it, but what follows is a challenge to or critique of a wide variety of those beliefs. The book is riddled with questionable generalizations (“Islam and Muslims were generally unknown before 9/11”) and fallacious statements (“there is no evidence of the acclaimed pre-Islamic poetry; not even a single line remains”), and Ibrahim employs a narrow lens that appears only focused on discrediting Islam through cherry-picking Quranic verses and scholarship. No distinction is made between the content of the Quran itself and the interpretations of it by various Muslim groups, and though the verses concerning jihad are examined at length, passages about love, mercy, and forgiveness are largely ignored. Anyone genuinely curious about the Quran or Muslim faith would be better served elsewhere. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly