The Quran, Bruce Lawrence
The Quran, Bruce Lawrence
4 Rating(s)
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The Qur'an
A Biography

Author: Bruce Lawrence

Narrator: Michael Prichard

Unabridged: 5 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/24/2007


Synopsis

Few books in history have been as important or as poorly understood as the Qur'an. Sent down in a series of revelations to the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an is the unmediated word of Allah: a ritual, political, and legal authority, an ethical and spiritual guide, and a literary masterpiece. It is revered by Muslims throughout the world, in whom it inspires devotion, passion, fear, and sometimes incomprehension.

In this book, one of the launch titles in the Atlantic Monthly Press's Books That Changed the World series, distinguished historian of religion Bruce Lawrence shows precisely how the Qur'an is Islam. He describes the origins of the faith and assesses its tremendous influence on today's societies and politics. Above all, Lawrence emphasizes that the Qur'an is a sacred book of signs that has no single message. It is a book that demands interpretation and one that can be properly understood only through its history. Lawrence's work is a beautifully written and, in these increasingly troubled times, invaluable introduction to and exploration of the core sacred text of Islam.

About Bruce Lawrence

Bruce Lawrence is the Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Professor of Religion at Duke University. He is an expert on Islam and non-Muslim religious traditions of Asia, especially Hinduism and Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. Bruce is the author or editor of numerous books, including Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence, Defenders of God, and Messages to the World, an edited volume of Osama Bin Laden's statements.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Clif

I read this book to give myself some background in the history of the Koran (Qur’an) before reading it. I would never read the Koran (Qur’an) on my own, but a book discussion group I belong to selected it for reading. This book, (The Qur'an: A Biography) kept using terms and expressions that were un......more

Goodreads review by David

If you're looking for a summary of or guide to the Qur'an, this book probably isn't it. This concept of a biography of a book is not unique to this particular book, but it is somewhat new. It's been effectively applied to several historic books but perhaps nowhere more successfully than here. The Qur......more

Goodreads review by Aditya

Why i read this book? First, is because i have to translate this book into Indonesian. Yup, i'm the translator of this book in Indonesia. This book told us about how Western's scholar think about this holy book of Islam. It summarize how moslem interpret they own holy book, which is so different from......more

Goodreads review by Md

A good collection of a wide range of references for interested people to investigate further. Obviously the first few chapters are very familiar to most Muslims, later chapters discuss a lot of different perspectives, and views and interpretations of various scholars. Not surprisingly, the name of O......more

An interesting, short book, that wasn't exactly up to my expectations. I had expected something closer to America's Constitution: A Biography, which focuses on the development and interpretation of the text. While that is partially achieved, through the vignettes of notable quran interpreters, those......more