Customer Reviews

The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an (Cambridge Companions to Religion)

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Having heard about the Koran (or Qur'an) for years, I decided to read it in English translation. But I soon bogged down, confused and disappointed. This book was of immense assistance. It helped me appreciate why I had been confused (I had expected the Qur'an to be like the Bible or the Gita or Upanishads; it is unique in all sorts of ways) and it evaporated the disappointment like a mirage.

The COMPANION is well organized, with different scholars addressing their particular areas of specialization. All contributors are scholars based in European or North American universities, which might be considered a complaint by others, but not by me: these scholars knew well how strange the Qur'an can appear to a reader in the West. They knew what questions would be primary and inevitable, and troubled to answer them.

For example, what English translation should be preferred and what is lost in translation? These questions are taken up in McAuliffe's introduction (she mentions all the translations in print, recommends several for one reason or another, and prefers none as clearly foremost). The history of the codification of the Qur'an is discussed by several scholars, with excellent discussion of what can be known about its early transmission and its textual disputes. Major lines of interpretation follow, with attention to the political tensions within early Islam.

All essays are deeply respectful of the Qur'an. As might be expected, Western interest in the Qur'an, and the first Western translation of it (into Latin), were inspired by the desire to refute it, rebuke it, or otherwise neutralize it. THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION shows how far scholars have come in seeking to understand the Qur'an on its own terms, which are exceedingly various and tremendously demanding. First of all, the need to know Arabic; then the life of Mohammed and the Hadiths, collections of his sayings; then the competing and collateral traditions; and then the multiple evocations of the Qur'an in inscriptions, architecture, poetry, weaving, and law. One essay is devoted to the reception of the Qur'an by Western scholars.

First, at least two of the essays are written by Muslims. Mere scanning of table of contents will tell you that. So the objection by one of the reviewer that none of the essay is written by a Muslim scholar is not a valid one. Second, I found that standards of scholarship is quite high in these essays. It can be quite illuminating seeing the things from others' point of view. In this book most scholars do not share the same faith as mine (I am Muslim). I learned a lot of thing which I didn't know before.

A Muslim may not be as objective in the study of Quran on its own as a non-Muslim can be. Of course there are many Westerners who didn't understand the Quran or deliberately misconstrued it. But in this collection this is not the case. It is highly recommended for Muslims as well to develop an objective appreciation of the Quran.

One point I would like to add here. In the Muslim tradition, the primary subject of the Quran is nothing but human being. Entire Quran revolves around human. You many find ayats saying: everything in this universe has conquered to human beings; God has never changed the condition of a nation, unless it tried to do so; when God intends to punish a nation, the elite class of the society get infected by moral ills.

This is a great book for getting a better understanding of the Quran. It has been well researched and has chapters by many different people who have contributed their expertise.

I would expect a book claiming to be a Companion to the Quran to have at least some Muslim scholars represented in the sections of the book dealing with compilation and history. This Companion, although a fair distillation of modern Western Quranic scholarship, is rather like a Companion to the Bible being written only by Muslim scholars. I doubt the publisher would accept such a product but they seem to have no problem when it comes to the Quran.

This text is used in my department's Intro to Islam class--and for good reason! There are some really insightful essays on a whole variety of topics. The review below is a great overview of why this is a great source. No need for me to repeat myself!

The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an (Cambridge Companions to Religion)

Interesting reading.