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The Koran: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

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I really appreciated this (very) short introduction to the Koran. As a Christian who is fairly familiar with my own tradition's sacred book, the Bible, I found it helpful in explaining how the Koran and Bible are different. The books that make up the Bible were written over many centuries, the Koran was written and compiled in less than a century (and five centuries after the latest book in the New Testament). Most Jews and Christians read their Bibles in a translation (leaving it to their biblical scholars to learn the original languages); the Koran is read and recited exclusively in its original Arabic, even in countries where Arabic is not a native language (Iran, Malaysia). The Bible contains many types of literature--poetry, wisdom sayings, compelling narratives, prophetic utterances; the Koran refers to events and stories (including some, like Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, from the Jewish and Christian Scriptures) but has no narratives of its own (not even the story of its primary prophet, Muhammad) and consists only of prophetic utterances. The Bible is quite long; the Koran is relatively short and some Muslims have memorized it in its entirety. The Bible plays a significant role in the liturgy of Jews and Christians; public reading of the Koran is not part of Islamic public worship.

However, like the Hebrew Bible with its Midrashim and Talmud, and New Testament with the writings of the church fathers, the Koran has gathered around itself a enormous body of commentaries to help explain its difficult and contradicory texts. Many Islamic beliefs that are attributed to the Koran are actually based on the commentaries of its interpreters.

I liked this book because it focused solely on the Koran itself. Most books I've picked up on Islam don't give this much attention to the Koran, or only refer to it intermittently. For a "very short introduction" there's a lot here to digest.

The photos and illustrations are interesting and instructive. The book also includes a short chapter on reading Arabic transliteration, an annotated bibliography, and an index.

Let's face it: most of us who've lately been reading books on Islam and the Qur'an are doing so to understand a religion we for the most part ignored prior to 9/11. We're putting ourselves through a crash course on Islam and Islamic culture in the hopes that we can figure out what Islam's basic tenets are, and how it is that the Taliban and al-Qaida can claim the religion as their justification for repression and terror.

Obviously one of the first places to start is with the Qur'an itself. But to Westerners who've never opened it, the book can be intimidating and arcane. Michael Cook's little volume on the Qur'an is a decent introduction to its structure, basic principles, interpretation, and history.

Some points in Cook's book are of more immediate service to the beginner than others. Cook's discussion of the difficulties encountered in translating the Qur'an's Arabic into other languages may not be of great interest to the beginner. But his overview of the various Muslim schools of exegesis or interpretation certainly will be, for this discussion begins to reveal to the reader that there's no more of a uniform way of reading the Qur'an than there is of reading the Hebrew and Christian Bibles. As a consequence, Qur'anic verses can mean different things to Muslims coming from different exegetical traditions. Cook illustrates this point in Chapter 4 by discussing the "sword verse" (Sura 9:5) and the "tribute verse" (Sura 9:29). These two verses are frequently appealed to by commentators on Islam's attitude to "infidels." Cook does a fine job of showing that the verses can be read either as harshly intolerant or as live-and-let-live, depending on how one parses the text.

One of the many merits of this short book is that Cook encourages us to think about the meaning of "sacred scripture" in general. Whatever else scripture is, regardless of the religious tradition we're talking about, it's fluid and living and multi-layered. To condemn a sacred text on the basis of a cursory reading and a literal interpretation of a few ambiguous verses is a rush to judgment.

The Koran (in the OUP "Very Short Introductions" series,) Oxford 2000.

Pious Muslims may feel that in the presence of the text and its commentaries, they do not need Professor Michael Cook's "very short introduction" to the Koran. The pious may also wish to stay away because Professor Cook was once associated with the notorious "Hagarene hypothesis" (put forth in the 1977 book: Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World by Patricia Crone and Michael Cook) though he has since backed away from some of the more extreme claims of that book. But "The Koran, a very short introduction" turns out to be a very witty and interesting book, full of insights that the most pious Muslim will find informative and stimulating.
There is a tendency to avoid difficult issues at a time when Likudniks, oil barons and Christian fundamentalists are trying to permanently colonize huge chunks of the Middle East, but it is unlikely that the Binladens of the Islamic world will be able to provide an intellectual framework adequate to the task at hand. Un-nerving as it may be, Muslims have no choice but to re-examine and reconstruct their faith. Professor Cook's "short introduction" may lead on to better and bigger things.
Professor Cook starts by discussing what constitutes a sacred scripture and the forms such scriptures have taken in different civilizations. He then outlines the role the Koran plays in Muslims culture and how this is similar and how it differs from the role played by the Bible or the Vedas in their cultures. A few short selections from the Quran (the Fatiha, surah alfeel, the "throne verse", the "sword verse", among others) are presented in standard translations and used to illustrate the Quranic message and how it is perceived. The treatment is fair and balanced, though with a touch of levity that some Muslims may find initially disconcerting. One can get an idea of professor Cook's tone from his own description of his latest work:
"Recently I have published a monograph on a very Islamic value: al-amr bi`l-ma'ruf - roughly, the duty of each and every Muslim to tell people off for violating God's law".

The sentence is accurate enough, though the tone is one that a pious Muslim may find out of place in a discussion of religion. But professor Cook is not a pious Muslim and may perhaps be excused as long as he is not unfair (and in this book at least, he is generally fair). After discussing the status of the Koran in the Muslim world today, He goes on to discuss its origins, its content, organization, translation, pronunciation, commentaries, and dissemination. As is to be expected in such a small book, he cannot cover any topic in great detail, but he manages to touch on a very large number of issues and manages to convey a sense of the subject surprisingly well. The text is packed with fascinating little nuggets, like a picture of the Quran with Spanish translation in Arabic script! In every chapter, he says enough to spark a desire to learn more. At every step, he also interjects comparisons with other culture and other scriptures; comparisons that are illuminating and enlightening and, generally, even-handed. Currently "hot" topics like "tolerance" and "women's rights" get highlighted, as expected, but he does point out that prior generations did not necessarily look at them through contemporary lenses. What bothered older commenatators about the quranic reference to wife beating may turn out to be very different from what bothers a "modern liberal". On the other hand, at times the older commentators (and the text itself) turn out to have been much more "modern" than we expected.
Professor Cook's little book works very well as an introduction for someone unfamiliar with the Quran, but if anything, it is even more interesting for someone already familiar with Muslim culture and history. He notes the extraordinary hold of "fundamentalist" interpretations in the Muslim world today, but ends by pointing out that this was not always the case and may not be the case in the future. As an example of how things may change, he points to the work of Abdul Karim Surush in Iran, whose book "siraat-haay mustaqeem" (straight paths) raises the possibility that there is more than one straight path and all may co-exist.
In short, almost anyone wanting to learn more about the Qur'an, will find this a wonderful place to start. It may be a very short introduction, but it touches on many important issues and does so with great erudition and unexpected wittiness. Worth a read.

In looking for enlightenment on Islam, I have found that the currently available literature falls into three basic categories: anti-Islamic polemic, pro-Islamic apologetic, politically correct circumlocution. None of the three types promotes objectivity.

"The Koran: a Very Short Introduction," achieves objectivity. It is sympathetic, but not sycophantic. When it sees problems, it pulls no punches in pointing them out and thoroughly discussing them. When it sees something good, it is unstinting in praise.

When you write a rigorously objective book on a hot topic, "true believers" on both sides will rail against you. The fact that this book has drawn fire from "true believers" on both sides is excellent evidence of its objectivity.

I have used this little book (fits in your front pocket with room to spare) in a few different classes and students either love it or hate it. Personally, I love it.

Many believing Muslims will find this book either difficult or problematic. A large part of the problem here is that Cook takes a distinctly secular approach, treating the Koran simply as another text to be analyzed. There are, however, some real problems. First, because he chooses "hot" topics as examples(violence against women, treatment of non-Muslims), one may get the mistaken sense that these issues are central to the text of the Koran when in fact, they are a relatively minor aspect. Indeed, you don't get a strong sense from this work about what the Koran actually says. For that, Cook argues somewhat dismissively, you should read the Koran itself. There is also a problem of tone. Cook has a good sense of humor and it lightens the tone of the work. But sometimes his timing is off and I felt myself cringe at his lack of taste. It is one thing to avoid political correctness, but he very occasionaly crosses the line into pointless bad taste.

If this volume is not a perfect work, it is an extremely good one, offering a real sense of the variety of ways in which the Koran can be approached, its centrality to Islamic practice, and the problems of textual interpretation.

I don't think that this is the best source for finding out about basic precepts of Islam. But for people with some background in the subject, however, it is a remarkably thought-provoking and important work.

Michael Cook. The Koran: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. 164 pp. Notes index. $8.95 (paper), ISBN 0-19-285344-9.
Reviewed by: Khaleel Mohammed , Brandeis University.
Published by: H-Mideast-Medieval (February, 2003)

In The Koran: A Very Short Introduction, Michael Cook states that a short introduction does not have time to say much (p. 8). If we take him at his word, then the title of his book is misleading, for all that is short about his book is its length; the little paperback says way beyond what may be expected from a work of this size. Divided into fourteen chapters, and four main parts, the volume provides such an immense wealth of information that in fact it is a veritable mini-encyclopedia. Written in a simple, eloquent style, the book is a gem for both the lay reader and the academic. In 164 pages, Cook manages to cover a myriad of topics, among them comparative exegesis, comparative scripture, fiqh, theology, fundamentalism, modern approaches to interpretation, and the collection of the Qur'an. He provides information in as objective a manner as possible, and as troubling as some of his conclusions might be, almost never fails to indicate his sources.

It is evident that Cook is a master of his subject; indeed many of the topics he discusses are way beyond the scope of many who are perceived as learned. Ibn Hazm would have been proud, albeit unsatisfied, of the way Cook deals with the interpretation of the purified who may touch the Qur'an (p. 56). The one instance where Cook does not provide a source, however, is problematic: in discussing Q9:5, he states that the verse orders the killing of mushriks (polytheists) unless they convert (p. 34). There is certainly more to the Qur'anic verses than this, for the mushriks in question are evidently those who have waged war against Islam and against whom a war, in which no quarter is given, is declared. Cook rightly defines a mushrik as anyone who associates partners with God, but then states that the term extends to Jews and Christians (p. 34). This statement could create the misconception that the Jews and Christians are to be killed for polytheism according to the imperative in Q9:5. Although it is possible that Jews and Christians may be viewed as mushriks by some extremist Muslims, the Qur'an does not use this term to describe the people of the Book. To be sure, the Qur'an speaks of the Jews taking Uzayr as the son of God and the Christians making the same assumption regarding Jesus. Significantly, however, the word shirk is not used in reference to Jews or Christians; rather derivatives on kufr are employed, and as Izutsu has shown, the meaning of kufr is different to that of shirk. Yet, with a sagacity that is designed to mollify even the most ardent critic, Cook observes that the Qur'anic way of dealing with people outside one's own religion is considerably gentler than the Bible.

While every chapter is a treasure trove of information, perhaps the most interesting is chapter 13, entitled _Doubts and Puzzles, in which Cook deals with the vexing problem of linguistic puzzles of the Qur'an. Here Cook makes some postulations and conclusions that are questionable. He uses as evidence the problematic terms such as an yadin, kalala, and the mysterious letters that occur at the beginning of some suras (p. 139), to conclude that either (1) the materials that make up the Qur'an did not become available until several decades after Muhammad's death, when memory of the meaning of the original material had been lost or that (2) Much of what is in the Qur'an was already old by the time of Muhammad (p. 140). But are these the only possible conclusions? Is it not possible that indeed there was a loss of memory regarding certain meanings of the text? The earliest reliable exegeses we have appeared many years after Muhammad's death, and were compiled in a milieu that was quite different to that of the Prophet. Muhammad's contemporaries could be assumed to be familiar with his references, and may not have passed on everything, contrary to what the traditional reports state. Is it not possible that certain explanations, for whatever reason, may have grown out of favor? The explanations of the term ahl al dhikr (Q16:43, 21;7), for example, show that in early Islam, it was taken to refer to the Jewish scholars; later interpretations sought to divest the Jews of this honor and have led to a preponderance of the newer interpretation suggesting that the reference is in fact to Muslim scholars. Similarly, the Isaac-Ishmael controversy indicates that while in early Islam, there was the presupposition that Muhammad's contemporaries considered Isaac to be the sacrificial son; later exegetes, by the use of hadith and narrations attributed to the Prophet's Companions, claimed that the son was in fact Ishmael. A thorough examination of the Qur'an reveals several instances of such refraction of meaning, and brings to the surface a simple conclusion: we have a text that has been preserved by a community. That community could not alter the text, but could, by an Islamic equivalent of an Oral Torah, and by selective amnesia or censorship of exegesis, seek to reinterpret the text.

And there are more problems: while the book is intended to be a "short introduction," Cook's consideration of only the assumptions of Wansbrough and Neuwirth seems insufficient. Certainly they are not the only researchers whose work is noteworthy. Cook makes the strange observation that the verses on seafaring in the Qur'an are presented in a manner that seem strange for someone supposedly having no direct experience with it. He buttresses his argument by referring to the lack of agreement between the Qur'an and the biographical reports. This is somewhat surprising since, in his Muhammad (1983), Cook points out that the biographical literature is not reliable as history. His postulation, however, raises the question as to why we must necessarily assume that Muhammad and his people were cut off from the rest of the world; and that certain simple verses pertaining to the sea serve as evidence for the importation of pre-Qur'anic material. The report of Sozomenus (p. 141) is not the only one referring to Arab familiarity with Judaic material; Josephus mentioned in his Antiquities that the Arabs practiced circumcision, following the Abrahamic ritual. Is it so difficult to assume that there was indeed a shared history, and that the Arabs of Muhammad's time were familiar with the broad outlines of such a past, and were indeed observing certain practices, the origins of which they may have forgotten? Yet, for all these arguable drawbacks, Cook's book raises questions and issues that are challenging and informative. Not only does the work excel in its vast depth of material, it is put together in a very attractive manner--there are little nuggets of information in shaded boxes, much like the inserts seen in magazines. As if this is not going way beyond expectation, Cook also provides a subject index and notes, as well as an index of the Qur'anic verses cited. The Koran: A Very Short Introduction merits praise in the highest terms. It should be mandatory reading for any introductory course on Islam.

Though a short book, the Koran is like all scripture and enormous topic to tackle. For a book as short as this, it is inevitable that the work will only scratch the surface. Cook does a good job of putting in secular language how one can approach the Koran as a book and as the centerpiece to the Islamic faith. He writes in inverse chronological order, starting with the modern and ending with the opaque early history of the Koran. This is neither a guide to reading to the Koran nor an interpretation of its contents, but rahter, an anecdotal presentation of many topics relating to its contents. For an introduction to the Koran, it is rather disappointing in the end in terms of offerring a strong list for further study focusing on various topics. Much of this is not Cook's fault so much insofar as few interesting works address the Koran at a layman's level and usually tend to be quite technical and assume at least a cursory knowledge of Arabic. Also missing unfortunately is a good summary of some of the modern trends in literary and historio-critical approaches to the Qur'an though some mention is made of Wansborough (about a paragraph). Overall, it's an accessible read that is likely to inspire further study... There are good collections of scholarly articles by the polemicist ibn Warraq that one can buy as well if one is looking for something with more details.

This is one of those OUP VSI titles that is as much about how to study the subject of the title, as it is about the subject itself. There's a lot of stuff here between the covers, but I don't know that the book fulfills the cover blurb about it providing an account of the Koran's significance to Moslems or to the wider world. Some of that is touched on, but some of it seems missing. For instance, the relationship between the Koran and the Hadith for a Moslem is not mentioned. (There's not even an entry for the Hadith in the index.)

After reading this book, I did come away feeling I knew a lot more than I had begun with, but that I did not have a cohesive picture of the subject. I just didn't get a good feel for the Koran's overall message. A better introduction, for me, would have been something broader and less deep. I would have been more interested knowing what the Koran said about some specific issue, than what the difference is between Suras written in Mecca vs ones written in Medina. This is not to say that content is ignored. Professor Cook uses particular Suras as examples. For instance, to indicate how commentators disagree, and how opinions can change over time, he looks at Sura 4, which gives permission for a man to beat a rebellious wife.

One thing readers will likely find interesting is Cook's comment that the Koran is meant to be recited, rather than read. That's not only different from what most Westerners are familiar with, but ironic considering the Koran was written without vowels, leading to different possible recitations. (This is one of those areas that Cook goes into in detail.)

A reader who knows Arabic or is already familiar with Islam could well give this book 5 stars, as I'm sure he'd find much of this info potentially useful. But I'm neither of those, and I finished this book wanting something else. Unfortunately, and unlike many other VSI titles, there is no Further Reading section, just a mention of a few sources the author himself used. Typical is the last paragraph of the final chapter, in which Cook notes that one Islamic scholar defends religious pluralism by noting that the Koran refers to Mohammed as being set on a straight path, as opposed to "the" straight path. That may be the most interesting note in this book, and it would certainly be nice to know what other Islamic commentators have to say about that, but the book ends right there. Aargh!

Michael Cook's 'very short introduction' is the ideal way to approach the Islamic scripture for the first time. Writing with wit and knowledge intermingled, Cook engages the reader from the introduction on forward--the story of the Koran is a fascinating trip interweaving faith and history, and Cook revels in the ride.

Cook provides a solid inroduction not only to the Koran as we know it today, but also to its origins, teachings, and the role it plays both inside and outside of the mosque. His treatment of the Koran is at once a respectful, but inquiring one, and at times he drops in a dash of humor to keep things from becoming overserious.

Overall, this book cannot be bettered as an introduction to the Koran, and it should be read with Michael Sells' "Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations" as an essential part of anyone's study into Islam, the Koran (Qur'an), or world literature in general.

This little book offers a new, fresh approach to the Qur'an. The title detracts somewhat from its significance as a work of some surprising insights into the world's most influential scripture - the Qur'an.

Cook's work is intended for the contemporary non-Muslim, the critical thinker who engages anything sacred with a charming candidness. He courts the informed reader who takes nothing for granted and he disposes of the refinements of critical discourse, striking neat blows in a penetrating rhetorical onslaught. He tackles not only the polemics of Qur'anic scholars, but also the common faith of ordinary believers. Cook favours Koran instead of Qur'an. His reason for this choice is that Qur'an cannot readily be correctly pronounced by anyone accustomed to English orthography, hence the Anglicised form of an Arabic proper name imposes itself on the original. Yet he takes care throughout the book to accord correct transcription to all other Arabic terms, including diacritical marks for long vowels. The book is about the "role of the Koran in the religious history of the Islamic world," he says. But he does not address the Qur'an as a revealed sacred text. He discusses things like the instances of revelation, the problems of exegesis and the historical record of compilation, but he avoids the matter of the integrity and authenticity of the scripture as a Divinely revealed text.

Perhaps the greatest demerit of the work is Cook's exclusively phenomenological approach to Qur'anic Arabic. In all the passages dealing with the language of the Qur'an, Cook is concerned only with its syntactical, morphological, grammatical and phonic features. He is not at all concerned with the depth and profundity of its spiritual message, or the compelling beauty of its language that has changed the hearts of civilisations, or its fundamental characteristics such the muhkamat and mutashabihat distinctions.

In his discussion on the "Koran and the scientific world view" Cook's cynical dismissal of the vast corpus of contemporary literature in the modern Islamic world that demonstrates the scientific veracity of the Qur'an is suspect. Indeed, this is where Cook's argument is the weakest.

Instead, by repeatedly referring to 2:65 and 7:163 in which Allah says to the Sabbath-breakers: "Be (as) apes despicable", Cook attempts to expose the "positively unscientific" verses of the Qur'an.

Whereas early traditional scholars accept that Allah the most powerful is able to effect such a metamorphosis, whether unscientific or not, other scholars, including Tabari, Zamakshari and Razi, as well as modern traditional scholars like Sayyid Qutb view the Divine decree as a metaphor. Cook, for no good reason, exaggerates tensions between the views of modern scholars like Rashid Rida and early traditional scholars in order to show how "undignified" it is to incline to an interpretation other than the traditional one.

There are places where Cook is more successful in polarising distinctly different views - the traditional and modern interpretation of 4:34 - dealing with the relationship between men and women in Islam. Both traditional and modern scholars, he says, were clearly "bothered" by the verse.

There is truth in his implication that Muslim commentators tend to falter with euphemism and apology when dealing with such verses. The pressures of liberal and feminist discourse gets even the modern Muslim scholar hot under the collar when they have to explain why "men are the managers of the affairs of women" and why it is permissible for a man to beat his wife. Cook places before us the obvious exegetical difficulties without assuming the position of a critic in judgment over these matters.

There are some instances of very informative and interesting revelations quite apposite for a VSI. The Shi'is, he says in another bout with the Sabbath-breakers verse in 7:163, have hijacked the story to construct a myth of their own, clearly with a view to endorse allegiance to the Caliph 'Ali (RA).

Although he speculates how the Qur'an may have been subject to interpolation, he comes to the conclusion that it is remarkable that the authority of the early Islamic State has ensured that there is only a single recension of the Qur'anic text. He also acknowledges - in the absence of any mention of the moral integrity of the Companions - that there is no sign that they were tempted to tamper with the Qur'anic text.

Transliteration (which Cook calls transcription) of the Qur'an occurs in various languages, including Spanish, Polish and, of course, Afrikaans. Many Muslims would be surprised to know that the culture (and industry) of qir'ah has engendered a musical notation of the Qur'an, the first of which was probably produced by E W Lane.

A useful and recurring technique is Cook's comparison of the Qur'an to the Bible and the Vedas. The Muslim reader should find it very informative - especially his discussion that shows the exclusivity of the Qur'an from the Seerah and the inclusivity of the Qur'an in the Seerah, as a stamp of its independent, Divine origin.

For the most part Cook is an academic, showing no reverence or irreverence for the Qur'an. He is no apologist for Muslims and no orientalist with an anti-Islamic agenda. The Qur'an for him remains an object for higher criticism, something of the `other' that must be deconstructed.