Customer Reviews

The Qur'an: A User's Guide

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Esack's book is an excellent introduction for those who are beginners in Quranic studies as well as a great refresher for those more involved with Quranic studies. Esack is able to cover the main themes of the Quran as well as the historical and contemporary discussions relating to the Quran. It is also very well researched from an academic point of view as it uses both contemporary and traditional sources for Quranic commentary. Finally, this book is a great starting point for understanding the Quran.

This book - as the above reviewer notes - is focused on how the Qur'an is regarded by Muslims, the important themes and teachings that they see given in it, the historical contexts of what Muslims believe to be "revelations," and its role in Muslim cultural life. The above reviewer has a right to his opinion about the neglect of the "unsavory" parts of what is thought to be known about Muhammad's life. However, there are other excellent books dealing with the precedences - or lack thereof - in Muhammad's life and the Qur'an for acts of terrorism and immoral violence. I particularly like those of John Kelsay and David Cook and Islamic views on Just Warfare. Getting into those issues is not Esack's priority here, and so he doesn't get into them. The above reviewers ideas is basically a complaint about the debate of who has the right to define what is Islamic and what is not. Muslims in the West focus on Islam as a religion of peace that interdicts against acts of terrorism. "Freedom fighters" of the Muslim culture interpret Islamic history and the Qur'an in such way that the ends (power, resistance, free speech) always justify whatever atrocious acts are the means. Who is more correct? Are they both part of the Islamic world? The Bible has often been cited by self-proclaimed Christians to justify the Crusades, racial slavery, diverse wars of Christians fighting Christians (e.g. "The Thirty Years War"), colonization and Western hegemony over non-white peoples, and even genocide. Does this also represent Christianity? This is for each person to decide.

How is it that so many politicians, academics, and media analysts have such a poor understanding of Islam? Are they ignorant about Islam or is there a deeper problem?
The objective evidence shows that there is a deeper problem that goes far beyond simple ignorance. Ignorance is a failure to learn for reasons other than lack of ability to learn. Most politicians, academics, and media analysts are highly intelligent, educated, and experienced people and their understanding and approach to all subjects involving Islam has to stem from something far beyond simple ignorance.

I believe their inaccuracies derive from the same malady that has infected a large segment of Western society. Many have been so inundated by a misleading presentation of Islam that infects most mainstream educational and media sources that despite the fact that they have surely stumbled upon the truth about Islam at some point, they have been preconditioned to ignore, disregard or rationalize the truth. Books like "The Qur'an; A User's Guide" written by Farid Esack contribute greatly to the problem.

Mr. Esack is described as a Muslim scholar and a reading of his book reveals that it is an accurate claim. The book does an excellent job of explaining how the Qur'an is believed to have come into existence and the proper way to make sense of and interpret the Qur'an as something that was released in parts over time by Muhammad and which needs to be understood in the context of what was happening in the Muslim community at the time each verse was allegedly "revealed." For the most part, while the book is written from a believer's perspective, I found it to be a very accurate presentation of how Muslims perceive the Qur'an and the proper approach as to how it was meant to be interpreted form a procedural perspective.

However, there was at least one glaring flaw in the book. There is naturally a section of the book that discusses Muhammad and his life. Such material has obvious relevance in a book about the Qur'an given that it was presented to his followers by Muhammad as alleged revelations he claimed he received from Allah via an angel and the fact that much of the Qur'an is incomprehensible unless the reader has a thorough understanding of Muhammad's full history.

But Mr. Esack gives only the candy coated, laudatory parts of Muhammad's history and completely ignores the unsavory aspects of his life that are so important to an understanding of how it is that Islam is inspiring so much terrorism in diverse locations and it is the prevalence of Islamic terrorism worldwide that has generated so much interest in the study of Islam in Western Cultures.

I see this same deceptive presentation of Islam presented in a host of books and documentaries marketed to the general public and it is a dangerous fraud as issues related to Islam have become very important ones in selecting candidates for political office and in deciding how our nation will be governed. Consequently, the deception perpetrated by books like "The Qur'an; A User's Guide" is far from insignificant. In fact, it would be hard to overestimate the collective damage done by all of the books and documentaries that carry on the same deception. Even the most cursory review of many of the popular books and documentaries about Islam reveal that Islam is as deceptively portrayed to the general public as Islam is deceptively portrayed to unsuspecting students at many elite universities.
The problem with "The Qur'an; A User's Guide" and other such inherently flawed presentations of Islam is that truth involves far more than saying what is true. The common law has recognized for centuries that when one speaks in certain settings that one is expected to give the whole truth. The greatest legal minds for centuries have understood that when one speaks on a subject one should not be allowed to deceive by careful omission of key information. A popular way to phrase the sentiment in California law is as follows: "Where one does speak he [or she] must speak the whole truth to the end that he [or she] does not conceal any facts which materially qualify those stated. One who is asked for or volunteers information must be truthful, and the telling of a half-truth calculated to deceive is fraud." By the foregoing standard, "The Qur'an; A User's Guide" perpetrates a fraud upon many of its readers. A dangerous misunderstanding of Islam arises from the book's failure to address any negative information about Muhammad even though much positive information about Muhammad is discussed as well as his absolute importance to the religion.

Islam is a revealed religion that derives exclusively from what Muhammad, Islam's seventh century founder, alleged Allah said were the rules for living and how Muhammad lived his life and instructed others to live. It is impossible to have an accurate understanding about Islam without understanding all that is alleged to have been said and done by Muhammad as described in the earliest biography about him titled "Sirat Rasul Allah," meaning life of God's Messenger in Arabic. The "Sirat Rasul Allah" reveals character attributes of Muhammad that are quite laudable and the mainstream media, academia, and books like "The Qur'an; A User's Guide" are very good at presenting those qualities, but the "Sirat Rasul Allah" also reveals Muhammad as a man that slaughtered captives, robbed caravans, sold women and children into slavery, had sexual relations with captive women, tortured prisoners, married a nine-year-old, forced his adopted son to divorce his wife so Muhammad could have her as a wife (she was purportedly quite beautiful), mandated war against non-Muslims, and who had some of his critics and rivals assassinated. [...]

Accordingly, I only recommend "The Qur'an; A User's Guide" to those readers that will supplement it with the study of the full history of Muhammad. I recommend Robert Spencer's book titled "The Truth About Muhammad."