Reading the Qur'an

[Beckyy25]

I'm currently reading the Qur'an and I was wondering how many of you have read it too. Here are some questions I would like to ask:

1) Have you read the Qur'an?
2) How many times have you read it?
3) What was the purpose of reading it (curiosity, intention to convert, etc.)?
4) Did you like/dislike it? Give some examples as to why you did or didn't like it.
5) What is your favorite ayah/verse or sura/chapter (if there is any)?
6) Did you convert or considered converting after reading it?
7) Do you think it is a historically accurate book? Why, why not?
8) Would you read it again? Why, why not?

I would like especially non-Muslims to answer these questions, but I do not mind if also Muslims answer the questions that apply to them.

Oh yeah, and don't forget to vote in the poll.

Thank you all.

 

[Wicked Willow]

1) Have you read the Qur'an?

I tried to read it several times, but ended up just looking at bits and pieces before discarding it once more. The absence of a stirring narrative and/or challenging philosophical concepts or insights didn't exactly make it easier to sustain my flagging interest. It just seems pretty stale to me; lots of flowery language with very little content.

2) How many times have you read it?

See above. It never really "clicked" with me.

3) What was the purpose of reading it (curiosity, intention to convert, etc.)?

In general, I'm interested in all religions, past and present, and therefore collect their religious texts and/or myths. Unfortunately, the Qur'an is much less interesting than the Sufi poetry it was to inspire several hundred years later.

4) Did you like/dislike it? Give some examples as to why you did or didn't like it.

See point 1): It wasn't so much dislike as indifference. It just failed to inspire any reaction in me except for boredom. (The same happened to me when I tried to plow through Leviticus: Genesis was pretty interesting, but as soon as the Israelites ended up in the desert and it all boiled down to "if your neighbour knocks down your fence, he has to give you three sheep in recompensation", I had to skip several hundred pages.

5) What is your favorite ayah/verse or sura/chapter (if there is any)?

None so far. (Unless someone would care to point me to some exceptional piece?)

6) Did you convert or considered converting after reading it?

Not by a far stretch.

7) Do you think it is a historically accurate book? Why, why not?

Do religious texts of this sort aim to be historically accurate? I don't think so. I find it interesting that the Qur'an includes references to Jesus that are clearly gleaned from the apocryphal infancy gospels (which, as far as historians can determine it, are very late compositions based on local legends), but I don't think you can deflate the content of a religious text by pointing out that it's ahistorical. Such texts usually are.

8) Would you read it again? Why, why not?

At some point, I'd certainly give it another go, if only because I don't like to give up on a text before I've finished it.

 

[awitch]

1) Have you read the Qur'an?

No, but would like to. I've been told English translations are a degradation of the texts, combined with a shortage of time has prevented me from starting. I suppose there is a free online version somewhere.

3) What was the purpose of reading it (curiosity, intention to convert, etc.)?

Curiosity, but also because of the cultural impact Islam has been having.

6) Did you convert or considered converting after reading it?

I have no intention of converting before or after reading it. My interest is academic.

7) Do you think it is a historically accurate book? Why, why not?

No. I'm sure it may reference actual people and places, and refer to actual events, but like any other scripture, I do not take it completely (or even mostly) literal, factual, historical, etc.

 

[Supreme]

I'm trying to read it. But (and no disrespect) it is both repetitive and boring. One of the things I like about the gospels is that they have several different stories and parables in them, and they're very easy to read. Almost every passage in the gospels is quotable, and you just don't get that with the Quran. The Abu Yasif translation of the Quran is quite hard to read, and it doesn't have many stories in.

3) What was the purpose of reading it (curiosity, intention to convert, etc.)?

Understanding, and, if necessary, conversion. The former is slightly better off, but I'm no closer to converting.

6) Did you convert or considered converting after reading it?

Before reading it, perhaps. I think I'll stick to Christianity for the time being.

7) Do you think it is a historically accurate book? Why, why not

Like the Bible, sort of. It does mention the prophets various times, and the Biblical accounts sometimes seem to correspond with those of their Quranic counterparts. But I don't think we could get much information regarding 7th century Arabia in there, no.

 

[PassionFruit]

1) Have you read the Qur'an?

Yes.

2) How many times have you read it?

I haven't read it that often, probably once or twice.

3) What was the purpose of reading it (curiosity, intention to convert, etc.)?

Curiosity, because at first I didn't believe certain people were in the Qu'ran (i.e. Moses, Mary and Joseph, Jesus) and lo and behold they were and I wanted to see how Islam views them.

) Did you like/dislike it? Give some examples as to why you did or didn't like it.

Well it was hard to read at first, I think it's because of how it's written. And there's a certain way you have to read the Qu'ran. So that's why I didn't like it that much. But that's about it.

5) What is your favorite ayah/verse or sura/chapter (if there is any)?

I haven't read through it that much to have a favorite.

6) Did you convert or considered converting after reading it?

No.

7) Do you think it is a historically accurate book? Why, why not?

I honestly don't believe it is. I don't believe any holy books is really historically accurate.

8) Would you read it again? Why, why not?

Yes I would read it again, hopefully I won't have such a difficult with it, but I'll probably talk to a local imam about it first. I haven't gotten deeper into the Qu'ran as much as I would like.

 

[HumbleSiPilot77]

I picked "No, I did not read it and I have no intention to read it." but my actual answer is I read it partially but I have no intention to read it anymore.

 

[Penumbra]

1) Have you read the Qur'an?
2) How many times have you read it?

I have read the Qur'an once.

3) What was the purpose of reading it (curiosity, intention to convert, etc.)?

Curiosity/learning experience. I hear things like "terrorism is supported in the Qur'an!" "No it's not!" back and forth. With many international conflicts going on I want to be knowledgeable about what beliefs people have. With 1 billion Muslims on the planet, I wanted to read the Qur'an (or at least an English translation of it) myself to have an idea of what's in there.

4) Did you like/dislike it? Give some examples as to why you did or didn't like it.

I didn't like it.

I mean first of all it's not really a narrative, it's instead a lot of the same stuff repeated over and over so that readers can memorize it and learn it easily. So reading it straight through like I did is probably not the intention of the work.

Secondly, much like the Bible, I just don't appreciate much the god that is described within the work and am not drawn to him at all. Nothing in the Qur'an particularly interested me, made me curious, challenged my thought process, or proposed interesting concepts. It was just commands, threats, discussions on some Biblical characters, and so forth.

5) What is your favorite ayah/verse or sura/chapter (if there is any)?

None in particular.

6) Did you convert or considered converting after reading it?

No.

7) Do you think it is a historically accurate book? Why, why not?

In what sense? A lot of it is not a narrative, so it's hard to say whether it is historical. It re-defines some biblical characters and stresses certain concepts with them, which I don't think are historically accurate in either work. Other parts are a social commentary, such as observations on people that believe in three gods in one.

8) Would you read it again? Why, why not?

Probably not.

-Lyn

 

[Nakhib3]

deleted

 

[Gardenia]

1) Have you read the Qur'an?
2) How many times have you read it?
Yes, just once so far.

3) What was the purpose of reading it (curiosity, intention to convert, etc.)?
I enjoy studying other religions, and reading their holy texts plays a part in that.

4) Did you like/dislike it? Give some examples as to why you did or didn't like it.
I liked it fair enough.. I enjoyed the writing style, and there were quite a few bits I found very good and agreed with.. others, not so much though. Since it has been a few years, I can not really think of anything more specific.

6) Did you convert or considered converting after reading it?
I did not convert, nor did I consider conversion.

7) Do you think it is a historically accurate book? Why, why not?
Hmm.. parts, perhaps? Others I am not sure about, I do not know enough of that part of history to really comment more.

8) Would you read it again? Why, why not?
Yes, I would. Actually, I have plans to re-read my copy in a few months.. when I am done with all my current reading. Why? I do find it mostly enjoyable (doesn't mean I agree with it all, mind you) and I do learn about the beliefs of others from it. I like to go through my library of religious texts and re-read them at least every few years - some more often than others.

 

[ApplePie7]

Yes. I read the Koran from start to finish, for the first time, circa a decade ago, immediately after reading the entire Holy Bible all the way through, using literal translations.

In this manner, the material is fresh in your mind and you are ready to make comparisons.

This method, although tedious, Biblically exits you with the Book of Revelation and then launches you directly into the Koranic text which is >50% Book of Revelation material, anyway. It simply works out perfectly.

From there, you are better positioned to see the Koran for what it is….a repackaged Bible!

Steer clear of the popular English translations – particularly with the Koran – as these are simply too far away from the original Arabic intent.

Since this time, I have devoted countless hours to researching the ancient Arabic in order to uncover what it is that they are trying to tell us behind all those seemingly incoherent ayahs….and I can confidently say that the message is consistently a Christian one with the focal point on Jesus’ Second Coming.

All this has been lost to ignorance as it is much easier to choose sides and look for differences rather than similarities.

Islam is purveying the lie.

Let’s prevent others from following the Islamic lie.

 

[Faelin]

I haven't read the Koran, yet... it is next on my list after reading the Bible

 

[BarelyBreathing]

Hello, Beckyy!

I noticed that no one has given a favorite passage in the Quran, so I will share mine with you.

Surah 94

1 Have we not expanded your breast?
2 And removed from you your burden
3 Which galled your back?
4 And raised high the esteem in which you are held?
5 So, truly, with every difficulty, there is relief:
6 Truly, with every difficulty there is relief.
7 Therefore, when you are free, still labour hard,
8 And to your Lord turn your attention.



I don't have enough posts to be able to link you to it. I'm sure you can look it up in your own Quran, although translations vary. This is what the surah means to me.......

The first part is an encouragement. It reminds us that God has taken our burdens and lightened our load. The Bible tells us in Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Twice it says, "surely in every difficulty, there is relief." To me, this is for emphasis. God has promised that he will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews13:5). He will never give us more than we can handle, and he is "our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." (Pslam 46:1)

The last two lines of the surah are a reminder to me. A reminder that even when things are going well, we need to not let down our guard. We need to keep pressing toward the mark, the high calling. (Philipians 3:14) It's easy, when things are going well, to lose sight of God. People tend to use God as though he is only there to help them when things are not going well. We need to remember God even in the good times, and praise him for them. We need to always have our eyes fixed on him and not lose sight of who he is.

 

[Aesjn]

I have started to read it several times out of curiousity, but can't get past Surah Al Baqara. There's nothing interesting, challenging or insightful in it. It's just a tirade by Muhammad about the people he hates, how god hates them too, how trees hate Jews -except that one tree, that Jewish tree that will let them hide behind it, and how Jewish people are just evil. It's incredibly stupid, ranks up there with Scientology and Xenu for me.

I never once considered converting to it and it just absolutely destroyed any possibility that I could respect Islam.

 

[Mahammad]

I have started to read it several times out of curiousity, but can't get past Surah Al Baqara. There's nothing interesting, challenging or insightful in it. It's just a tirade by Muhammad about the people he hates, how god hates them too, how trees hate Jews -except that one tree, that Jewish tree that will let them hide behind it, and how Jewish people are just evil. It's incredibly stupid, ranks up there with Scientology and Xenu for me.

I never once considered converting to it and it just absolutely destroyed any possibility that I could respect Islam.

Where in the Baqrah it mentioned that story about trees hating Jews? are you sure you read the Qur'an?

Qur'an mentions the good and the bad in everyone, in Jews in Arabs in Muslims and in Christians; it doesn’t say Jews are the only bad evil and none of them is good.

 

[SlaveOfGod]

Trees hating Jews? Where is that written in the Quran?

I would to say to people here. Try listening to the Quran in Arabic but also read the english translation along with the recitation. As you will appreciate the words a lot more. Just reading the english translation alone will not help because you cannot hear the melodious tone and true beauty of the Quran in english.

You can find these type of videos on youtube like the below:

YouTube - Beautiful Recitation Mishary Rashid Alafasy Surah Ibraheem

This is Surah Ibraheem (or Abraham in english)

 

[Gardenia]

I would to say to people here. Try listening to the Quran in Arabic but also read the english translation along with the recitation. As you will appreciate the words a lot more. Just reading the english translation alone will not help because you cannot hear the melodious tone and true beauty of the Quran in english.
You can find these type of videos on youtube like the below:

There are also sites like Quran Recitation and Translation Online in Arabic, English, and Urdu Where you can see the English (or often other languages as well) next to the Arabic, and have one or both read aloud.

 

[Aesjn]

The part of the Baqara I am talking about is where it says the Jews will hide behind stones and trees, and the trees will call out "There is a Jew behind me, come and kill it!" except for the Gharqad tree. Interesting I don't see it on any online translations but I've read it myself in the Koran.

 

[HumbleSiPilot77]

The part of the Baqara I am talking about is where it says the Jews will hide behind stones and trees, and the trees will call out "There is a Jew behind me, come and kill it!" except for the Gharqad tree. Interesting I don't see it on any online translations but I've read it myself in the Koran.

That is not Quran;

Sahih Bukhari, Book 52:

Volume 4, Book 52, Number 177:

Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him."
​

 

[Aesjn]

I've never read anything Islamic other than the Koran so it has to be in there in some way or I'd have no clue about it.

 

[HumbleSiPilot77]

Maybe you read a footnote that was somehow connected to a verse.