Sohaib Sultan is a freelance journalist and student of the Islamic tradition who has studied the Koran and Islam extensively with Islamic scholars in the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Conventions Used in This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 3

How This Book Is Organized 4

Part I: Revealing the Word of God: The Book 4

Part II: Searching for the Soul of the Koran 4

Part III: Seeing the Koranic Worldview 4

Part IV: Living the Koran 5

Part V: Relating the Koran to the World 5

Part VI: The Part of Tens 5

Icons Used in This Book 5

Where to Go from Here 6

Part I: Revealing the Word of God: The Book 7

Chapter 1: Getting to Know the Koran 9

Receiving Revelation Straight from the Source 9

Guiding the Way: Prophet Muhammad 10

Discovering the Basic Messages of the Koran 11

The unity of God 11

Worship and service to God 11

Prophets to teach and guide 11

Completion of past revelations 12

Guidance to a spiritual path 12

Movement for social change 12

Accountability of deeds 13

Naming the Revelation 13

The Guidance 13

The Criterion 14

The Proof 14

The Reminder 15

The Healing 16

Hearing the Words: The Audience of the Koran 16

Knowing the Essentials about Islam and Muslims 17

The Six Pillars of Belief 17

The Five Pillars of Islam 18

Muslims: The followers of Islam 19

Chapter 2: From Revelation to Written Book 21

Revealing the Koran to Muhammad 21

The beginning of revelation 22

The stages of revelation 24

The Meccan and Medinan periods 24

Transmitting revelation to the community 26

Collecting the Koran as a Book 27

Conforming the Koran's dialects 28

The Koran in modern-day print 29

Memorizing Miracles: Preserving the Koran throughout History 31

Experiencing the Koran as Divine Art 32

Recitation 32

Calligraphy 35

Chapter 3: Mapping Out the Structure of the Book 37

Discerning the Structure of the Koran 37

Ayat 37

Surahs 38

Juz' 39

Discovering Surah Names and Themes 40

Finding Your Way through the Moral Narrative 46

Through divine signs 47

Through laws 47

Through stories of the past 48

Simplifying the Moral Narrative of Shorter Surahs 52

Chapter 4: Discovering the Language of the Koran 53

Arabic: Plain, Clear, and Eloquent 53

Digging down to the roots 54

Reading translations of the Koran 56

Literary Style in the Sacred Scripture 57

Key literary elements of the Koran 58

Clear and figurative passages 60

Hearing the Voice of the Koran 62

Chapter 5: Relating the Koran to Abrahamic Revelations 65

Previous Revelations: Between Sacred and Corrupted 65

Linking the Three Faiths: Common Experiences in the Scriptures 66

Uniting faiths with belief in One God 67

Bridging the gap between divine laws 67

Sharing the legacy of prophetic stories 69

Contrasting the Koran with Judeo-Christian Scriptures 70

Finding a worldview of history in the Scriptures 70

Reforming laws 72

Reforming religious rituals 72

Extending God's covenant to all peoples 73

Giving a new angle on prophetic stories 73

Checking the prophetic pulse of Muhammad in the lBiblical Scripture 75

Differing on Mary and the message of Jesus 76

Part II: Searching for the Soul of the Koran 79

Chapter 6: Interpreting the Koran 81

Coming to Know the Guidance 81

Having room for interpretation 82

Knowing the key terms of Koranic interpretation 82

Finding the Tasfir that fits 84

Drawing out Interpretations 85

Looking at clear and ambiguous passages 85

Interpreting outer meanings 86

Interpreting inner meanings 88

Examining general and specific passages 88

Keeping circumstances behind revelation in mind 90

Abrogating passages 90

Chapter 7: Understanding Interpretations of the Koran Today 93

Getting to Know Famous Commentators of the Koran 93

Among the companions 94

In successive generations 95

Classic works of Koranic interpretation 96

Influential Movements of the Twentieth Century 98

Mawdudi: Framework for a movement 99

Qutub: The controversial revolutionary 101

Muhammad Rida: The influential reformer 103

Muhammad al-Ghazali: Thematic Tafsir 103

Another School of Thought: The Shi'ites 104

Ali 104

Two famous Shi'ite Koranic interpreters 105

Part III: Seeing the Koranic Worldview 107

Chapter 8: Meeting God, Prophets, and Mankind 109

Conceptualizing God 109

"A" is for "Allah" 109

Exploring the concept of God 110

Experiencing God through divine attributes 113

Knowing God 117

Prophets of God: Preaching a Divine Message 119

Prophets and messengers 119

Abraham: Beloved Friend of God and Father of Faith 120

Moses: The Liberator 122

Jesus: The Spirit of God 125

The Status and Nature of Man 128

Human nature through Adam 129

The purpose of human life 131

Chapter 9: Divining Nature, the Universe, and the Unseen 133

The Divine Ways of Nature 133

Patterns of creation 134

God's creations in the skies 134

Earthly creations 136

Inheriting the Earth: The Role of Mankind in Nature 139

The Unseen World: Angels versus Satan 140

The angels: Pure creations of God 141

Satan: An avowed enemy 142

Accounting for the Soul 143

The Day of Judgment 143

The eternal bliss of heaven 144

Hell: Torment of the fire 145

God's Mercy, God's Wrath: Reconciling the two 145

Chapter 10: Taking the Koranic View of Other Faith Traditions 147

Islam: One Religion under God 147

A brotherhood of Muslims 148

Limits to an inclusive theology 149

Honoring Freedom of Choice and Respecting Diversity 151

Protecting freedom of choice 152

Embracing diversity as the Will of God 152

Examining Some Controversial Passages on Interfaith Relations 153

Fighting against "unbelievers" 154

Forbidding "friendship" with People of the Book 156

Part IV: Living the Koran 157

Chapter 11: Following in the Footsteps of Muhammad 159

The Scripture Speaks about Muhammad 159

Servant of God and mortal man 160

Muhammad's divine mission 160

Muhammad as the best example for humanity 161

Muhammad's mercy for humanity 161

Muhammad as a seal of the prophets 162

Doing as God and His Messenger Do 163

Looking at Some Key Prophetic Sayings 165

Muhammad speaks about God 165

Muhammad speaks about virtue 166

Chapter 12: Putting Meaning into Ritual 169

Declaring Faith: More than Just Words 170

Conversing with the Divine: Prayer 170

Understanding the purpose of prayer 171

Approaching prayer: Purity of mind and body 172

Let the prayer begin! 175

Raising the Soul over the Ego: Fasting 180

Remembering and thanking God 180

Enjoying the communal aspects of fasting 182

Purifying Wealth, Uplifting the Needy: Almsgiving 183

Opening your wallet and improving the world 183

Receiving alms 184

Journeying to the House of God: Pilgrimage 186

Following the path of Abraham 186

Journeying through the pilgrimage 186

Chapter 13: Understanding the Koranic View of Self 191

Connecting the Three Dots of Self Awareness 191

The wild horse and the rider 192

The three states of self 193

The Seven Gates to the Heart 194

The ears and tongue 194

The eyes 195

The hands and legs 196

The stomach 197

The sexual organs 197

Blessed Is the Baby's Soul, a Soul without Sin 198

The Soul's Journey: From Pre-Birth to the Hereafter 199

Pre-worldly existence 199

Earthly life 199

The grave 200

The Day of Judgment 200

The final abode 201

The Muslim Self: A State of Being 201

The Kafir: A Faithless Self 202

Chapter 14: Achieving Koranic Ethics and Morality 203

Discovering Ethical Principles in the Koran 203

Preserving religion 203

Preserving life 204

Preserving lineage 205

Preserving property 206

Preserving honor 206

Leading the Life of Good Virtue and Character 207

Discouraged behaviors 207

Encouraged behaviors 210

Purifying the Heart 212

Remembering the Divine: Dhikr 212

Following God's laws 213

Keeping company with pious people 214

Controlling passion and struggling for good 214

Chapter 15: Raising a Family the Koranic Way 215

Healthy Family Equals Healthy Society 215

Looking for a Spouse: Let the Search Begin 216

Looking beyond the surface 216

Making sure the marriage is legal 217

Giving equal time: Polygamy for men 218

Celebrating Marriage as the Basis of Family 219

Practically speaking: Basic functions within a marriage 220

Intimacy: Both spiritual and physical 222

Preserving modesty through Scriptural teaching 223

Bringing Up Children 224

Treating parents well: The best act of piety 225

Raising children with wisdom 226

Parental responsibilities to their children 227

A Matter of Inheritance: Who Gets What 228

Tackling Divorce in the Koran 229

Part V: Relating the Koran to the World 231

Chapter 16: Connecting the Koran to Society 233

Divining a Community of the Middle Path 233