Rating: 
Summary: Quite disappointing...
Review: I was hoping to find in this book modern exegesis and critique of the Qur'an and/or Islam, not from a polemical point of view but from that of true scholarship. What I found was a collection of articles that are quite dated and recycled. The inclusion of such writers as C.C. Torrey (Christian polemicist) and Abraham Geiger (Jewish polemicist) is a bit surprising. While their views are worth consideration, if you've read their works, they most definitely make no claims at objectivity. This is not to discount the work of these scholars but to note that there is really nothing new here other than one collection of these various articles. As this it makes a worthwhile volume. As for the articles themselves, after persuing them it became clear to me that, on the whole, much of what they say is but conjecture. As I continued to read it began to dawn on me that I wasn't quite sure what the point was. Granted, it is nice to have another angle through which to view the Quran/Islam rather than pro-Islamic scholarship or, worse, propaganda. In this regard, the book has great value. However, what is passed for 'scholarship' merely falls into individuals with credentials passing off conjecture/hypothesis as 'truth'. In this regard, the book title is a bit misleading. One example comes to mind: it is conjectured that Dhu L' Kifl is none other than Melchizedeq. That's fine to conjecture but it reminded me of all those who try and discount Christianity as a pagan/idolatrous Judaism, convinced that Jesus is merely a knockoff of mythological figures, and Judaism as a usurpation of various Canaanite deities, violently taking over all these faiths through the warior God YHWH. There are countless volumes of polemic against these faiths. Perhaps in this regard it is refreshing for someone to challenge Islam head on and to force Islam to defend itself intellectually in the modern world, something defenders of Christianity and/or Judaism have spent countless hours and years of practice doing. If these articles are so accurate and true, and of course they may very well be, it appears that most, if not all, Muslims are a bunch of fools blinded by ignorance. In spite of all the articles here it did little, if anything, at helping to explain why it is that Islam was - and is - so successful. It is good to have so many points of view in one collection but there is nothing new here that hasn't already been said.
Rating: 
Summary: great service to scholars
Review: Ibn Warraq has rendered all scholars a great service in collecting together in one volume over forty essays from eminent scholars , essays difficult to find , and many translated from the German and French for the first time .
In anyone interested in scientific research on Islam and not Islamic apologetics will find these essays indispensable .Particularly helpful are the appendices on the Arabic and Other scripts of Semitic languages .
Highly recommended .
Rating: 
Summary: Biased and not qualified
Review: Ibn Warraq is not qualified to give an unbiased and educated critique on the Koran (Quran) for many reasons of which are the following:
1. He has no religious education whatsoever to my knowledge. He is not a graduate of a muslim seminary. 2. Writing about the Koran, like writing about the Bible, requires years of religious education.
Interpreting a monumental work like the Koran and understanding its true meaning is not the work of a layperson like Ibn Warraq but a religious scholar.
He was raised in a secular and not a religious household. 3. He has himself, in his own words,declared that he is very bitter and hostile toward Islam and therefore should be considered biased. Recommendations: If you really want to read a true commentary on the Quran, I recommend reading the english translation of the Holy Koran called :
The Glorious Qur'an by Muhammad M. Pickthall. There is a Yusuf Ali translation also available.
Rating:
Summary: Misleading book on the Qur'an
Review: Like all of Ibn Warraq's books, this book represents the one-sided, misleading, and dishonest evidence about the Qur'an, Islam, and its rich history. If you look at his sources and who he quotes as "authorities" in his book(s), you will see that their research is highly suspect, bias and poorly done. Ibn Warraq, whatever his intentions are, seems to be to malign Islam in the guise of "objective criticism and research." Objective research comes when both opinions are presented and allows the reader to decide what is correct and what is fact. Most of his sources in this book are from early 20th if not earlier, Orientalist research in the Quran. Orientalism, has for centuries attempted to deconstruct Islam, trying to give biased proof that the Occident is superior over the Orient. He fails to provide what Islam has to say about the Qur'an, that being scholars who have wrote refutation works that critique the orientalist assumptions. This book is clearly a Islam-Bashing book like his others. He is basically cashing in on the current Islamaphobia infecting the world, especially in America
Rating: 
Summary: Far more balanced than the tripe by Islamic Apologists!
Review: No, Ibn Warraq is not famous for being very kind to Islam and Muslims. On the other hand, the amount of pernicious garbage flowing out of Islamic apologists makes the appearance of a "fair and balanced" book on the Koran rather difficult to conceive. Anyone wishing to bash a religion by finding offensive statements in their respective "holy" texts need not look far. The Torah has them, the Bible has them, and God knows the Koran has them in spades (offensive, that is, if you are not one of the believers). So in that regard, Warraq is not delivering anything particularly new with this book. Anyone who has not heard that enslaving non-Muslims, lying to them and stealing their property is a routine theme in the Koran has been living under a rock. Still, I'd be very interested in reading an English translation of the Koran that is tranlated by Bernard Lewis, who flatly refuses to make such a translation. The remaining translations available are, obviously, preposterously pro-Islamic or ignorantly anti-Islamic. But would you care to guess at the ratio between the two? Flawed, yes. Worth reading, also yes.
Rating:
Summary: What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary
Review: Non-Muslim, western scholars look at the background of the Koran; its language; its Essenian, Christian, and Coptic sources; specific suras within it; emendations and interpolations; the views of Richard Bell; poetry; and manuscripts. There is no index.
Rating:
Summary: Nice collection of articles
Review: Regardless of what you think of the editor of this book, that this collection of articles will prove to be useful and profitable to anyone interested in Quranic studies is hardly questionable. Fearful Muslims may feel threatened by some of the contents contained therein, but that shouldn't deter anyone from profitting from the materials collected in this book. This is no way a definite guide to the Qur'an, but it does contain interesting glimpses into some of the problems of Quranic studies. Anyone interested in the Quran as literature would profit from reading the contents of articles.
A note to non-specialists, even with attempts to be reader friendly by Ibn Warraq, I have my doubts that much of what is said can be too comprehensible to those with no working knowledge of Arabic whatsoever and the necessary amount of reference to the Arabic texts throughout these article may alienate some as being too technical.
Rating:
Summary: Old News Is Not Old Enough
Review: Some reviews point to "dated" essays in this book. Consider that radical Islam has been waging war on the West in one form or another since at least the 18th century. "Dated" isn't the word. "Startingly relevant despite their vintage" is more applicable.
Rating:
Summary: What really Quran Says....Debunking Ibn Warraq's pretenses 1
Review: The word "Jihad" means, in Arabic, exerting one's utmost efforts and is divided into two forms of efforts, the first of which is the effort made by one's soul and the second is the effort in fighting a just and righteous war .The first strenuous effort that is made is titled the Greater Jihad by which one endeavors to repel all evil, temptation and to purify one's soul from vices especially the vices of jealousy, envy, and hatred, thereby deserving to be brought into the Grace of God. The other form of Jihad is known as the Lesser Jihad and it means fighting a just and righteous war.
A righteous just war according to the laws of Islam is a war of defiance, the aim of which is to repel the enemy attack or assault, and the following Quranic verses permit Muslims to fight the enemy who attacks them:" To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight), because they are wronged." (22/39) Also:"Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits, for God does not love transgressors." (2/190). This Quranic verse proves that despite permission to fight in self-defence, the Muslims were warned not to go beyond defending themselves to the extent of transgression. The following Quranic verse permits the Muslims to attack those who attack them::" If then anyone transgresses the prohibition against you, transgress likewise against him." (2/194). Islam's extreme aversion to fighting and bloodshed is obvious, and fighting in self-defence is the exception that is permitted.
"Fighting is prescribed for you and you dislike it." (2/216)
Thus beginning an attack on others is not permitted in Islam. Although Jihad means fighting in defiance of the faith and the Muslims, this Jihad is not limited to fighting in a battle. It includes Jihad with one's wealth, one's thought or any other means which help repel any attack or assault, in order to protect the Islamic community and the Faith in which they believe. Such a principle is the legitimate right of every nation and has been sanctioned by international agreements in modern times. If the Muslims learn that their enemy desires peace and is willing to cease all forms of aggression, Islam commands the Muslims to agree to their enemy's request. This is stated in the following Quranic verse::" But if the enemy incline towards peace, you (also) incline towards peace and trust in God."(8/61)Furthermore Islam calls for peaceful coexistence with others and establishing good will with them providing that they do not attack the Muslims. The Quranic verses urge the Muslims to treat people fairly, justly and benevolently:"God forbids you not with regards to those who do not fight your Faith, nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and with them: for God loves those who are just ." (60/8) Thus the aim of Islam is to spread and establish peace and tolerance between people and to urge them to cooperate with each other for the welfare of mankind.
Therefore, the allegations you find in some international mass media that Islam is a religion which preaches aggression, extremism, fanaticism and terrorism, are completely unjustified accusations, which have absolutely no fundament in Islam. Islam is on the contrary a religion of mercy and justice. We shall explain this greater detail in our following expositions.
Islam is against any form of bigotry and accordingly does not urge its followers to dogmatism. Furthermore there is no evidence of any kind in sources of Islam, namely the Quran and the Traditions of the Prophet, to that effect. The summons to embrace Islam as stated in the Quran is based on a wise and eloquent invitation and such conduct can never be considered a manifestation of bigotry:"Invite all to the Way of Your God with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious." (16/125) The Prophet himself said to the Pagans of Mecca who refused to believe in the Faith of Islam: "To you be your faith and to me my faith ."(109/6).
Muslims are instructed to believe in the prophets that preceded Muhammad and this belief in them is an essential element in the Faith of Islam. This is stated in the following Quranic verse:
"Say: We believe in God and in the revelation given to us, and to Ibrahim, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes and that given to Moses and Jesus and that given to (all) Prophets from their God; we make no difference between one and another of them and we bow to God in Islam. (2/136) This verse states that there is to be no discrimination between any prophets and this tolerance has no parallel in any other religion. How can such a religion be accused of bigotry and fanaticism?
Islam calls upon all people to become united and to live together in friendship and affection despite the differences between them
" O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other. '' (49/13). Similarly Islam invites its followers in explicit terms to live in peace with Non- Muslims as is clear from the following Quranic verse:"God dose not forbid with regards to those who do not fight you for (your) Faith, nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for God loves those who are just."(60/8)
Islam urges Muslims to forgive and pardon those who wrong
them:" And the remission is the nearest to righteousness." (2/237)
Furthermore, Islam urges Muslims to meet any wrong with kindness in hope that enemy may become a friend: "Nor can Goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (Evil) with what is better: then will he between whom and you was hatred, become as it were friend and intimate! "(41/34).Will be Continued
Rating:
Summary: Great book for a scholar, but not for a layman
Review: This book is a compendium of many well researched papers written in the last century and before. It is a very scholarly book, and not something for the casual reader, which makes it far too detailed for someone not familiar with the languages of the Middle East. It is easy to see why Islamists hate this book since it points out that over 20% of the Koran is indecipherable to even most Islamic scholars. It also shows the probable origins of the Koran from other material and writings available before Mohammed heard the voices which made him a prophet in the minds of some. While there are some interesting tidbits, such as Christoph Luxemberg's theory that the Islamic promise of sexual bliss with numerous virgins at every believer's disposal in the afterlife is probably a misinterpretation of the Syriac word for "white raisins" instead of doe-eyed virgins, this is a tedious book for the regular reader. While I'm sure Luxemberg's theory will not diminish the supply of jihaadist lunatics, it does point out that a religion which condemns to death scholars who try to examine the basic document of this faith is a very scary threat to civilization all over the globe. The book also tells the stories of outrageous threats against some of those so condemned. Ibn Warraq (a pseudonym for a former Muslim who has been condemned to death by fatwas issued by mullahs of the "religion of peace" has done a great job of compiling these papers. I also got to learn that his pseudonym means "son of a stationer (or bookseller)"
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