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Summary: Strike a Blow for Freedom of Thought and Buy This Book
Review: "Scientists tell us that the most abundant substance in the universe is hydrogen. It is not. Stupidity is way more abundant than hydrogen." Frank ZappaAs I write this, there is a campaign to ban this book from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is being cast as a "religious" versus "secular" debate. It is not.It is really a clash between those who believe young Americans are smart and capable of understanding/tolerating cultures that may be unfamiliar and those who believe young Americans are idiots who can't be trusted to think for themselves. In fact, most Americans, of whatever religion or lack of religion, surely welcome the opportunity for a thoughtful investigation of the qu'ran by college students, as well as many other texts from this fascinating religious tradition. One reason among many: The more we know about Islamic religion and culture, the easier it will be to respond effectively to the bin Ladens of the world and to neutralize their impact. A small, ignorant minority wish to preserve their ignorance and the ignorance of their no longer young kids. Incredibly, they have sued UNC Chapel Hill to prevent the reading of this book. The Wall Street Journal, which really should know better, supports them. I have ordered this book partly out of interest and partly out of protest against this preposterous and wildly inappropriate attempt to restrict the rights of young Americans to study important topics that are, perhaps, foreign, or uncomfortable to them. The ignorant might respond: What if incoming students were forced to read excerpts, with objective commentary, of Mein Kampf or Protocols of the Elders of Zion? Wouldn't you, a Jew, object to that and seek to ban those books? The answer is: Of course not. The problem is less reading, not more. Do your bit to reduce universal stupidity. Encourage kids to read more, and to read things that make them think and that they may disagree with. And buy this book.
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Summary: Approaching the Qur'an
Review: Approaching the Qur'an thrusts the reader into the multifaceted, supple world of Islam by coupling delicate, sensitive, lyrical translations of Islam's sacred text with an extensive commentary on each Sura translated. These commentaries discuss the religious and historical context surrounding each of these Suras' revelations, resulting in the reader gaining insight not just into the Qur'an's message, but into the other major religious themes of Islam as well. Sells's sensitive contextualization of the Suras is complemented by his section on "Hearing the Qur'an," an introduction to the critical importance of the Qur'an's aural components. The CD included in this book allows the reader to experience firsthand just how powerful the force of Qur'anic recitation is, even if the listener does not speak any Arabic. Michael Sells should be commended most highly for his exceptional translations that are both sensitive to those within the tradition, and, because of their commentaries, are also accessible to new students of the Qur'an.
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Summary: Approaching the Qur'an
Review: Both non-Muslims and the large non-Arabic-speaking Muslim popluation for whom English is a second language can be deeply thankful for this book, in which Michael Sells literally does lead the reader to "approach" the Qur'an -- to get as close as can be in translation and without the linguistic and cultural context of a Muslim society -- first by being pointed to the mystical, early, short suras that were the first revealed to Mohammed; and then by being offered the best English translation ever of these chapters. Many of these remain deeply lyrical in English, thanks to Sells's readiness to stay close to the Arabic meaning and cadence. Sells explains the subtlety of the Qur'an's Arabic and shows the inadequacy, for example, of the male or female pronoun to translate the Qur'anic "hiya" that is "all peace, until the rising of the dawn" in the Surat al-Qadr (Chapter of Power). Best of all, one can actually hear the words of the Qur'an chanted by some of the best muezzins of the Muslim world, thanks to a CD included with the book. Sells writes of Islam with deep respect and love for both its spiritual basis and its incomparable language.
Muslim friends to whom I have read from these translations have been deeply moved by the sincerity and the success of Sells's project, and I imagine this book being given by many Muslims in the West to their Christian and Jewish friends.
Now is certainly the time for this book, as we all struggle to understand each other's faith and practices.
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Summary: Best Approach to the Qur'an I've Seen
Review: Brilliant. One is always told how untranslatable the Qur'an is, how non-understandable outside the original Arabic. But this book actually converys a sense of the complexity and beauty of the Qur'an for the non-Arabic speaker. A real "way in" where there wasn't one before. Much gratitude to the author.
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Summary: Another Attempt To Cash In
Review: Here is yet another attempt by a pseudo-academic to cash in on the event that took place on a particular date in the year two-thousand-one. There are numerous omissions in this book. More brain-washing for college students by those out-of-touch buffoons in Ivory Towers. The author is trying to distort the truth by simply leaving out the actual messages contained in the latter Suras. Why has censorship become so common among Islamic scholars? What is there to hide? The truth, for that's why censorship exists in the first place. In addition to the selected omissions, which is quite common in other books on Islam, there are nice brush-overs, politically correct de-icings, and attempts to present this hateful doctrine as a message of peace. If someone writes a book on Nazi history should they leave out all the bad things? That's what this author did. If you're looking for honest and truthful information, that is actually translated into English from Arabic, there are plenty of other choices on the market place.
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Summary: I highly recommend this book as your Quran primer.
Review: I am not a Muslim but have been married to a Muslim for over twenty years. I have done a lot of reading on Islam and I found Michael Sells approach new and exciting and very valid in its attempt to teach the Quran more like the Muslim world learns it. I would like to thank him for opening my eyes to many different perspectives on the Quran.
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Summary: Fundamental problems
Review: I appreciate the fine book written by a fellow human being who is trying his best to make sense of something that is perhaps inherently "non-sense". My comment isn't just about Quran; it is about all the " Divinely" inspired scriptures. I don't believe there is such a thing as Books revealed by a "God" , simply because if there was such a thing then that would indicate an "EVIL" God whose intention is to toy with human mind and cause much destruction and injustice. History stands as a witness that no phenomena in human history has caused as much pain, division, destruction and killing as the phenomena of religion. And why is that? Are really people responsible for this pain, and killings and destruction? My answer is absolutely not. It is "God" who is directly responsible for all the misery that religion has caused for so many through out the history. If God was really serious about "communication" with Mankind, certainly He would have done a better job conveying His intentions to people, rather than "revealing" his intentions through "books" that are at best vague and confusing. The history of religion shows us how so many people have ended up with diverse and often contradictory interpretation of these "books" disagreeing on almost every and any topic of significance and interest. Each group claiming that they have discovered the "True" meaning and intention of God in His book. Everything was subject to bitter and often deadly dispute, including the meaning of such basic teachings such as God "oneness", His attributes, Names, the nature and meaning of hell, heaven, punishment, reward, destiny, free will etc etc. Divine books are absolutely of no help or use in answering any of these questions. No matter what your position is on any of these topics, you can always find some " proofs" in the divine books supporting your idea, just as there as many versus supporting just the opposite of your idea. Whatever your idea, you can use Quran, or other divine books, to support it. How could such a book then have any use other than destructive use? That is why I refuse to believe that any of these books are really "divine" books, if they were then one has no choice but to conclude that we are dealing with an evil, sick minded god who is either enjoying the mind game He is playing with people, or else, is really incapable to communicate His intentions in a clear and unambiguous way. Either way shame on Him. You can't throw at people a highly ambiguous, layered, fluid book that could be interpreted in almost anyway which one pleases, and then expect it not have a disastrous result. Would that not be a sign of a god who is obviously an idiot and out of touch with reality?
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Summary: A pleasant surprise
Review: I bought this book because of the controversy surrounding it at the University of North Carolina. I did not expect to learn much since I was raised a Muslim and have read the Quran in Arabic and English. To my surprise, Michael Sells' "Approaching the Quran" has unveiled a very differnt way of understanding it. He included so much context and history to which I was oblivious. Things that I took for granted in Arabic has become so clear and gained deeper meaning with Sells' translation. I defenitely recommend this book to any non-Arabic (and Arabic-speaking) person who wants to gain a deeper understanding of the main messages of the Quran and Islam.
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Summary: Not a religious Book
Review: I consider to read this book as a waste of time for religious study. Quran is viewed as a piece of poetry. Author in many occasions tries to tie the Qur'an with ancient Arabic poetry and tries to find paralells. I could not find any phrase that tells to the reader that this book is send down to humanity by God through Prophet Mohammed. I did not expect him to believe that but the whole approach is from a literary point of view. The minimal amount of commentaries are mostly his own as a pure interpreatation as a literary text. Poetic nature is emphasised and paralells are drawn between ancient Arabic themas and the Quranic subjects. There is nothing to learn from this book. If you want to read better things against Qur'an or Islam read Ibn Warraq, if you want to read real interpretation there are much much better books, read Gatje, Peters. This book introduces the Holy Qur'an as a piece of literature and poetry not as a divine book.
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Summary: Informative & painstaking in his attempts to help readers
Review: I didn't really know what I would think of this book given the controversy on both sides. Those against the book (& against this being "required" reading at Univ of NC), are vehement in their criticism. Those who seem to appreciate the content of this book gave good reasons why. I wanted to see for myself whether the criticism was valid. The author is clearly trying to give readers the tools needed to understand the Qur'an, rather than preaching or analyzing the entire book. Just as with biblical studies, one book cannot explain an entire sacred scripture, but can only focus on certain aspects. (And just as with bible studies, the numerous verses discussing, even condoning and instructing, violence are not the central focus when learning about the bible.)
Those who have studied the holy scriptures of the 3 major monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and who are not prejudiced against Islam will appreciate the commonality of the verses of love, peace and goodwill found in all the sacred texts. This book is a good source to help people who truly want to understand how to read the Qur'an so they can see the same divine truths spoken of in each of those religions.
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