Rating: 
Summary: A Unique Approach Geared toward Understanding
Review: I heard Michaels Sells speak at Stanford (he's a religion professor at Haverford), and he said that when he teaches the Qur'an, his students start to get glazed eyes about halfway through the second surah (chapter). He said a colleague appraoched him and said, "Sells, I get to the second surah and I just lose it. I don't know what to make of it. What do you teach?" Prof. Sells said that the problem in translating the Qur'an comes from the huge grammatical differences between Arabic and English, the difficulty of translating poetry into another language, and the fact that the Qur'an has always been recited out loud. In English, he says, God in the Qur'an sounds angry, whereas in Arabic, God in the Qur'an sounds sad and compassionate. That's a big difference. Sells also says that the grammar in Arabic allows the tone of the Qur'an to achieve "ultimate majesty" at the same time as "personal intimacy." Because of the linguistic difference, that is very difficult to carry over into English. Therefore, this book is Sells' attempt to get around these difficulties in accessing the Qu'ran. He gives the translation of the surah and then he gives his commentary and explanation of it. There's a CD in the back that has recitations in Arabic, so we can hear that it is poetry and it really does even rhyme and hear how the recited Qur'an can affect a person differently from the printed Qur'an. Sells said, in his talk, that students have actually come up to him with tears in their eyes to tell him that they had previously never had any idea what the Qur'an was like. Although this is not the entire translated Qur'an, this book will give you a far better idea of what the Qur'an means and what it sounds like and where it comes from than if you pick up a translation of the Qur'an (even one with footnotes) and try to read it and understand it cold. (Many of us get glassy-eyed around the second surah.) This book will give you a much better understanding of the Qur'an than a translation will because it not only explains the meaning of the Qur'anic text, its unique approach solves the problems that those of us who don't speak Arabic have in understanding its nature and its meaning. Michael Sells said that whenever he's in Damascus, he sits on his rooftop at night and listens to the chanting of love poems drifing toward him from other rooftops, from all directions. Some of that chanting is because Arabic love poems have been around for millennia. But some of that chanting is practicing for the chanting of the poetry of the Qur'an. That's what Michael Sells has tried to capture in "Approaching the Qu'ran."
Rating:
Summary: A refreshing and unusual book.
Review: I initialy bought this book after hearing about the controversy surrounding the University of North Carolina. I was motivated more by curiosity about what was causing the controversy. As a Muslim, I am already familiar with the suras that are translated in this book, so I did not expect to learn much. But I was pleasantly surprised. The approach that Prof. Sells has taken is refreshing in that he treats the Qur'an as literature. Some Muslims may find this objectionable. But I find it helpful to be able to put the suras in the context of popular Arabian culture of that time. I had never actually thought of Qur'anic text in this way before, having learned it in the traditional fashion, by wrote memorisation of the Arabic verses, and then later, reading commentary. The CD included with the text was also unexpected. I hadn't seen an analysis of the 'soundscape' of the Qur'an before. I do like listening to beautiful recitations of the Qur'an, but I hadn't considered an analysis of the sounds and how they are put together. I had come across something similar in English literature classes that I took in college; and it makes sense that if one is treating the Qur'an as poetry, one could use similar tools for analysis. The CD and the analysis of the sounds were the best part of the book. Even if one is not a Muslim, I think it is possible to appreciate the beauty of Qur'anic recitation. As an example I have been able to appreciate the beauty of Gregorian chants even though I did not know what was being said or recited. I am mystified by the controversy surrounding this book. I wonder if the people that brought the lawsuit against UNC ever actually bothered to read the book. Let's hope that this sort of reactionary ignorance doesn't prevail in our country. I am very grateful to Prof. Sells for such a fine book. It is a very good introductory text for someone who has never read anything about the Qur'an and wishes to gain some insight. But I would, also, recommend this book as a valuable tool for Qur'anic study for someone who is already somewhat familiar with the contents of the Qur'an.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I read this book about a year ago and never imagined it could be controversial. The book is extremely objective and doesn't attempt to "convert" anyone or even insult other religions. There are parallels to Christianity, when it's helpful.
The controversy about it being "so positive"??? Well, hmmm... I'll tell ya what- find a book at a *christian* book store that mentions the atrocity of the Christians crusades, that criticzes the christian's church's support for slavery and later for segregation, that details the Christian's church's support for the oppression of women. uh-huh... yea. Good luck with that one. Your criticms are about Islam being presented in a positive light and nothing more. And they are millions and millions of nonviolent muslims that agree with this positive assessment of Islam. Just not fundamentalist christians that are threatened by the idea that there might not be "one true religion."
The book is an introduction to the Qur'an (hence the title) and not the history of Islam. It's really not even an analysis of the Qur'an- it's just interpreting the verses so the ordinary person can understand them.
Rating: 
Summary: We need to stop pretending
Review: I read this book from cover to cover. As an Ex-moslem I find the comments " fundamental problems" written by someone from NY the most honest and to the point argument on why religion is such a danger to human civilization. I used to read commentary written by great moslem scholars and it was always bothersome to me to read how many conflicting views and interpretations were there regarding the Quran. Even the commentator would get overwhelemd by these conflicitng views and he would end his paragraph, in a frsutration, by statements such " and God knows best". I always felt that we can't rally know forsure what God wants or means, then why bother? After tragic event of 9-11, many of my moslem friends would defend religion by telling us that those people who commited this crime weren't really moslem and their Islam is not true Islam. I find the notion of "True" Islam rather funny, it is more like a bad joke than a serious statement. What is the true Islam, I ask them? And who are you to tell us what the true Islam is or is not? What authority do they have, what speical knowledge do they posses that others have missed? Needless to say that they have no convincing answer to these questions. There are a bout a billion molsems living on this planet and there are about a billion versions of Islam and each person thinks their veriosn and their view of Islam is the true one. That is exactly why I think religion, all religions, are dangerious and evil and destructive and we have plenty of evidence from history to prove it. Why can't we stop pretending about knowign what God says and wants from us. Even if Quran or any other book was really a book sent by God, and that is a big IF, then there is absolutly no way for us to know what his true intentions are. It is hopelss and a waist of time to trying to decode His message. I whole heartedly agree with the NY person that the very ambigious nature of these books is a proof that either God has nothing to do with these books or else he is an evil god enjoying a disgusting game of mental manipulation. As long as there are people who take these "holy books" seriosuly, there will be no peace and no end to human tragedy.
Rating:
Summary: Informative, but lacking
Review: I was one of the incoming UNC Chapel Hill freshmen who had to read this work as part of the summer reading program. I found it to be informative and a decent starting point for Islamic studies. However, it leaves out key verses and is not terribly interesting. In order to do Islam justice, one needs to see the whole picture, good and bad, from a more objective standpoint.
Rating:
Summary: Informative, but lacking
Review: I was one of the incoming UNC Chapel Hill freshmen who had to read this work as part of the summer reading program. I found it to be informative and a decent starting point for Islamic studies. However, it leaves out key verses and is not terribly interesting. In order to do Islam justice, one needs to see the whole picture, good and bad, from a more objective standpoint.
Rating:
Summary: Remarkable
Review: I would recommend this book to both Muslims and non-Muslims. Muslims would particularly like the CD of recitations of some surahs by several gifted persons.
Rating: 
Summary: Absoutlety Rubbish
Review: If you want to know about the Quran, you better read the Quran and then try to look for contradictions if you find any. I am a jewish convert to Islam and I have taken strong attention to any thing said about the Quran, or what have been said about it. And Mr.Sells is just repeating what some christian and jewish apologists are saying. His book is not built upon any credible evidence. Conclusions: Dont read it!
Rating:
Summary: This is rubbish
Review: Imagine reading about Communism and learning nothing about the writings of Karl Marx. Imagine reading about facism and learning nothing about Hitler or the Final Solution. Imagine reading about Socialism and learning nothing about Hillary Clinton's health care plan. This is what reading this book is like. Unfortunately, after reading this book, I have learned nothing about what the Koran teaches and what Muslims believe. For a much more informative book on this topic, I would recommend saving some money and applying it towards the purchase of "The Rise of the Islamic Empire and the Threat to the West" by Anthony J. Dennis which is one of the most insightful reads and eerily predicts recent events.
Rating:
Summary: Incomplete, But Still Helpful
Review: Like most books meant to show us the beauty of a particular religion, this one leaves out "the warts." But at least it shows that there is some beauty in a faith that is being villified by right-wing Christians in this country whose own religion is at least the equal of Islam in the violence and hatred department. By focusing on the early suras, Sells is able to avoid having to deal with the truly ugly passages that the fringe elements of Muslim radicalism identify with so strongly. However, I'm confident that the conservatives who have focused on UNC's requirement that incoming freshmen read this book would have said nary a word if these same freshmen had been compelled to read a book that praised the beauty of the Bible while leaving out the truly horrifying books, such as Joshua, which contains more hate, bigotry and violence than the entirety of the Koran. While Sells' book isn't perfect (far from it), a little knowledge on such a controversial subject is better than no knowledge at all. I'm not sure when ignorance became a virtue, but I don't think anyone is being harmed at UNC for having to read such a book. It's better that they get their knowledge of Islam a little sugar-coated than to get a totally biased and hate-filled vision from the televangelists types like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.
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