Rating: 
Summary: not excellent
Review: The translation was OK, but it was not very goo
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Summary: Incomplete and Misleading Introduction to Islam
Review: This book's biggest strength is the visual beauty of the illustrations and the aural beauty of the accompanying CD. The book's biggest weakness (and it is a major one) is the inadequate and incomplete view it gives of the Koran and the Muslim faith. Readers are never allowed to "approach the Qur'an" in its entirety. Rather, they are only permitted to read highly selective verses of the Koran which are deemed the most palatable and the least shocking to Westerners. These verses portray the religion as tolerant and peace-loving...
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Summary: True spirit of Islam
Review: This is the kind of book people ought to read to understand the religion of islam, instead of relying on half knowledgable, self proclaimed "experts" on islam. What better book to explain the principles of a religion, than the sacred text of that religion itself????? I hope people, instead of relying on others for an "expert" opinion read directly from the holy book's (Quran's) english translations and commentary and form independent, uninfluenced and unbaised views. I hope more authors come up explaining all the chapters of the Quran, not just the early revelations.
Rating: 
Summary: A useful point of entry
Review: This unusually sensitive volume offers three significant services to readers unable to apprehend the Qur'an in its original Arabic. First, it recognizes that, for many Muslims, the transmission of the Qur'an by recitation is a tradition whose popularity and power is often underestimated. The author, a professor of religion at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, thus not only discusses the role of recitation and provides phonetic schemas to aid in understanding its structure, but has also included a CD recording to introduce the recitation styles. Second, he focuses on the relatively concise, early suras, which tend to be hymnic, prophetic and largely concerned with the human relationship to God, and which give non-Muslims a simplified point of entry to the spiritual founda-tions of the Qur'an. Finally, Sells offers new translations of these early suras, which together with his commentary will further assist non-Muslims to com-prehend the spiritual depth of the Qur'an.
Rating: 
Summary: Only the pretty parts
Review: This would be cool if it were really a book of poetry. It is not. It is a holy book, and these are the nice bits - like reading the song of solomon in the bible and using those poetic passages to wholly judge western culture.Truth is that the cultures that hold the Qur'an as their holy books are not very nice to their women, minorities or to people who are different. Punishment is harsh and intolerance is the rule. Creativity is not encouraged - as an artist I could not make a living in most middle eastern countries. I GET that Mohammad probably did not want his people to use his holy words that way (any more than Christ would have approved of the Crusades), but this is not how it has worked out. I resent any holy text being pushed on anyone in any school anywhere. Perhaps a recommended reading list - many students are curious anyways. It should be a choice whether it is the bible, the qu'ran or the bhagavad gita. They are all great literature and give us windows into other's cultures, but it should always be a choice. It is good reading and nicely done. Read it if you have chosen to read it as I have.
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Summary: All or nothing at all.
Review: When I first heard that a book on the Qur'an was required reading for freshmen at the University of North Carolina, I applauded. I think all college students should be familiar with the tenets of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But after I had a chance to peruse Michal Sell's book, I was flabbergasted. This book presents, not the Qur'an, but selected verses. Those that most Westerners would find disturbing are nowhere to be found. The early suras of Mecca were exhortations, disclosed when Muhanmmad led a small and despised group of converts. Those of Medina are commandments, written by the autocratic leader of an increasingly aggressive theocratic state. These later pronouncements became increasingly peremptory, dogmatic, and intolerant. It is the later suras that were to become the basis of the Shari'a, or Islamic code that--in some Muslim countries--still governs every aspect of life: social, legal, political and economic. Penalties for any behavior frowned upon by the clerics in such countries are remarkably harsh and punitive. It was now that Muhammad felt free to revisit and abrogate some of his earlier revelations. "Allah blots out or confirms what he pleases," states Sura 13:39. Some, like the infamous Satanic verses, simply disappeared altoghether, and many Muslims claim that they were a fiction invented by the Prophet's enemies. Some of his opponents wondered whether it was truly the omniscient and infalliable Allah who found it necessary to edit his work, or whether it was Muhammad who was ready to change divine messages to meet his needs. A'isha, his favorite wife after Khadija died, recalled having commented to the Prophet, "Truly, thy Lord makes haste to do thy pleasure." Make the Qur'an required reading, along with the Torah and the New Testmament? Yes, but ALL of it.
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