please recommend a good book on Islam and The Qu'ran?

[Tuesday]

I am not baptized ... anything. My children and I have started regularly attending a wonderful Christian (it's a liberal, casual anti-church kind of church) church. I've always studied and thought about spiritual issues. I realized recently when shopping for shayla scarves (I have alopecia) that I know very little or nothing about the Islamic religion.

Could any practising Muslims recommend some good educational books?

I'm reading https://secure.tesco.com/books/produ...ks*421%7CIslam

What Do Muslims Believe but finding this particular title a bit dry even though I'm intrigued by the author's qualifications and list of writings. I am just curious if there are particular authors or titles that have resonated with you?


THANK YOU!

[Dar]

I'm not a practicing Muslim - I'm currently exploring options - but I found John Esposito's Islam: The Straight Path to be a good read. It's scholarly rather than religious in tone, written for the layperson wanting to understand rather than for the practicing Muslim... but it does explain the tenets of the faith, as well as giving historial context.

He also recently wrote another book, called Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, which is based on 6 years of research and over 50,000 interviews with Muslims living in more than 35 different countries. It's not really what you're looking for, I don't think, but it is interestng...

Dar

[Tuesday]

Dar - thank for the quick reply.

Actually the title you mentioned - "Who Speaks for Islam?" - that sounds like something I'd enjoy reading! Thank you!

I'm going to find myself a copy of the Qu'ran as well. That's always a good place to start learning.

I thought this a nice column

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/05/religion.uk

[Arduinna]

I found the Complete Idiots Guide to Islam to be pretty informative for people like me that really didn't know much about the religion at the time. There is also one on the Qu'ran but I haven't read that one.

[umsami]

The best English language book I've read on Islam (and by far the best written) is called "No god but God" by Reza Aslan. http://www.amazon.com/No-god-but-God.../dp/1400062136


The easiest book to browse through and get a good idea of Islam is "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam" by Yahiya Emerick.

Both of those should be at most libraries.

For the Qur'an/Koran, I really like the selections in Camille Helminski's "The Light of Dawn."


On a side note, in terms of scares, Hijabgirl (www.hijabgirl.com) has some of the best prices I've found online. I also really like Veiled by Design (www.veiledbydesign.com)

[Summertime Mommy]

I second the recondendation for "No God but God" by Reza Aslan, it was really good.

I also really enjoyed "The Essential Koran" by Thomas Cleary. It is exerpts from the Qur'an and the translation is very poetic. It is the book that opened my mind to Islam.
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Kora...886615&sr=1-20

[Turkish Kate]

I'm a huge fan of the Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam. It was probably the first book that I read and is such a simple and easy to understand book, without getting into too many confusing details. I have Reza Aslan's book, No God But God and have tried to read it several times without success. It's just flat-out dry to me, although full of great information for someone who has time to really sit and read and pay attention to it.

Yahiya Emerick also wrote a book geared towards young teenagers that goes lesson-by-lesson through all the basics of the practice of Islam, but I can't remember the title of it. It might be this one, although I'm not entirely sure because my copy was left behind in Istanbul.

[Liquesce]

While a lot of people take issue with his own ideas -- and on that I don't know enough to comment -- I've repeatedly been told that Fazlur Rahman's "Islam" is a deeper than average yet still very concise introduction. Also The Vision of Islam is an introduction that gets a little more into spirituality, rather than just being another "Muslims pray X times per day, fast in Y month, etc" technical overview.

ETA: As far as Qurans go, I usually recommend the MAS Abdel Haleem translation for people looking for something good but not looking for something a mile thick with footnotes ... it's just a good basic translation, in easy to read contemporary English, it doesn't overly stretch translations to make things fit a viewpoint, and it does (unlike, for example, Thomas Cleary's) include judicious notes to better explain certain words or to put select verses in their necessary context.

[umsami]

Oh, you reminded me Liquesce of one of my all time favorites. I loaned it out maybe five years ago, and haven't found another copy.

It's written by Robert Frager and is called "The Wisdom of Islam"
http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Islam-P...9892982&sr=8-1

If you're interested in the prayer bit, I totally love "The Illuminated Prayer"
http://www.amazon.com/Illuminated-Pr...9893049&sr=1-1

[Liquesce]

Originally Posted by umsami

Oh, you reminded me Liquesce of one of my all time favorites. I loaned it out maybe five years ago, and haven't found another copy.

It's written by Robert Frager and is called "The Wisdom of Islam"
http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Islam-P...9892982&sr=8-1

If you're interested in the prayer bit, I totally love "The Illuminated Prayer"
http://www.amazon.com/Illuminated-Pr...9893049&sr=1-1

Have you ever read Frager's Essential Sufism? Kind of fluff -- or not really, but not even remotely analytical either -- but a really nice little rainy-day book to have around.

What about In the Footsteps of the Prophet? Have you read it yet? I'm (still ) only a chapter or two in, so while I thought of it I didn't want to say and have it turn out to be a poor choice of looks upon our prophet for people who might not already know his life story.

Or maybe this is getting to be too off-point. Get into recommending books that deal with aspects rather than overviews and this list could turn a mile long.

[Tuesday]

Liquesce - feel free to get "off-point". I'm happy to see everyone's suggestions - quite a nice reading list is collecting here - thank you!

As I mentioned, I a very spiritually-minded person and have been trying to educate myself in various world religions and philosophies. It's kind of mind-blowing trying to grasp it all! I feel like there is so little I know about Islam and I'd like to educate myself.

Thank you!

[ChasingPeace]

I second Umsami's recommendation for the Illuminated Prayer. It's a beautiful book.

I also like:
The Heart of the Qu'ran by Lex Hixon
http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Quran-Re...9954152&sr=8-3

Approaching the Qu'ran: The Early Revelations by Michael Sells
http://www.amazon.com/Approaching-Qu...9954391&sr=1-1

The Heart of Islam by Seyyid Hossein Nasr (although it's heavier reading):
http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Islam-En...9953888&sr=8-1

[AutumnSunshine]

I'm sorry I'm late on this thread but my favorite, favorite, favorite book of all time is Understanding the Qur'an: Themes and Styles by Muhammad A.S. Abdel-Haleem. It is considered a text book, and therefore a little expensive and can be hard to find, but it is SO worth it if you really want a wonderful understanding of the Qur'an. Just look at the table of contents and you'll see what kinds of issues are covered. He also has his own translation of the Qur'an which is very clearly written and easy to understand and also contains a very educational introduction covering some of the "controversial" issues that you may have heard about.

[AutumnSunshine]

Originally Posted by Turkish Kate

I'm a huge fan of the Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam. It was probably the first book that I read and is such a simple and easy to understand book, without getting into too many confusing details.

I second this recommendation. I have an old copy and I think it looks like the Complete Idiot's series seems to have gone out of print?

Also, Muhammad by Demi is wonderful even for adults. It is from Demi's picture book series for children but if you want a beautiful, simple introduction to the life of Muhammad (peace be upon him), this is outstanding.

I use both books on display tables for interfaith gatherings.