The Qur'an: A Biography (Books That Changed the World)

About this book

Few books in history have been as poorly understood as the Quran. Sent down in a series of revelations to the Prophet Muhammad the Quran is the unmediated word of Allah a ritual political and legal authority an ethical and spiritual guide and a literary masterpiece. In this book one of the launch titles in Atlantic Monthly Press Books That Changed the World series the distinguished historian of religion Bruce Lawrence shows precisely how the Quran is Islam. He describes the origins of the faith and assesses its tremendous influence on todays societies and politics. Above all Lawrence emphasizes that the Quran is a sacred book of signs that has no single message. It is a book that demands interpretation and one that can be properly understood only through its history. Bruce Lawrences work is a beautifully written and in these increasingly troubled times invaluable introduction to and exploration of the core sacred text of Islam.