Review of A Concise Guide to the Quran: Answering Thirty Critical Questions, by Ayman S. Ibrahim

My first exposure to the Qur’an

During the past three years, I have slowly made my journey through the canon of western literature.¹ Starting with Homer’s Iliad, I progressed through the ancient Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman authors and am now in the Middle Ages at the Qur’an. The Qur’an is one of the important and influential religious texts in western literature and the sacred scripture of Islam. Consequently, as a Christian from a non-Islamic cultural background, I wanted an informed guide to help me better understand the Qur’an and its historical and cultural context and meaning. Thankfully, I found Ayman S. Ibrahim’s A Concise Guide to the Quran: Answering Thirty Critical Questions (Baker Academic, 2020).

Ibrahim is the Bill and Connie Jenkins Professor of Islamic Studies at Southern Seminary and director of the Jenkins Center for the Christian Understanding of Islam.² Ibrahim grew up in a Coptic Christian family in Egypt surrounded by the reading and hearing of the Qur’an at home, school, and his immediate cultural context. Later, he would go on to receive two PhDs in Islamic studies and write scholarly yet accessible books about Islam, the Qur’an, the Arabic language, and Muhammad. I first learned about his A Concise Guide to the Quran from a Themelios book review by Matthew Bennett.³

Why you should read this book

Ibrahim writes A Concise Guide to the Quran for non-Muslims who have little to no understanding of Islam or the Qur’an. His desire is that after reading his book, non-Muslims would become more familiar with the Qur’an and be able to have informed discussions with their Muslim friends and neighbors about their faith.

Most non-Muslims have never read the Qur’an, and often their only exposure to Islam is based on misinformation and uninformed speculation. Therefore, Ibrahim is careful to use informed Quranic scholarship and early Muslim sources to explain and critically evaluate the historical, cultural, and literary context surrounding the Qur’an. In the process, he highlights the variety of different and sometimes contradictory beliefs and traditions surrounding the Qur’an within Islam. The result of Ibrahim’s careful scholarship and approach is a well-researched yet accessible and easy-to-read introduction to the Qur’an.

Structure and Format

Ibrahim divides A Concise Guide to the Quran into two sections of fifteen chapters each. The first section deals with the historical and literary development of the Qur’an. The second section deals with the content, features, and themes of the Qur’an. Each chapter asks and answers a different question. Each chapter is also self-contained, meaning the reader does not need to read prior chapters to understand the answers given to subsequent questions. Consequently, if the reader reads through the entire book, s/he will reread some of the same material.

In the first section, Ibrahim carefully answers each question about the historical and literary development of the Qur’an by explaining and evaluating the various traditions within Islam, early Muslim sources, and Quranic scholarship. This includes a brief introduction to hadith collections and discussions about their role and importance in understanding the Qur’an and its development. Ibrahim also addresses and evaluates the differing Sunni and Shiite traditions surrounding the Qur’an. In addition, he provides the reader with the latest insights from Quranic scholarship regarding the transmission, compilation, editing, and preservation of the text.

The Qur’an and the KJV-only Position

During my reading of this section, I was surprised to discover that the current Qur’an (i.e. the 1924 Royal Cairo Edition) is viewed by almost all Muslims today as the perfectly identical and unedited words of Allah to Muhammad as dictated by Gabriel beginning in AD 610. Ibrahim calls this 1924 edition the textus receptus of the Qur’an. However, the historical and textual evidence demonstrates that there have been differing versions or readings of the Qur’an throughout history and numerous edits, corrections, and variants even within the one textual reading chosen for the 1924 edition. However, most of the 1.5 billion Muslims in the world refuse to acknowledge that these different readings and variants exist. Instead, they insist that the 1924 edition of the Qur’an is the perfectly preserved words of Allah that he sent down to Muhammad. As I was reading through this section, I was often struck by the similarities between what Muslims believe about the Qur’an and what most KJV-only adherents believe about the AV1611 English translation of the Bible.

Ad Fontes

Ibrahim begins the second section of his book with an exhortation to his non-Muslim readers to read the Qur’an.

As the holy book of Muslims around the globe, it is important to know its content if we want to connect with Muslims about matters pertinent to their faith. Muslims are usually surprised to meet non-Muslims who have read the Quran….

There is no better way to understand the Quran than by reading the text yourself. While many, including some scholars, claim that the Quran is difficult to read and some parts do not make sense, you should not let this discourage you. Muslims claim that the Quran is beautiful, and this will remain a mystery to you unless you read the Quran yourself. (p. 63)

To facilitate the reader’s ability to read and understand the Qur’an, Ibrahim goes on to provide the reader with several important and helpful interpretive tools throughout the last fifteen chapters of his book.

Interpretive Tools to Understand the Qur’an

Three of the tools that I found most helpful to my understanding of the Qur’an include an explanation and evaluation of abrogation (chapter 18), the doctrines of tawhid and shirk (chapter 20), and the teachings about jihad and qital (chapters 26 and 27). Abrogation is the practice of using one verse or ayah in the Qur’an to supersede another. For example, there are many ayahs that speak about living in peace with Jews and Christians; however, more conservative and radical imams often abrogate these ayahs by other ayahs that speak about fighting and slaying infidels. Ibrahim notes that the rules used in abrogation are often puzzling and obscure to most Muslims, but the general idea is that the later suras (i.e. chapters of the Qur’an) abrogate the earlier suras. It is important to note that Christians also practice a form of abrogation when it comes to our understanding of the Mosaic Law and the gospel.

Familiarity with the doctrines of tawhid and shirk are also crucial to understanding the Qur’an. The doctrine of tawhid is the core belief of Islam: the absolute oneness of Allah. Those who do not believe in tawhid (e.g. polytheists, Jews, and Christians) are considered “associators” and commit shirk. Shirk refers to associating other gods with Allah and is the most egregious and hated sin in Islam.

After 9/11, most Americans are now familiar with the term jihad. However, there is much confusion about what jihad means. Some of this confusion is because the Qur’an refers to jihad in two ways. The Qur’an uses the term jihad in some places to refer to a general, non-violent striving or struggle against something. However, it also uses the term jihad to refer to fighting infidels and “associators.” Nominal and progressive Muslims tend to understand jihad according to the former sense, while more conservative and radical Muslims tend understand jihad according to the latter sense. Besides the term jihad, the Qur’an also uses the less known term qital. There is less confusion about qital because in every instance it refers to fighting in battle against non-Muslims.

In addition to these three insightful discussions, I also found to be helpful the chapters on the Qur’an’s teachings regarding Jews and Christians (chapters 20 and 21) and its teachings about the Bible, Jesus, and the Trinity (chapters 20, 22, 23).

Summary

Overall, A Concise Guide to the Quran is exactly the companion I was looking for as I am making my way through the suras and ayahs of the Qur’an.⁴ It provides me with informed context, thought-provoking insights, and helpful perspectives about Islam and the Qur’an. Importantly, as Ibrahim addresses the various topics throughout his book, he reminds the reader that Islam is not monolithic in its understanding and interpretation of the Qur’an. Just like with the Bible and Christianity, there is an interpretive range within Islam. The vast majority of Muslims, the author insists, are nominal in their beliefs and in their adherence to and application of the Qur’an. There are also many devout Muslims whose understanding and application of the Qur’an range from being conservative to progressive. However, most non-Muslims tend to view Islam and the Qur’an based on the beliefs and actions of a small minority of Islamic radicals and extremists. If non-Muslims are going to engage in sincere and meaningful discussions about faith with their Muslim friends and neighbors, they need to both read the Qur’an for themselves and understand the diversity of belief and practice of its teachings.