I am not a religious person. I just follow my own philosophy. But I am curious about the Qur’an from a social and historical point of view. I think after watching “V for Vendetta” when Stephen Fry was praising the beauty of a Qur’an, that I told myself I had to read it one day. It is like some Bibles from the Middle Ages, they were master pieces. Actually, a couple of years ago I read a biography about The Prophet Muhammad. It was very good for understanding the social circumstances and how Islam developed. So I bought this version. The intro was interesting for preparing for what was coming. I knew the Qur’an was formed by “suras” and I thought they would come written chronologically but it is not. It seems the first announced suras are actually the last one written. And I learned that exegetes are experts in interpretations of (mainly) religious texts. And in like in any holy book, there are things that only God can explain based on the exegetes expertise.
To be honest I had some expectations. I though it would similar to the bible and quite poetic. The first suras were quite long. One of them touching a lot of subjects from inheritance, divorce, etc.
I was surprised that the Children of Israel are the chosen ones. When you see all the news in that region….
As well, there are many references to the People of the Book: Jews, Christians, Sabenas and Magians. And The Quran confirms that the Torah and the Evangelis are sent by God. So why so much trouble about the three?
I was surprised that Abraham, Moses and Noah are mentioned a lot of times. Then a bit less Jesus and Mary. So you can see a lot of connections between the Judaism and Christianity.
As well, there are a lot of comments about Judgement day, God punishments to people who rejected God via other prophets (Lot, Thamud, etc). I was looking for an entry about The Prophet and the mountain, but didnt read it. As well, it is confirmed that God created everything is 6 days. Another subjet is the hijad. The word itself is not mentioned in the translation but I only could read one clear statement about it (47:6). When there are other subject that are repeated much more often: prey to god, follow god, fear god, etc.
In general, the picture I got from the Qur’am (about customs, habits, education, etc) and what you see in the world is quite different. But this is what it is, interpretations. The same would happen if I read the Bible.