Recommended books on Quran/Islam & related topics

[Taro Hiroshi]

Peace everyone,

In a thread in this forum, there are many books and articles about islam and the quran. Many of the books and articles in that thread are excellent, in my opinion. I'd like to share a few links to a few posts from that thread with you. I think many members in this forum might be interested in the books and articles in that thread (particularly Layth, Ayman, Edip, Wakas, Arnold, Pazuzu, Timur, Abdelilah, ths, Hizbullah, uq, A.W., truthseeker11, hicham9, Al Khidr19, Neptin, HP_TECH and last but not least Timotheus). You can read articles and read reviews/texts of books in that thread. There are also some books that can be downloaded in that thread. By the way, I am not a native english speaker, so please be patient with any grammatical errors in this post. Anyway, let me share a few links to a few posts here.

Books:

http://free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9608097.msg381300#msg381300

Books:

http://free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9608097.msg388215#msg388215

An article:

http://free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9608097.msg388216#msg388216

Articles:

http://free-minds.org/forum/index.php?topic=9608097.msg388217#msg388217

[Wilson]

Understanding the Qur?an: Themes and Style
Abdel Haleem, Mohammed
? 1999 ? I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd
256 pages

The tenets of Islam cannot be grasped without a proper understanding of the Qur'an. Muhammad Abdel Haleem examines its recurrent themes - life and eternity, marriage and divorce, peace and war, water and nourishment - and for the first time sets these in the context of the Qur'an's linguistic style. Professor Haleem examines the background to the development of the surahs (chapters) and the ayahs (verses) and the construction of the Qur'an itself. He shows that popular conceptions of Islamic attitudes to women, marriage and divorce, war and society, differ radically from the true teachings of the Qur'an. [Series: London Qur?an Studies]


Literary Structures of Religious Meaning in the Qu'ran
Boullata, Issa J
? 2001 ? Routledge
396 pages

This volume studies how the literary elements in the Qur'an function in conveying its religious message effectively. It is divided into three parts. Part one includes studies of the whole Qur'an or large segments of it belonging to one historical period of its revelation; these studies concentrate on the analysis of its language, its style, its structural composition, its aesthetic characteristics, its rhetorical devices, its imagery, and the impact of these elements and their significance. Part two includes studies on individual suras of the Qur'an, each of which focuses on the sura's literary elements and how they produce meaning; each also explores the structure of this meaning and the coherence of its effect. Part three includes studies on Muslim appreciations of the literary aspects of the Qur'an in past generations and shows how modern linguistic, semantic, semiotic, and literary scholarship can add to their contributions. [Series: Studies in the Qur?an]


Logic, Rethoric, Legal Reasoning in the Quran
Gwynne, Rosalind Ward
? 2004 ? Routledge
256 pages

Muslims have always used verses from the Qur'an to support opinions on law, theology, or life in general, but almost no attention has been paid to how the Qur'an presents its own precepts as conclusions proceeding from reasoned arguments. Whether it is a question of God's powers of creation, the rationale for his acts, or how people are to think clearly about their lives and fates, Muslims have so internalized Qur'anic patterns of reasoning that many will assert that the Qur'an appeals first of all to the human powers of intellect. This book provides a new key to both the Qur'an and Islamic intellectual history. Examining Qur'anic argument by form and not content helps readers to discover the significance of passages often ignored by the scholar who compares texts and the believer who focuses upon commandments, as it allows scholars of Qur'anic exegesis, Islamic theology, philosophy, and law to tie their findings in yet another way to the text that Muslims consider the speech of God. [Series: Studies in the Qur?an]


Approaches to the Qur'an
Hawting, G.R.
? 1993 ? Routledge
352 pages

In recent years, the study of the Qur'an and its interpretation has expanded to incorporate insights gained from historical, biblical, literary and critical studies. A variety of approaches to the Qur'an and the Muslim exegetical tradition are currently available. Approaches to the Qur'an consists of thirteen essays by leading scholars, both Muslim and non-Muslim, in the fields of qur'anic studies and Islamic studies. Taken together, they offer a sample of the aims, methods and topics of enquiry now being pursued. Each study has a full critical apparatus, and the book includes a consolidated bibliography which will be of great value to students and specialists. [Series: Studies on the Middle East]


The Qur??n?s Self-Image
Madigan, Daniel
? 2001 ? Princeton University Press
256 pages

More than any other canon of scripture the Qur'?n is self-aware. It observes and discusses the process of its own revelation and reception; it asserts its own authority and claims its place within the history of revelation. Here Madigan presents a semantic analysis of its self-awareness, arguing that the Qur'?n understands itself not so much as a completed book, but as an ongoing process of divine "writing" and "re-writing," as God's authoritative response to actual people and circumstances.


Coherence In The Qur?an
Mir, Mustansir
? 1987 ? American Trust Publications
125 pages

A widely held view about the Qur?an is that, in its received form, it lacks coherence. Not surprisingly, most approaches to the Qur?an have remained atomistic in characters. Also, some western scholars have tried to rearrange the Qur?an in order to make it more comprehensible. The contemporary scholar Amin Ahsan Islahi rejects the view that the Qur?an is disjointed. Developing the seminal ideas and insights of his teacher, Hamid ad-Din al-Farahi, he has argued in Tadabur-I-Quran, his multi-volume Qur?an commentary, that the Qur?an possesses a nazm or coherence that is not only aesthetically pleasing but carries profound hermeneutical significance. Coherence in the Qur?an is the first detailed study of Islahi?s contribution to Qur?an exegesis. After putting a historical perspective on the idea of nazm in the Qur?an, it makes a critical examination of the major aspect of Islahi?s theory of Qur?anic nazm, and tries to assess the significance of this new approach to the Qur?an.


Qur'anic Studies Today
Neuwirth, Angelika
? 2016 ? Routledge
360 pages

Qur'ānic Studies Today brings together specialists in the field of Islamic studies to provide a range of essays that reflect the depth and breadth of scholarship on the Qur'ān. Combining theoretical and methodological clarity with close readings of qur?ānic texts, these contributions provide close analysis of specific passages, themes, and issues within the Qurʾān, even as they attend to the disciplinary challenges within the field of qur?ānic studies today. Chapters are arranged into three parts, treating specific figures appearing in the Qurʾān, analysing particular suras, and finally reflecting on the Qur?ān and its "others." They explore the internal dimensions and interior chronology of the Qur?ān as text, its possible conversations with biblical and non-biblical traditions in Late Antiquity, and its role as scripture in modern exegesis and recitation. Together, they are indispensable for students and scholars who seek an understanding of the Qur?ān founded on the most recent scholarly achievements. [Series: Studies in the Qur?an]


The Qur'an and its Interpretative Tradition
Rippin, Andrew
? 2001 ? Routledge
360 pages

The position of the Qur'an as the central symbol and reference point of Islam cannot be disputed. Despite this significance, the academic study of the Qur'an has lagged far behind that of the Bible. In these studies Andrew Rippin reflects upon both the principles and the problems of studying the Qur'an within the discipline of religious studies. He also pursues detailed investigations of the meaning of variants to the text and the history of Muslim interpretation of the text in its diversity. A newly written introduction lays out some of the general implications of these studies, while extensive indexes of Qur'anic verses, books, authors and topics make this research more readily accessible. [Series: Variorum Collected Studies]


The Qur?an - Formative Interpretation
Rippin, Andrew
? 1999 ? Routledge
414 pages

This first volume is concerned with the questions that have been addressed within the study of the early interpretation (tafsir) of the Qur?an. These papers exemplify the areas of debate within the field, the need for detailed investigative scholarship of individual texts, and the progress made in the systematic study of these early works. [Series: The Formation of the Classical Islamic World]


The Qur?an - Style and Contents
Rippin, Andrew
? 2001 ? Routledge
464 pages

This second volume reveals the variety of approaches followed within the study of the text. From N?ldeke?s examination of style through Arkoun?s project for the future, these scholarly statements reflect the historical development of the discipline, while providing overviews of key elements for the understanding of the Qur?an. [Series: The Formation of the Classical Islamic World]


Discovering The Qur?an
Robinson, Neal
? 1996 ? SCM Press

Used by students around the world as a reliable guide to reading a translation of the Qur'an, it shows how the Qur'an is experienced by Muslims, describing the rhythmic and rhyme scheme structures, the context in which it is heard, the part played by learning by heart, and the importance of calligraphy. It is also about the Qur'an and its relationship to Muhammed, as well as helping to divine the ordering of the surahs or chapters. In an English-speaking world newly sensitized to Islam and its believers, Discovering the Qur'an will be an invaluable tool to greater understanding.

[Comrox]

Does anyone know of a nice Qur'an alone/oriented translation that's also a physically small book? I'm looking for a smaller Qur'an (if I can find one), but I feel like everything I find is 9 x 6 inches and that's a little too big for me. I feel like something slightly smaller like 8 x 5 is much more reasonable.

[person_of_the_book]

Does anyone know of a nice Qur'an alone/oriented translation that's also a physically small book? I'm looking for a smaller Qur'an (if I can find one), but I feel like everything I find is 9 x 6 inches and that's a little too big for me. I feel like something slightly smaller like 8 x 5 is much more reasonable.

To my knowledge no such thing exists, however you can find portable editions of AJ Arberry's translation, which while not "Qur'an alone" is translated from the perspective of a non-Muslim linguist and avoids some baggage, I find. I actually got lucky and found an old pocket-sized hardback in a used book store.

[Makaveli]

Does anyone know of a nice Qur'an alone/oriented translation that's also a physically small book? I'm looking for a smaller Qur'an (if I can find one), but I feel like everything I find is 9 x 6 inches and that's a little too big for me. I feel like something slightly smaller like 8 x 5 is much more reasonable.

Use the tablet or smartphone?

[Houriya]

recognize your enemy

http://www.quran4peace.org/documents/Quran4peace-part7.pdf

Web site :
http://www.quran4peace.org/

[Mughal1]

My understanding of things about the quran and mankind see HERE and HERE.

[smith007]

Esoteric Islam: A Hermetic Perspective on Islamic Traditions by Sachal Smith (Free Kindle eBook)

A research on the connection between Quran and hermetic philosophy. The book 'Esoteric Islam' includes the interpretation of Islamic traditions by use of the hermetic arts of Astrology and Alchemy. It discusses the mystical teachings of Quran from the standpoint of ancient mysteries and modern metaphysics. It attempts to understand the message of Quran in its structural designs alongside the principle tenets so as to unravel the mystique of this very impressive literature.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0966YBDYF/