Reddit mentions of How to Read the Qur'an: A New Guide, With Select Translations

Quran is a weird "book". I know when I started reading it, I expected it to read like the Bible, which seemed like a reasonable expectation. If you have time for it, there are two short books about some contexts to the Quran that don't go into too much historical detail:

How to Read the Quran by Prof Carl Ernst, which talks about the Quran as a literary genre that Arabians could be familiar with, including their legends, stories, and the order and structure of the text.

and

Approaching the Quran by Prof Michael Sells, which deals more with the auditory experience of the Quran as a ritual performance. Comes with a selection of recited verses.


CS Monitor had a brief article on Ernst's book.

> He says the Bible is the true word of God because every book in the Bible has the same topic

That's not a good litmus test. Having the same topic or message is not a miracle. You would have to include books like Frankenstein into the canon since it was also a continuation of the story of Adam and his fall.

>He also says that everything prophesised by the Bible eventually came true, like the destruction of Babylon

Every empire crumbles. This is not hard to predict.

> I still consider myself an atheist but I want to know God.

Ask God to guide you. If He guides you to the Quran (and it sounds like He has) then pour over it like any researcher looking for answers. When you feel you've exhausted it, move on. You don't need to learn Arabic, but you should know how to read the genre of literature that is the Quran. I highly recommend to everyone Carl Ernst's How to Read the Quran. I assigned this to my university students along with Michael Sells Approaching the Quran.

But to answer you question in brief, the first revelation of the Quran begins "Read! In the Name of your Lord who creates, He creates humanity as an embryo"

You are still an embryo in the womb of the Quran where all your human faculties are being nurtured. If you become aware of your fleeting and transitory existence, then God's message to you has succeeded in transforming you.

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>First, I've just been going through the default English translation on quran.com[1] . Is that the best version and translation to use?

It is better to rely on a translation that has at least a brief introduction and some footnotes that describe the author's word choices and interpretive framework. For example, AJ Arberry's translation flows beautifully and makes significant allusion to Judeo-Christian symbols. Muhammad Asads is probably the most sophisticated in that he always cross-references with the dominant commentaries of the Islamic tradition. I always recommend his work first because it translates the idiomatic expressions culturally and not literally. For example, how do you translate "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"? He translates idioms and then explains the meaning in a footnote. You can also try Abdel Haleem, although I don't rely on it much. I really recommend Muhammad Asad, because he is not only a scholar, but a Western jewish convert who lived among the Arab bedouins for a long time. He can translate cultures very well. Also, you can order a free hard copy from CAIR with beautiful calligraphy inlays, parallel transliteration and original Arabic.

>Second, what context should I keep in mind while reading it?



I recommend How to Read the Quran by Dr Carl Ernst.

> Do many people today think it should be taken word-for-word literally?

Please don't. This is how Christian fundamentalists read the Quran, not how Muslims have traditionally read the Quran. In the past, some scholars talked about reading the Quran literally, but what they meant by "literally" was not what some unlearned literalists think of today. This probably makes little to no sense, but the point is, don't read it literally.

>Is there anything else I should be reading alongside the Quran to help me better understand it?

A good biography of Muhammad perhaps. Karen Armstrong, Tariq Ramadan, Martin Lings, and many more have published great books. Dr. John Brown's Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction may be a good one to start with.


>Is it typical for Muslims to read the Quran?

Unfortunately no. Most muslims in the world do not understand Arabic. So when "millions read it in the month of Ramadan" as a comment said elsewhere, they recite it without understanding. However, compared to Christians, Jews or any other scripture-based religion, Muslims as a whole spend way more time with their scripture.

I'm around Jesuit priests all day, and I don't think even they come close to daily devotions of the average muslim layperson. I don't even consider them very devotional, but that's my opinion.