What Christians Should Know About the Qur’an

Review: ‘A Concise Guide to the Qur’an’ by Ayman Ibrahim

The 18th-century playwright Voltaire is known for his calloused quip that the Qur’an is an “unintelligible book, each page of which makes common sense shudder.” While such a statement is abrasive to Western ideals of tolerance, acceptance, and pluralism, many non-Muslims who read the Qur’an for the first time might be tempted to sympathize with Voltaire’s sentiments. So why would a Christian author exhort his audience to invest time reading the Qur’an for themselves?

In his newest book, A Concise Guide to the Qur’an: Answering Thirty Critical Questions, Ayman Ibrahim—professor of Islamic Studies and director of the Jenkins Center for the Christian Understanding of Islam at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary—contends there is no better way to understand the Qur’an’s influence on one’s Muslim neighbors than to read the text for oneself. I agree.

Not only will a reader of the Qur’an better understand its role in a Muslim’s life, but the act of reading it will likely be received by one’s Muslim neighbors as a sign of your commitment to understanding them. Still, Ibrahim’s book contributes much more than a mere plea to take up and read. Read More

I have had both practicing and non-practicing Muslims as next-door neighbors. The small university town in which I live has a Muslim community, a mosque, and a halal grocery store. Muslim students from around the world attend the university. I agree with Ayman Ibrahim's contention that there is no better way to understan the Qur'an influence on one's Muslim neighbors than to read the Qur'an for oneself. The Qur'an plays such a central role in a Muslim's faith that the two are inseperable. The Qur'an is far from incomprehensible as Voltaire maintained. It is also shorter than the Bible. I own an annotated copy of the Qur'an which provides helpful explanations of the suras (or chapters) and passages of the Qur'an as well as notes on how scholars of the Qur'an have historically interpreted its passages.