My Response to ‘Woe to Foes: The Koran’

Last updated on: October 26, 2011 at 1:01 pm by Kristina ElSayed

My Response to ‘Woe to Foes: The Koran’ 2011-10-26T13:01:56-04:00 Kristina ElSayed

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I followed the paper trail from a comment on the Eid Books post from the other day that landed me on the blog S-L-M: Peace. The post I read was called Woe to Foes: The Koran.

I immediately wanted to read the post. I was hoping that it was not going to be another misinterpretation, but a well thought out approach. I held my breath and dove in.

Afterwords, this is what I had to say:

Meredith,

I followed you back here after you posted a comment on my blog the other day.

I applaud your attempting to read The Quran. It is not an easy read, even with the help of the commentary and a teacher. I would offer these recommendations though.

Read not from The Cow to the back, but after The Fatihah, read from the last chapter to the front. The chapters are smaller, and they are more easily digested, and this is the way almost all Muslims learn.

I would encourage you to read with the assistance of a commentary. I understand that you would like to form your own opinions, but each chapter does not discuss one topic. The topics jump around and this is the main reason why things are taken out of context and distorted. Sometimes the verse could be addressing a question, sometimes asking a question and sometimes addressing something historical.

This is a problem that I had when I made my first attempt at reading The Quran. It is not linear, there is no set formula to follow, and without the commentary (the rest of the story) it is often very confusing. The Quran is published exactly the way it was revealed to Mohammed, it has not been edited.

As a non-Muslim, my initial approach to learning about the religion was to take my Children’s Bible Stories and compare them with Quran Stories for Little Muslims. They talk of the same people. From there, I’ve compared the stories of all of the prophets, and the stories of the events around them. (Moses’s story with Egypt and the Pharaoh, Joseph and his Coat, David and the animals, Jesus’ birth and death.) If you try to find these stories in The Quran, they are not told in whole chapters, but in segments scattered all throughout the book.

And to answer your question: Non-Believers are people who do not believe in the existence of One God. Islam teaches that all of the messengers from Judaism and Christianity are to be revered as Prophets. Moses was teaching the same message that Jesus continued teaching, and Mohammed completed the message. They are all people ‘of the book.’

Please feel free to visit my blog, or send me email. I will be as helpful as I can with my limited, non-Muslim knowledge of Islam from the outside looking in.

Kristina

Previous Post

October 25, 2011

See a Need, Fill a Need

Next Post

October 27, 2011 Celebrating Hajj Day

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Beyond Etsy Blog Posts Books Educational Gadgets Hijabs In the House Jewelry On Etsy Personal Ramadan Reader Questions Reader Response Recipes Resources Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month April 2020 January 2020 September 2019 March 2019 December 2018 September 2018 June 2018 May 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who built an ark to survive the great flood?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Enoch Noah Abram Shem