The Life of the Qur'an

December 15, 2023
A vibrant biography of the holy book of Islam. Islamic scholar Jebara, author of Muhammad, the World-Changer, presents a well-researched, manageable study of the vastness that is the Qur'an. In many ways, the book works as a threefold history--of a book, a man, and a religion--as the author capably intertwines the stories of the Qur'an, Muhammad, and the Muslim religion in general. Jebara approaches the Qur'an as a true subject for biography, no less so than its prophet. "The Qur'an," he writes, "was not a book per se or any other kind of physical object, but rather an unfolding experience--its own unique category of living being." This living Qur'an both slumbers and cries out, and the author takes special care to identify the Qur'an's silences: periods of weeks or months during which no revelations occurred, followed by short bursts of verbiage or lengthy outpourings. For Jebara, the living Qur'an's voice also changes and adapts to new situations. "No longer soothing pain or addressing doubts, the Qur'an spoke in the voice of a praising mentor," he writes at one point. Throughout, Jebara shows how the Qur'an is more than a static sacred text. It is a lively entity with personality and agency, and one only fully understood in its historical context. The author delves into such diverse topics as linguistics and the Jewish diaspora in the Middle East to set the stage for readers' historical journey. Finally, Jebara reflects on the Qur'an's place in modern Islam. "The words of the Qur'an are omnipresent--yet its spirit lies dormant," he writes. Despite the challenges this sacred text faces in modern society, Jebara is optimistic: "The critics...have it backward: The Qur'an is not the source of the Muslim world's problems, but its untapped solution." Appropriately epic and consistently erudite, yet accessible for lay readers.

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January 1, 2024

Arabic is the sole language of the Qur'an, and its interpretation is enshrined in a written and oral tradition conveying the nuances of a seventh-century CE milieu. The Qur'an's arrangement also defies easy categorization, and some may find approaching the sacred text a bit daunting. Scriptural philologist Jebara (Muhammad, the World-Changer), known for his efforts to bridge the gap between cultural and religious divides, takes the innovative step of presenting the Qur'an as a living entity that steadily breaks into the world. Written like a biography of the text, the book presents various suras (chapters) chronologically. Jebara spotlights the efforts of early Muslim communities to revitalize an insular Arab culture, and he examines the developments and evolution of Islam, moving from being in community to taking on the trappings of empire. In Jebara's hands, Islam is shown not just as a religion but as a way of life, with the Qur'an serving as an animating force that deserves to be cultivated rather than simply preserved. VERDICT An extensively researched look at the text of the Qur'an. It is sure to appeal to Muslims, religious scholars, and any readers interested in learning more about the sacred scripture of Islam.--James Wetherbee

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January 1, 2024
Understanding the Qur'an within the framework of classical Qur'anic exegesis requires understanding the nuances of language as well as the culture and events of the time. Chronicling its history requires tracing the changes in its interpretation, variations, and standardization. In this book, Jebara (Muhammad, the World-Changer, 2021) attempts all of the above. In three parts, he outlines language and culture during the time the Qur'an was revealed, focuses on the interplay between prevailing conditions and successive revelations, and explores the Qur'an's legacy after Muhammad's death, primarily its use as a political instrument and the academic study of it. Weaving folklore, personal interpretation, and historical events, the narrative skillfully provides a history of the Qur'an through the Abbasid period. There is even a chapter on mathematician al-Khawarizmi. With such a large scope, this book does have omissions, the most glaring of which is that the narrative does not consider perceived or real differences after Uthman's standardization. This book's strength is in following the narrative through various disciplines to realize one specific view of the Qur'an.

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February 26, 2024
Philologist Jebara (Muhammad) meticulously chronicles the Quran’s “incredibly dynamic life,” from its origins in a series of holy revelations received by the prophet Muhammad beginning in 610 CE to today. Shared by Muhammad into an “unwelcoming world,” the Quran—the “word of God” uncovered in a series of messages to Muhammad—was initially dismissed by Meccans. Framing the holy text as an active entity which “only speaks when it has an audience,” Jebara writes that it entered a “forced period of introspection” when Muhammad was isolated in the desert from 617 to 619 CE, and emerged afterwards in revelations marked by a “self-assured voice articulating a fully formed approach to living.” Around 630 CE, Muhammad and his disciples began consolidating the fragments into a “coherent single work that could endure for a universal audience.” Following the prophet’s death in 632 CE , the Quran’s “intense divine energy had no single guardian to guide its flow,” Jebara writes, explaining that this lack of a central authority catalyzed struggles between those who wished to use the holy text’s power for their political aims, but also sparked “mind-blowing outpouring of creativity” during the Islamic Golden Age. Jebara casts the Quran as a “dynamic living being... that continually reinvent itself” in response to the sometimes-unwelcoming climate in which it was revealed and can “adapt to meet the shifting needs” of today’s students. Enriched by the author’s scrupulous scholarly attention and evident passion for the topic, this is an ambitious take on a complicated history.