THE LIFE OF THE QUR'AN

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.