Includes bibliographical references and index.

Foolish Assumptions -- Revealing the Word of God: The Book -- Getting to Know the Koran -- Receiving Revelation Straight from the Source -- Guiding the Way: Prophet Muhammad -- Discovering the Basic Messages of the Koran -- Naming the Revelation -- Hearing the Words: The Audience of the Koran -- Knowing the Essentials about Islam and Muslims -- From Revelation to Written Book -- Revealing the Koran to Muhammad -- Collecting the Koran as a Book -- Memorizing Miracles: Preserving the Koran throughout History -- Experiencing the Koran as Divine Art -- Mapping Out the Structure of the Book -- Discerning the Structure of the Koran -- Discovering Surah Names and Themes -- Finding Your Way Through the Moral Narrative -- Simplifying the Moral Narrative of Shorter Surahs -- Discovering the Language of the Koran -- Arabic: Plain, Clear, and Eloquent -- Literary Style in the Sacred Scripture -- Hearing the Voice of the Koran -- Relating the Koran to Abrahamic Revelations -- Previous Revelations: Between Sacred and Corrupted -- Linking the Three Faiths: Common Experiences in the Scriptures -- Contrasting the Koran with Judeo-Christian Scriptures -- Searching for the Soul of the Koran -- Interpreting the Koran -- Coming to Know the Guidance -- Drawing Out Interpretations -- Understanding Interpretations of the Koran Today -- Getting to Know Famous Commentators of the Koran -- Influential Movements of the Twentieth Century -- Another School of Thought: The Shi'ites -- Seeing the Koranic Worldview -- Meeting God, Prophets, and Mankind -- Conceptualizing God -- Prophets of God: Preaching a Divine Message -- The Status and Nature of Man -- Divining Nature, the Universe, and the Unseen -- The Divine Ways of Nature -- Inheriting the Earth: The Role of Mankind in Nature -- The Unseen World: Angels versus Satan -- Accounting for the Soul -- Taking the Koranic View of Other Faith Traditions -- Islam: One Religion under God -- Honoring Freedom of Choice and Respecting Diversity -- Examining Some Controversial Passages on Interfaith Relations -- Living the Koran -- Following in the Footsteps of Muhammad -- The Scripture Speaks about Muhammad -- Doing as God and His Messenger Do -- Looking at Some Key Prophetic Sayings -- Putting Meaning into Ritual -- Declaring Faith: More than Just Words -- Conversing with the Divine: Prayer -- Raising the Soul Over the Ego: Fasting -- Purifying Wealth, Uplifting the Needy: Almsgiving -- Journeying to the House of God: Pilgrimage -- Understanding the Koranic View of Self -- Connecting the Three Dots of Self Awareness -- The Seven Gates to the Heart -- Blessed Is the Baby's Soul, a Soul without Sin -- The Soul's Journey: From Pre-Birth to the Hereafter -- The Muslim Self: A State of Being -- The Kafir: A Faithless Self -- Achieving Koranic Ethics and Morality -- Discovering Ethical Principles in the Koran -- Leading the Life of Good Virtue and Character -- Purifying the Heart -- Raising a Family the Koranic Way -- Healthy Family Equals Healthy Society -- Looking for a Spouse: Let the Search Begin -- Celebrating Marriage as the Basis of Family -- Bringing Up Children -- A Matter of Inheritance: Who Gets What -- Tackling Divorce in the Koran -- Relating the Koran to the World -- Connecting the Koran to Society -- Divining a Community of the Middle Path -- Witnessing the Truth -- Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil -- Uniting a Community with the Rope of God -- Leadership and Citizenship in the Koran -- Jihad: Struggling in the Path of God -- Purifying Society through Islamic Law -- Defining Shariah -- Extracting and Interpreting Sacred Law -- Searching for Rulings and Principals -- Exploring the Contents of the Sacred Law -- Understanding the Islamic Penal Code -- Looking at the Four Schools of Law -- Struggling for God: Jihad -- Finding the Spirit of Jihad -- Connecting Qital with Islamic Law -- Understanding Martyrdom -- Looking at Jihad in Today's World -- Discussing Women in the Koran -- Finding Equality in the Scripture -- Discerning Women's Rights in Divine Law -- The Koran and Modernity -- Differentiating between Modernity and Modern Culture -- Promoting Social Progress -- Focusing on Issues of Modernity -- Imagining an Islamic Democracy -- The Part of Tens -- Ten Misconceptions about the Koran -- Muhammad Wrote the Koran -- The Koran Is Incoherent and Unorganized -- The Koran Is Void of Reason -- The Koran Espouses Polytheism -- The Koran Says That God Belongs to One People -- God Is Wrathful and Unloving in the Koran -- The Koran Preaches Fatalism -- Jihad Means "Holy War" -- The Koran Discourages Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation -- The Scripture Values Men More Than Women -- Ten Ways to Dig Deeper into the Koran -- Comparing "Translations" -- Listening to the Koran -- Looking at Different Interpretations -- Reading Books -- Studying Arabic -- Studying the Koran -- Surfing Web Sites -- Taking Classes -- Talking to Muslims -- Visiting Your Local Mosque -- Finding Prophets in the Koran.

An easy-to-understand road map for the holy book of Islam

With the Middle East constantly in the news, more and more people are curious about Islam, the world’ s second largest religion and one of its fastest growing. This book, a natural companion to our Islam For Dummies (0-764-55503-0), offers people a clear, impartial introduction to the Koran, or Qur’ an, Islam’ s holy book. From how the Koran was received by Mohammed and how it was compiled to what it teaches and how it’ s interpreted by Islam’ s two main branches, this timely guide helps people put Islam in perspective– and discover what the Koran really says about women and civil law and how Islam relates to Judaism and Christianity.

Sohaid Sultan (Chicago, IL) is a freelance journalist and Islamic scholar who has studied Islam extensively in the United States and abroad.