Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Conventions Used in This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 3 How This Book Is Organized 4 Part I: Revealing the Word of God: The Book 4 Part II: Searching for the Soul of the Koran 4 Part III: Seeing the Koranic Worldview 4 Part IV: Living the Koran 5 Part V: Relating the Koran to the World 5 Part VI: The Part of Tens 5 Icons Used in This Book 5 Where to Go from Here 6 Part I: Revealing the Word of God: The Book 7 Chapter 1: Getting to Know the Koran 9 Receiving Revelation Straight from the Source 9 Guiding the Way: Prophet Muhammad 10 Discovering the Basic Messages of the Koran 11 The unity of God 11 Worship and service to God 11 Prophets to teach and guide 11 Completion of past revelations 12 Guidance to a spiritual path 12 Movement for social change 12 Accountability of deeds 13 Naming the Revelation 13 The Guidance 13 The Criterion 14 The Proof 14 The Reminder 15 The Healing 16 Hearing the Words: The Audience of the Koran 16 Knowing the Essentials about Islam and Muslims 17 The Six Pillars of Belief 17 The Five Pillars of Islam 18 Muslims: The followers of Islam 19 Chapter 2: From Revelation to Written Book 21 Revealing the Koran to Muhammad 21 The beginning of revelation 22 The stages of revelation 24 The Meccan and Medinan periods 24 Transmitting revelation to the community 26 Collecting the Koran as a Book 27 Conforming the Koran''s dialects 28 The Koran in modern-day print 29 Memorizing Miracles: Preserving the Koran throughout History 31 Experiencing the Koran as Divine Art 32 Recitation 32 Calligraphy 35 Chapter 3: Mapping Out the Structure of the Book 37 Discerning the Structure of the Koran 37 Ayat 37 Surahs 38 Juz'' 39 Discovering Surah Names and Themes 40 Finding Your Way through the Moral Narrative 46 Through divine signs 47 Through laws 47 Through stories of the past 48 Simplifying the Moral Narrative of Shorter Surahs 52 Chapter 4: Discovering the Language of the Koran 53 Arabic: Plain, Clear, and Eloquent 53 Digging down to the roots 54 Reading translations of the Koran 56 Literary Style in the Sacred Scripture 57 Key literary elements of the Koran 58 Clear and figurative passages 60 Hearing the Voice of the Koran 62 Chapter 5: Relating the Koran to Abrahamic Revelations 65 Previous Revelations: Between Sacred and Corrupted 65 Linking the Three Faiths: Common Experiences in the Scriptures 66 Uniting faiths with belief in One God 67 Bridging the gap between divine laws 67 Sharing the legacy of prophetic stories 69 Contrasting the Koran with Judeo-Christian Scriptures 70 Finding a worldview of history in the Scriptures 70 Reforming laws 72 Reforming religious rituals 72 Extending God''s covenant to all peoples 73 Giving a new angle on prophetic stories 73 Checking the prophetic pulse of Muhammad in the lBiblical Scripture 75 Differing on Mary and the message of Jesus 76 Part II: Searching for the Soul of the Koran 79 Chapter 6: Interpreting the Koran 81 Coming to Know the Guidance 81 Having room for interpretation 82 Knowing the key terms of Koranic interpretation 82 Finding the Tasfir that fits 84 Drawing out Interpretations 85 Looking at clear and ambiguous passages 85 Interpreting outer meanings 86 Interpreting inner meanings 88 Examining general and specific passages 88 Keeping circumstances behind revelation in mind 90 Abrogating passages 90 Chapter 7: Understanding Interpretations of the Koran Today 93 Getting to Know Famous Commentators of the Koran 93 Among the companions 94 In successive generations 95 Classic works of Koranic interpretation 96 Influential Movements of the Twentieth Century 98 Mawdudi: Framework for a movement 99 Qutub: The controversial revolutionary 101 Muhammad Rida: The influential reformer 103 Muhammad al-Ghazali: Thematic Tafsir 103 Another School of Thought: The Shi''ites 104 Ali 104 Two famous Shi''ite Koranic interpreters 105 Part III: Seeing the Koranic Worldview 107 Chapter 8: Meeting God, Prophets, and Mankind 109 Conceptualizing God 109 "A" is for "Allah" 109 Exploring the concept of God 110 Experiencing God through divine attributes 113 Knowing God 117 Prophets of God: Preaching a Divine Message 119 Prophets and messengers 119 Abraham: Beloved Friend of God and Father of Faith 120 Moses: The Liberator 122 Jesus: The Spirit of God 125 The Status and Nature of Man 128 Human nature through Adam 129 The purpose of human life 131 Chapter 9: Divining Nature, the Universe, and the Unseen 133 The Divine Ways of Nature 133 Patterns of creation 134 God''s creations in the skies 134 Earthly creations 136 Inheriting the Earth: The Role of Mankind in Nature 139 The Unseen World: Angels versus Satan 140 The angels: Pure creations of God 141 Satan: An avowed enemy 142 Accounting for the Soul 143 The Day of Judgment 143 The eternal bliss of heaven 144 Hell: Torment of the fire 145 God''s Mercy, God''s Wrath: Reconciling the two 145 Chapter 10: Taking the Koranic View of Other Faith Traditions 147 Islam: One Religion under God 147 A brotherhood of Muslims 148 Limits to an inclusive theology 149 Honoring Freedom of Choice and Respecting Diversity 151 Protecting freedom of choice 152 Embracing diversity as the Will of God 152 Examining Some Controversial Passages on Interfaith Relations 153 Fighting against "unbelievers" 154 Forbidding "friendship" with People of the Book 156 Part IV: Living the Koran 157 Chapter 11: Following in the Footsteps of Muhammad 159 The Scripture Speaks about Muhammad 159 Servant of God and mortal man 160 Muhammad''s divine mission 160 Muhammad as the best example for humanity 161 Muhammad''s mercy for humanity 161 Muhammad as a seal of the prophets 162 Doing as God and His Messenger Do 163 Looking at Some Key Prophetic Sayings 165 Muhammad speaks about God 165 Muhammad speaks about virtue 166 Chapter 12: Putting Meaning into Ritual 169 Declaring Faith: More than Just Words 170 Conversing with the Divine: Prayer 170 Understanding the purpose of prayer 171 Approaching prayer: Purity of mind and body 172 Let the prayer begin! 175 Raising the Soul over the Ego: Fasting 180 Remembering and thanking God 180 Enjoying the communal aspects of fasting 182 Purifying Wealth, Uplifting the Needy: Almsgiving 183 Opening your wallet and improving the world 183 Receiving alms 184 Journeying to the House of God: Pilgrimage 186 Following the path of Abraham 186 Journeying through the pilgrimage 186 Chapter 13: Understanding the Koranic View of Self 191 Connecting the Three Dots of Self Awareness 191 The wild horse and the rider 192 The three states of self 193 The Seven Gates to the Heart 194 The ears and tongue 194 The eyes 195 The hands and legs 196 The stomach 197 The sexual organs 197 Blessed Is the Baby''s Soul, a Soul without Sin 198 The Soul''s Journey: From Pre-Birth to the Hereafter 199 Pre-worldly existence 199 Earthly life 199 The grave 200 The Day of Judgment 200 The final abode 201 The Muslim Self: A State of Being 201 The Kafir: A Faithless Self 202 Chapter 14: Achieving Koranic Ethics and Morality 203 Discovering Ethical Principles in the Koran 203 Preserving religion 203 Preserving life 204 Preserving lineage 205 Preserving property 206 Preserving honor 206 Leading the Life of Good Virtue and Character 207 Discouraged behaviors 207 Encouraged behaviors 210 Purifying the Heart 212 Remembering the Divine: Dhikr 212 Following God''s laws 213 Keeping company with pious people 214 Controlling passion and struggling for good 214 Chapter 15: Raising a Family the Koranic Way 215 Healthy Family Equals Healthy Society 215 Looking for a Spouse: Let the Search Begin 216 Looking beyond the surface 216 Making sure the marriage is legal 217 Giving equal time: Polygamy for men 218 Celebrating Marriage as the Basis of Family 219 Practically speaking: Basic functions within a marriage 220 Intimacy: Both spiritual and physical 222 Preserving modesty through Scriptural teaching 223 Bringing Up Children 224 Treating parents well: The best act of piety 225 Raising children with wisdom 226 Parental responsibilities to their children 227 A Matter of Inheritance: Who Gets What 228 Tackling Divorce in the Koran 229 Part V: Relating the Koran to the World 231 Chapter 16: Connecting the Koran to Society 233 Divining a Community of the Middle P.