Gone : The Qur'an: A Biography by Bruce Lawrence

Thursday, April 12, 2007

The Qur'an: A Biography by Bruce Lawrence

I just finished listening to Bruce Lawrence's The Qur'an: A Biography, one of Atlantic Monthly Press's Books that Changed the World series.

Lawrence, an Islamicist and comparativist at Duke University's Religion department, explores how the Muslim holy book has been variously interpreted throughout its 1,400-year history.

I recommend this book because I think it drives home an important point - that the current jihadist interpretation of Islam is only one of many, many interpretations of the teachings of Islam.

You can find the audio version of the book here - or the printed version at the Amazon link above.

About me

In fall 2007, I started working for the Kabul Center for Strategic Studies, a think tank founded by Afghans based in Kabul, Afghanistan, to build Afghan policy research expertise.

In 2006 Palgrave published a book I cowrote, "Jihad and International Security," with Jalil Roshandel.

Now I'm watching what I see to be the last gasp of a nonviable movement: militant, insurgent jihadism. This movement has killed many more Muslims than polytheists, infidels, or non-Muslims. It has also done more to damage the image of Islam than any other force in 1400 years of Islamic history.

"Prior to 9/11, who in the modern West ever worried about Islam? The jihadists have succeeded in casting suspicion on an entire religion, a substantial percentage of the world’s population, and centuries of Islamic history, in addition to all the widows and orphans they have created.

"It is unfortunate that Muslims who don’t terrorize people can’t command headlines. But that’s the way the media operates, if it bleeds it leads."

Me, Sharon Chadha, in an interview by Pooja at Instablogs.