The Qur'an A Biography by Bruce Lawrence

An enlightening and accessible introduction to the world's most misunderstood religion.

We have sent it down with truth, and with truth has it come down, And We have not sent you (Muhammad) except as a herd and a warner.' From 'The Qur'an'

Few books in history are as poorly understood as the Qur'an. Sent down in a series of revelations to the Prophet Muhammad, it is the unmediated word of Allah. The book is revered by Muslims throughout the world, in whom it inspires unparalleled levels of devotion, passion, fear and, sometimes, incomprehension.

In this short book, the distinguished scholar Bruce Lawrence shows precisely why the Qur'an is Islam. He describes the origins of the faith in seventh-century Arabia and explains why the Qur'an needs to be both memorised and recited by its followers. Lawrence also discusses the book's many doubters and commentators from the English monk Robert of Ketton to the poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal and assesses its influence in societies and politics today. Above all, Lawrence emphasizes that the Qur'an is a sacred book of signs that has no single message. It is a book that demands interpretation and can only be properly understood through its history.

In these increasingly troubled times, 'The Qur'an: A Biography' is a beautifully written and authoritative account of one of the world's most famous, and most misunderstood, books.