Tag: sacred text
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Close Reading in the Qur’an
Notes on Chapter 2 (“Close Readings, Old and New”) of Michael Birkel, ed. Qur’an in Conversation (Waco, TX: Baylor UP, 2014) 33-35.] Mohammad Hassan Khalil unpacks the meaning of the opening line of the Qur’an, the bismillah, rendered into English in various ways, such as “In the name of God, the all-compassionate, the all-merciful.” He…
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Hidden Knowledge in the Qur’an
Chapter 1 of Qur’an in Conversation (Michael Birkel, ed.) focuses on the theme of “hidden knowledge” or “hidden meaning” in three significant texts: al-Fatihah (the Opening, sura one, which is recited as part of all five of the daily prayers, so it’s at least as familiar in a Muslim context as the Lord’s Prayer is…
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More than one way to read the Qur’an
The purpose of the book is to demonstrate various ways North American Muslim scholars read and interpret the Qur’an. The prevailing image of Muslims in the media tends to be one of exotic but backward people from far away. Islam is portrayed as oppressive of women, intolerant of other faiths, zealous to impose a tyrannical…
Matters of Interpretation 