Sells - Approaching the Quran: the early revelations

Table of Contents

Approaching the Quran, with its scholarly introduction, its sensitive English translation of the early Suras, its insightful commentary on them, its analytical study of the auditory and literary aspects of selected Suras, its visually pleasing illustrations from the Arabic text of the Quran, and its accompanying CD is a veritable and enriching spiritual experience for everyone seeking a meaningful exposure to the Scripture of Islam.

ISSA J. BOULLATA is professor of Arabic Literature & Languages at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University. He is editor of Literary Structures of Religious Meaning in the Quran and former editor of The Muslim World quarterly.

Approaching the Quran is a sensitive and unusually accessible first book on the Quran and its function as scripture for over one-seventh of the human race. This book opens up many facets of the special role that the Quran plays in Muslim life and thought. Dr. Sells is to be congratulated for a significant contribution to English-language materials on the Quran.

WILLIAM A. GRAHAM is professor of the History of Religion and Islamic Studies at Harvard University, and author of Divine Word, Prophetic Word in Early Islam.

Michael Sells Approaching the Quran is much more than a translation of the Quran. The work is a carefully considered introduction to a religious appreciation of the text from within a scholarly framework. By highlighting issues of the multiple levels upon which the text conveys its meaning to its readers and auditors, Sells manages to overcome the first impression that many people have of the Quran being a difficult book. The structure of Approaching the Quran, with its parallel translation and commentary, will prove valuable both for interested general readers and for students studying the text within a classroom setting.

ANDREW RIPPIN is professor of Islamic and Religious Studies, University of Calgary, associate editor of the Encyclopedia of the Quran, and editor of Approaches to the History of the Interpretation of the Quran.

Despite the rapid growth of Islam in this century, its precepts and scripture remain inaccessible to many readers. This groundbreaking work goes a very long way to bridging the gap that separates the non-Islamic reader from the Quran. Highly recommended.

Dedicated to the memory of Jeanette Wakin

Mahmoud Ayoub, Emil Homerin, Kristina Nelson, Anne Rasmussen, and Anna Margaret Gade for their expertise and counsel; Imam Zijad Delic, Imam Bilal Hyde, Amir Koushkani and Hajjah Maria Ulfa for their support of this project and the use of their recitations; Steven Zaban of Dream On Productions for his generosity in providing reasonable rates and studio types for the recording of Seemi Bushra Ghazi and Imam Zijad and for his editing of the Bilal Hyde Fatiha, Osman Samad for his recording of Bilal Hydes recitation of the Fatiha at the wedding of Omid Safi to Holly Frigon on July 31, 1999; Students, colleagues, and administration of Haverford College for their encouragement throughout the fifteen years of work on this project and for the faculty research grants that helped support it; The National Endowment for the Humanities and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation for support in the study of early Arabic literature; Ron Ditmars for his continuing commitment to the importance of the aural component of religious experience and revelation; Michael Haxby, Aida Premilovac, and Alan Smith for their readings of the manuscript and editorial suggestions; The students and faculty of Middle Eastern Studies at Columbia University, Emory University, and the University of Michigan for their hospitality and critical engagement with this material; The Middle East Studies Association and the American Academy of Religion, at the annual conferences of which material from this book was first presented; Thanks to colleagues and students at Haverford, Stanford, and the University of Chicago for their thoughtful responses to earlier drafts of the Sura of the Compassionate, and to Ryan Brizendine for his careful readings.

Special thanks to Seemi Bushra Ghazi for corrections to the manuscript, advice on recording, help in arranging recording sessions, sensitivity to the Quran, and the wisdom, generosity, and spirit she has contributed to this project.

In the prose commentaries and in the transliterations given underneath the translations, I have used the standard transliterations in which vowels that are held for a double duration are given a macron. Thus indicates a vowel that is double the length of a. This quantitative system is similar to that of classical Greek and Latin, but does not translate directly into the English rhythms based upon a stress accent. Thus, in Arabic poetry and formal measure, the womans name Layl is pronounced with quantitatively lengthened final a. However, in much informal speech and especially when used in English, the word is pronounced Lyla, with a stress accent on the ay.

It makes no sense, indeed it is counterproductive, to place indications of quantitative vowel length in translations where the verbal rhythm and measure is based upon stress. To the extent such markings would be understood, they would introduce a disruption in the English measure. Thus, throughout the translations, I have used only an acute accent to mark the stress, but have dispensed with formal transliterations. Elsewhere, I use the standard method of macrons for long vowels and dots under consonants that do not exist in English and have no clear parallel.

In areas where the rhythm is important, I use the transliterations to reflect the actual sound of the formal pronunciation, and thus, where a long vowel is elided to a short vowel when followed by certain sounds, I dispense with the macron: compare the first word inal khayri l-amal (to the best work) to the same word in ala l-fal (to prosperity).

With names that have now an accepted and widely known English equivalent, I have also dispensed with transliteration: Muhammad as opposed to Muammad.

THE FIRST EDITION OF Approaching the Quran: The Early Revelations appeared in 1999. In the summer of 2002, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill selected the book as its annual assignment for incoming students. Students were asked to read it over the summer, listen to the recitations from the audio CD included with the book, and discuss the texts and recitations after arriving in Chapel Hill for orientation. In reaction to the UNC assignment, the Virginia-based Family Policy Network recruited three students (one Jewish, one Protestant, and one Catholic) to join in a lawsuit before the U.S. District Court in Greensboro, North Carolina. The suit charged the university with infringing upon the religious free exercise of its students and violating the establishment clause of the United States Constitution by forcing incoming freshmen and transfer students to study Islam against their will.

The debate in North Carolina escalated into a national and then international furor. Reading the Quran at UNC became the summer staple of American television and radio talk shows. The issue was featured in network and cable news, on public television and radio, on AM radio stations, in local programs around the country, and in newspapers in Europe, Egypt, Iran, and Indonesia. North Carolina legislators denounced UNC and Islam, demanding legislative control of the curriculum of the university, and threatening to slash the university budget. A well-known columnist referred to