The Critical Qur'an: Explained from Key Islamic Commentaries and Contemporary Historical Research

This is by far the best Quran I’ve read. The use of the Tafsir literature is a valuable asset to understand how the best scholars understand the text. Moreover, the updated Pickthall translation and Spencer’s commitment to give what the actual text says instead of a translation that is intentionally misleading to protect people from what Islamic theology teaches is refreshing. If you’re one who seeks truth instead of the status quo of the standard Islamic narrative then this Quran translation is for you.

I purchased this book because trying to read and understand what is written in the Qur'an, by itself, is difficult. In the Qur'an there is no context. It's like one one-liner Sura after another. I've heard it said that it is difficult to understand the Qur'an without first knowing the life of Muhammad (which takes reading the Sira and Hadiths first!Buying this book, which includes contemporary historical research, does that for me.I highly recommend this book!

Finally, we have an English translation of the Quran that examines the text from a critical point of view. Robert Spencer has done a great service to those of us who like to study world religions from a critical perspective.PROS:The text of the Quran is accompanied by foot notes that provide information of how the text was understood by early Muslims, by using the earliest Islamic commentaries as well as pointing out textual variants from among the different early versions of the Quran, along with historical and source criticism. Robert Spencer clarifies the text of the Quran by examining it in light of Pre-Islamic Jewish and Christian texts (often heretical) and how their ideas find their way into the theology of the Quran. Also, contemporary critical historical research is used to further furnish the solid scholarship that went into producing the Critical Quran.CONS:It would have been better if Robert Spencer had chosen to use Arthur John Arberry's translation, but he decided to use Pickthall's English translation of the Quran. Despite, its popularity, there are certain passages that are not translated correctly. For example, Surah 9:30-31"(30) And the Jews say, Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians say, The Messiah is the son of Allah. That is their saying with their mouths. They imitate the statements of those who disbelieved before. May Allah curse them. How perverse they are. (31) They have taken as lords besides Allah their rabbis and their monks and the Messiah, the son of Mary, when they were called to worship only one God. There is no God except him. May he be glorified from all that they ascribe as partners."Arberry in his "The Koran Interpreted" has accurately translated this passage as follows:"(30) The Jews say, 'Ezra is the Son of God'; the Christians say, 'The Messiah is the Son of God'. That is the utterance of their mouths, conforming with the unbelievers before them. God assail them! How they are perverted! (31) They have taken their rabbis and their monks as lords apart from God, and the Messiah, Mary's son - and they were commanded to serve but One God; there is no god but He; glory be to Him, above that they associate."Arberry's translation is closer to the original Arabic, where both Jews, and Christians are denounced; The Jews for taking their Rabbis as lords apart from Allah, and the Christians for taking their Monks as lords apart Allah and the Messiah. Pickthall's translation changes the meaning of verse 31 to include Jesus with the Monks as part of the unbelief of Christians, when the Quran is actually reprimanding Christians for taking the Monks as lords along Allah and Jesus. In other words, only Allah and Jesus deserve worship, and the Rabbis and Monks should not be made equal to them.SUGGESTION:I do have a suggestion for improvement, perhaps for a 2nd expanded edition of The Critical Quran. It would be great if it included a comprehensive collection of Muslim and non-Muslim testimonies that talk about how portions of the Quran are missing.The Critical Quran is a relatively small book in size, but it is a giant leap for the serious study of the Quran.

The Critical Qur'an was originally in the Amazon category "Quran".At the time it was removed from this category by Amazon, it was #1.I expected the Critical Quran to be critical of Islam, since the author is very familiar with the problems of Islam: its founder, his and his companions' deeds and sayings, and its history.However, the annotations seem to be taken primarily from Islamic scholars, and the comments I have encountered thus far are extremely fair.[UPDATE: unfortunately, while the commentary is a great improvement over existing translations, it still repeats some false renderings of the text from preceding dishonest translations. Example: 2.27 where it says, “… he has brought it (Quran) down…, confirming what came before it (Torah and the Gospels)” actually says, “…confirming what *is in his hands* (Torah and the Gospels)”, as it proves that the author of the Quran accepted the authenticity of the Torah and the Gospels at the time of the assumed revelation to Muhammad. This destroys the assertion of Muslims that the books of the Jews and Christians have been corrupted, we have manuscripts dating before the 7th century A.D. Note that this false translation and others similar to it are carried forward even into dictionaries. You will find the truth only by getting dictionary translations of individual words and idioms—pasting Quran text into a translator will usually reproduce the false translations (to avoid the embarrassing truth)].If any English translation of the Qur'an having annotations should be included in the category "Quran", this one should be, as well.That said, if you do not like annotations in the text, you will not be happy with this translation.If you want to understand the Quran as Islamic scholars understand it, yet with a perspective of those having knowledge of the actual contents of the Old and New Testaments and the history of the Abrahamic faiths, you will benefit more from this translation than any other.If I change my opinion after reading more, I will update this entry.

Despite its bulk, everything about this volume renders it readily understandable even to people with the most basic knowledge of the Middle East or the Medieval era. It does not shy away from showing a scatterbrained and somewhat paranoid text for what it is.