Thoughts Upon Reading the Qur’an

The behavior of Islamic countries is the driving forcing behind American foreign policy these days. When I was a youngster, it was the Soviet Union. These days, it is the Shia crescent in the Middle East.
As a candidate for national office, I thought it wise to read the Qur’an and become at least a wee bit familiar with Islam. It is an activity that I recommend to others. The view of Islam from the Qur’an is rather different from how it is practiced by radicals or viewed by the West.

A Jarring Disconnect
My reaction upon reading the last page and closing the back cover was nearly identical to my reading of the Bible. What I read in the religious tome had nothing to do with the behavior of churches/mosques of each religion. There was a jarring disconnect from the tome to religious practice.
A forest of interpretive works has grown around each book. Modern day adherents of these 2 religions, more often than not, will base their behavior on the interpretive essay rather than the tome itself.
For Christianity: rigid dogma was not a characteristic of the churches built by Jesus, the Disciples, and Paul.
For Islam: nowhere does it advocate beating women, killing people who create unflattering images of Mohammed, or committing suicide and taking as many nonbelievers with as you can.

Taken Out of Context: Is Islam a Militaristic Religion?
Many smart people, some of whom really should know better, will make this charge. They say that to be a Muslim means that you are automatically at war with Christianity or Judaism. They can, but usually do not, quote something from the Qur’an to prove their point. This may be so, but such attitude does not come from the religious book itself.
They are probably referring to Surah’s 8 and 9, and the latter part of 4. This, however, is taking the Qur’an out of context. These Surahs refer to a strict Muslim code of behavior when part of an Islamic army that is on the battlefield; as such, it represents a more moral code of behavior than was typical of Christian armies of the period.
It is not a template for everyday life. Nevertheless, some will regard it as such.
Likewise for the New Testament: nowhere does it mention homosexuality or black slavery, but there are those who will make it so by quoting from the Bible out of context.

Does the Qur’an Advocate Terrorism?
Not that I can see. Nowhere is suicide condoned, nor is the killing of innocents, even if they are nonbelievers. In fact, at several points, it is made clear that Allah (relax: ‘Allah’ is merely the Arabic word for ‘God’) will punish the nonbelievers on the Day of Resurrection, not the rank and file Muslims.

On this point, see:
3:180
6:137
18:104-106
22:17, 55-57
31:23
39:68-72

Mohammed is only a warner, and therefore not an enforcer. See:
35:23
38:65, 70
42:48
48:8
79:45

Do yourself and your religion (whatever it is) a favor: once you have read these verses, take a deep breath, lean back a little, and read the entire Surah so you can understand the phrase in context.
Of course, the truth has never stopped radicals or extremists, and this applies to religion. This has been true throughout history.

Bibliography
I am fully aware of the dogma that reading the Qur’an in a language other than Arabic is invalid. Anyone who has struggled with variously inaccurate and slanted English Translations of the New Testament will understand the wisdom of this precept. However, since I do not read Hebrew, Koine Greek, or Arabic, I am stuck with English translations of same.
Changing the shade of meaning here and there in key passages can dramatically alter one’s perception of the tome. I read it twice:

**The Meanings of the Illustrious Qur’an, Abdullah Yusuf Ali (trans.), Adam Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi, 2006, ISBN 81-7435-153-1.

**The Glorious Qur’an, various (trans.), Asir Media, Why Islam Project, Istanbul, 2009 (tenth edition), (no ISBN).

What Is Islam?
I have no idea. Anyone who pretends to answer this question without having been involved in a Muslim community for an extended period of time is talking through his hat.
However, to get a flavor of the Qur’an, start out by reading the following Surahs:
35-36
39-42
I should note that if you read these Surahs and substitute ‘YHVH’ for ‘Allah’, you could easily be reading something from the Torah.

An Islamic Reformation?
The parallels between Christianity and Islam are too close to ignore. Islam, schematically, is at the same point that Christianity was at just before Martin Luther and the Reformation: rigid and intolerant.
The only reason Christianity is so dominant in today’s world was because of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation: it brought religion from an elitist institution down to the level of the individual. Islam appears to be similarly ripe for a revolution in religious thinking