The Quran from the perspective of a non-Muslim

[hodman]

Some one forwarded this to me and I wanted to share it

 

 

Robin Peters is a 44 year old lady who read the Quran and then she

commented on what she read .. so let's see what she said..

The Koran is the Bible of Islam. Revealed to the world by Muhammad

approximately 1,400 years ago, it is regarded by Muslims, universally, as

the word of God to Muhammad and from him to all Islam. No devout Muslim

disputes this; in this respect, there is more agreement among Muslims

about the divine origin of the Koran (seen as having been literally

dictated to Muhammad by the mouth of Allah Himself) than there is about

the origins of the Bible among Christians.

 

Even those of us forced to rely on translations of the Koran (considered

interpretations of same because only the Arabic Koran is the literal Word

of God) can see the literary value of this work. There is tremendous

spiritual and psychological value in reading this book, as well, for

Muslim and non-Muslim alike.

 

For me, the psychological value of this book comes in its emphasis on

right and wrong belief and standing up for what you believe in, even if it

costs you dearly in terms of human relationships. Certainly, no one has

accused Muslims of being wishy-washy about their faith! In fact, the

differences in the various branches of Islam come from the ways in which

they practice their faith. A Sunni Muslim will differ from a Shi'ite or

Twelver Muslim in the way in which they practice their faith, but they

will not disagree about the divine origin of the Koran or the fact that

there are correct and incorrect beliefs. I think that Catholics and

Protestants can learn an important lesson from Muslims in this regard; we

have become so concerned with whether or not the Bible is inspired or

dictated directly from the mouth of the Lord, or whether certain beliefs

are correct or incorrect, or whether certain actions or practices are

moral or immoral, that we are no longer truly Christian or loving of one

another.

 

The Koran basically mandates certain behavior from the rank-and-file

believer. In this respect, Islam is less a religion than a way of life and

pattern of behavior with Allah (God) at its very center. By way of

contrast, Christians leave Christianity at the door of church on Sunday,

still practicing that civil religion so popular during the 1950s and so

offensive to those of us who take the Bible and Christ seriously. Muslims

are expected to pray five times daily; Christians who pray once daily are

seen as "out of the loop" and are thus discouraged from contacting God

regularly unless it's to be polite during a worship service. Muslims fast

at least one month a year; Christians generally ignore the need to undergo

cycles of feasting and fasting, unless they belong to a denomination which

takes Lent seriously. Muslims consider charitable donations a tax of

sorts, due and payable once a year during the feast of Eid, one of the

five pillars of the faith without which one is not a Muslim; Christians

generally donate to charity with such highhandedness and snobbery that

they might as well not donate one penny.

 

I would strongly recommend that people of all religious persuasions read

the Koran, if only to learn more about what Islam really is all about.