Skip to content

What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary Hardcover - 2002

by Ibn Warraq (Editor)


From the publisher

This excellent collection of critical commentaries on the Koran brings together outstanding articles by noted scholars from the beginning of the 20th century to recent times. These important studies, as well as the editor's own lengthy introduction, show that little about the text of the Koran can be taken at face value. Among the fascinating topics discussed is evidence that early Muslims did not understand Muhammad's original revelation, that the ninth-century explosion of literary activity was designed to organize and make sense of an often incoherent text, and that much of the traditions surrounding Muhammad's life were fabricated long after his death in an attempt to give meaning to the Koran. Also of interest are suggestions that Coptic and other Christian sources heavily influenced much of the text and that some passages reflect even an Essenian background reaching back to the community of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This valuable compilation will be a welcome resource to interested lay readers and scholars alike.

First line

Muslims in general have a tendency to disarm any criticisms of Islam and in particular the Koran by asking if the critic has read the Koran in the original Arabic, as though all the difficulties of their sacred text will somehow disappear once the reader has mastered the holy language and has direct experience, aural and visual, of the very words of God, to which no translation can do justice.

Details

  • Title What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary
  • Author Ibn Warraq (Editor)
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 600
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Prometheus Books, Amherst, New York, U.S.A.
  • Date October 2002
  • ISBN 9781573929455 / 157392945X
  • Weight 2.6 lbs (1.18 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.27 x 6.37 x 1.84 in (23.55 x 16.18 x 4.67 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Islam - Controversial literature
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2001048789
  • Dewey Decimal Code 297.122

Media reviews

"For the professional Islamicist, it is enormously convenient to have all these articles assembled together in a single work. For anyone interested in the Koran, it will be a boon to understanding Islam. …robustly critical scholarship…."
-Times Literary Supplement

"Like Ibn Warraq's earlier (and extraordinary) Why I Am Not a Muslim, this book offers a perspective on Islam and the Koran which demands a wider reading and a wider debate , and not just in the Christian and secular West.... [An] excellent book on a sensitive and under-explored subject."
-Fortean Times

About the author

Ibn Warraq is the highly acclaimed author of Why I Am Not a Muslim, Virgins? What Virgins?, and Defending the West. He is also the editor of The Origins of the Koran, What the Koran Really Says, Leaving Islam, The Quest for the Historical Muhammad, and Which Koran?.
Back to Top

More Copies for Sale

What the Koran Really Says : Language, Text and Commentary
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

What the Koran Really Says : Language, Text and Commentary

by Warraq, Ibn

  • Used
Condition
Used - Very Good
ISBN 13
9781573929455
ISBN 10
157392945x
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$13.75
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Prometheus Books, Publishers. Used - Very Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects.
Item Price
$13.75
FREE shipping to USA
What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text and Commentary
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text and Commentary

by Editor-Ibn Warraq

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used: Good
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9781573929455
ISBN 10
157392945X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
HOUSTON, Texas, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$16.02
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Prometheus Books, 2002-10. Hardcover. Used: Good.
Item Price
$16.02
FREE shipping to USA
What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary

by Warraq, Ibn, Ed. and Trans. by

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9781573929455
ISBN 10
157392945X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Eugene, Oregon, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$22.00
$6.00 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Prometheus Books, 2002. Hardcover with dust jacket. Ex-library. Dust jacket is slightly worn, rubbed and scuffed. 782 pages.
Item Price
$22.00
$6.00 shipping to USA
What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, & Commentary
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, & Commentary

by Warraq, Ibn, editor and translator

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
Used - Fine in Fine dust jacket
Edition
First Edition
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9781573929455
ISBN 10
157392945X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Los Angeles, California, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$29.95
$3.99 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. Fine in Fine dust jacket. 2002. First Edition. Hardcover. 157392945X . Hardcover in dust jacket. First edition, first printing. Book is As New, crisp and clean, with tight binding and sharp corners. Unclipped dust jacket is also As New, fresh and bright. 8vo. 782 pp. Including appendices. In protective Mylar. .
Item Price
$29.95
$3.99 shipping to USA
What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary

by Warraq, Ibn [Editor]

  • New
  • Hardcover
Condition
New
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 13
9781573929455
ISBN 10
157392945X
Quantity Available
1
Seller
San Diego, California, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$64.44
$5.45 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Prometheus, 2002-10-01. Hardcover. New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title!
Item Price
$64.44
$5.45 shipping to USA