J
Juvenal
Guest
Two out of three ain’t bad. The interpretations are called tafsir. The ahadith are mostly random tales with no relation to the Qur’an.
The Qur’an itself is a relatively brief read, but because it’s a sayings collection, it’s hard to follow along, like the gospel of Thomas. It was assembled well after the fact from memory and scraps scratched onto cow shoulder blades and similar surfaces. It was a preliterate society without ready access to papyrus, or editors.
There was some effort to sort the collection by topic, but by the nature of the composition, one ayah spoken years later often precedes another it was never intended to complement.
The largest theological division is between the sayings from Mecca and the sayings from Medinah, when Muhammad was outside or inside the power structure. Where the sayings conflict, precedence goes to the later, Medinan ayah by their theory of abrogation.
There’s honestly no reason anyone should avoid the Qur’an, but I’ve found the ahadith are much more informative. Use a search tool. Iqra!
And yes, you need to learn a bit of Arabic, too. Not much, a couple dozen words will do for the most part.
But if you’re going to read them with a muslim, keep in mind that the Qur’an is considered the principle miracle of Islam, comparable to the resurrection for Christians. Treat the book like you’d treat the host if you want to avoid offense. That means wash your hands, and don’t be perusing it while eating a sandwich, (at least while they’re watching).
Keep in mind that individual muslims don’t use their sacred texts to make their own religious rulings. Those come from imams following formal study in one of a half dozen recognized schools of fiqh, some of which are in a great deal of religious tension.
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