How would you rate and review the Holy Quran?

I so wish I had read this book in its entirety so I could review it. Hopefully someone else has.

I’ve only read a few pages. Not enough for a review.

Frankly anything with the modifier “holy” in front of it triggers an immediate suspicion that the suspension of objective viability is to be required. This is probably why the word in front of such benign nouns as cow, smoke or mackerel transforms 2 mundane words into an exclamatory remark.

Anonymously.

The works of J.R.R. Tolkien or J.K. Rowling don’t do much for me, but they both have more than their share of fanatics. At most this affects me in the form of annoyance.

The Holy Quran?

It’s fanatics do far worse than merely annoy me.

@Yetanotheruser Unfortunately I’m afraid you won’t get answers to this question that are able to actually answer your question. Reason being is that one cannot review what they haven’t read, and most jellies will not have read it, or even read enough of it to give a review.
I’ve read it and to be honest its a powerful book, and is full of narrations just like the Bible.

” When read in Arabic it has a beautiful flow to it, as its written in a poetic manner. However to me, its just another religious text. I’m not religious at all so it doesn’t mean anything to me personally, but I can certainly understand how so many people are taken and influenced by such a text, expecially when read in Arabic. Like I said, its a powerful book, it can provoke strong emotions, and is not at all poorly written. Whoever wrote it (I obviously don’t believe it was from God) was or were good writers and knew what they were doing.
I’d rate it a 3. No full marks because I think it influences people to do bad things, but strong writing and good flow.”

I’d recommend it to anybody who likes to study different religions, interested in comparative religion, or Abrahamic religions. Someone who won’t get bored of many stories which are already included in the Bible, and can stand an egoistic character such as God.

@MilkyWay

“When read in Arabic….
“I’d rate it a 3.”

Who are you quoting?
Is that 3 out of 5?

@Brian1946 I am quoting myself. If you read what the guidelines say, it said to put quotation marks on your personal opinion. And yes, since it was a rating of 1–5 stars, I gave it 3.

Like others here, I haven’t read enough of it for a critique. But a friend of mine and former member here, ETpro, has. He is now a contributor at Quora and he gave these answers to a similar question about two years ago: He is a former seminary student of the Episcopal Church and has been an atheist now for many years.

27 Feb. 2014:
I just started reading it. The first thing I was struck by was the stridency of the statements. So far, what has been presented is not parables and poetic wisdom, but commandments laid down as absolutisms. Of course, the Bible and Torah have their share of those as well. Perhaps I just haven’t hit the poetic part yet.

26 Dec, 2014:
There’s a lot of power and beauty within. It’s not a book though in the typical sense, and there’s not a lot of straight narrative storytelling. It’s not like the Old and New Testaments in that regard. It’s more of a high level summary of what has come before in terms of prophets and messengers, what it meant, saying what is right and what should be corrected.

It’s also very useful to be familiar with the Bible, as the Quran will often drop reference to a story from the Bible and talk with the understanding that the details are familiar to the audience. If you’re not familiar, you’ll miss the references.

As for style, it has to be understood the story of the revelation of the Quran. It wasn’t dropped down at once as one book. It a was revealed, bit by bit, over 23 years, in reference to specific challenges of a growing community.

The oldest chapters, or surahs, tend to be shorter, and at the end. Those tend to be more filled with vivid imagery and general spiritual and moral ideas. These were from when the small nucleus of a community was forming.

The older ones are longer and near the front. These ones address a larger community and get more into issues of rules for the community.

I’d almost recommend a back to front reading, to relive it in the way it was initially experienced. Though both ways are good.

It’s also good to come at it without too many preconceived notions and just see how it speaks to you.

It’s also kind of cool to read a section while listening to a recording of a recital of the same section.

I read the whole of Quran many times, not in its original language but in my own language, to understand it.

It is not a book to be reviewed the way you described, because it is not about the plot or character development. It is an instructional book. Like a user manual you get when you purchase a new appliance. Without it, you may still use the appliance but you will most probably have problems in the course of the appliance’s life. Same with Quran, it is a user manual for humans. Live by it, or you will have problems in your life.

What strikes me the most about Quran is that whenever I read it again, the more of my questions are answered and the more details I learn that I had not truly understood in a previous reading. The more I read it, the more I am convinced it is sent by the Creator. As far as I can tell, there is one single question left to be answered (perhaps most important question for me, and perhaps not many people had asked before) and I am hoping to find its answer in a future reading.

I recommend it to anyone who seeks the truth, who has questions about life and creation that nothing/noone else was able to answer.

Nice: I got a GA for asking a question based on my ignorance of the details. ;-)