I didn’t set out to read the Qur’an and finish it on the Eid al’Fitr, but I did. It feels fitting, but I want to be clear that I didn’t undertake this as a Ramadan observance. That is not my tradition and I wouldn’t want to cheapen a month that means so much to so many. An unexpected trip and some extra time made it go by much quicker, but I’m left wondering about that. The Qur’an is an odd book. It was written down from memory. It as originally orally recited. And it shows. I don’t think reading it while listening to Arabic recitations would add much, though those recitations can be beautiful. I imagine learning Arabic would deepen the experience as well. I feel like I got a good sense of the contents and scope of it, though.

Some would say I didn’t really read the Qur’an — that it can only be truly read in Arabic. That is a bizarre thing to claim if you want to share your religion. I get it: God gave it to Muhammad in Arabic, therefore it should remain in Arabic. That’s fine and I respect that. But I guess I didn’t read the Qur’an? So what am I commenting on? Arabic is not so far removed of a language that it cannot be translated. Surely I got the essence of what the book contains in reading it in English.

I’m glad I read it. This is a book that has guided civilizations far and wide. It represents one of the fastest growing world religions. It’s a religion that is misunderstood as well. I find I still don’t quite understand a lot of it. But what’s important is that this book causes people to feel wonder and awe. It brings comfort and wisdom. It surely challenges its believers, but it also pushes them to grow.

The stories in the Qur’an — many of them shared with other Abrahamic faiths — have impacted the world in ways many of us can’t enumerate. But the impact is there. I’ve been cautious with the Qur’an because it’s a book outside of my own tradition and practice, but…it’s also a religion that would welcome me should I want to convert. Perhaps I shouldn’t be careful. Perhaps it’s important to wrestle, just as I wrestled with the Bible, and discern what is good and true versus what I could do without. Part of that caution has to do with how the Qur’an is revered. I don’t want to disrespect it, but I also think it requires a human being to bring their entire heart and mind to the reading and experiencing of the text. Because we humans are, well, humans — that means we’ll have joy, anger, ups, downs, agreements, and disagreements with it. Sometimes I feel like that element is encouraged to be left out.

Anyway, here’s three gifts I got from reading it and three things I could do without. Happy Eid al’Fitr! I look forward to learning more about this sacred text and returning to it again and again.

Three Unexpected Gifts From Reading the Qur’an
1. A good portion of my education in Sufism now makes more sense. Sufism is often fetishized in the West as something Islam-adjacent and somewhat New Age — but it is firmly rooted in Islam. The devotion to God evident in the texts of Rumi or Iqbal is right there in the Qur’an.

2. I knew the parallels between the Biblical stories and the Qur’an were there, I just had never read them. The stories are markedly different — often abridgments that leave out a lot of details, but they’re there. If you like Jonah, Moses, Lot, Mary, Jesus, or Abraham, you’ll like their repeated mentions in the Qur’an.

3. There’s something to be said about the sense of ultimacy in the Qur’an. Having an understanding of God that is so expansive and firmly rooted in EVERYTHING goes a long way of focusing ones attention. This isn’t a casual god or a deistic god or even a god that is merely a symbol for mystery. No, this is a god that is intimately involved in every single aspect of reality.

Three Things I Could Do Without in the Qur’an
1. The hellfire. All of the woeful torments, burning flesh, condemnations to hell, etc. It’s a lot. I read some interpretations online that always go “well, there’s almost always a verse about forgiveness accompanying the hell verses.” That’s great. I just find a God who would torment his own creation to be reprehensible. That’s just me, though. I’m a Universalist.

2. The repetition. I heard a lot about Joseph and Abraham and Moses and Noah and Lot and…repeat. I get it, the Qur’an was originally recited. But, what if the repetition was removed from the text? What would it look like then? I realize that’s heresy and I wouldn’t dare do that. What this is making me want to explore is the role of repetition in Islamic practice and how it impacts people.

3. The incomplete stories. I know many of them are in the hadith or reference Biblical stories, but…why aren’t they in here? Who were the Sabians exactly? Tell me more about them. How is the story of Noah different here? I feel like the Qur’an assumes people have knowledge of these peoples, places, and stories.

What’s Next?

I have another scared text already picked out from the list I put together, so I’ll start reading that in due time. But, I probably need a little bit of a break. The next book I’ve waned to read for a long time, so I can’t wait to dig into it. From there, I think I’ll try to read something a little more unconventional and then jump around from there. Anyway, thank you for reading.

This post is part of a larger series where I read the entire Qur’an in ~21 days. Take a look at the original post for more info, as well as links to other reflections on this journey.