Understanding the Koran by Mateen Elass

Understanding the Koran: A Quick Christian Guide to the Muslim Holy Book by Mateen Elass
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pluses and minuses here. This book is a short guide to the Koran/ Quran for people trying to get an overview. I read it at the same time as I read the Koran itself. This is probably most helpful for Christians. The author was raised Islamic and converted to Christianity so he's mostly respectful towards Islam.

I found the author to be biased at times though because of his strong Christian affiliation. Rather than cite historical or academic arguments, the author typically relied on Christian evidence, so I didn't think it was a good book if you're trying to understand the greater history. Still, it was a concise overview of the actual book of the Koran, some Islamic religious beliefs, with some cultural context from a reliable ex-practitioner.

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