The Qur'an What Everyone Needs to Know® What Everyone Needs to Know® Series

Millions of non-Muslims know the name of the Muslim scripture, whether it is written as "Qur'an" or "Quran" or "Koran." But for most, that is all they know. Many have fallen victim to the mass of misinformation that circulates about the Qur'an. Others may have tried to read the Qur'an, but the text itself is tough to decipher. With no sense of context, chronology, or interpretive history, many would-be readers of the Qur'an quickly give up the effort. As for those trying to find out what the Qur'an says about any particular subject or issue, they, too, soon discover that this is not a simple or straightforward undertaking. A clear, concise introduction to the holy book that guides the lives of 1.6 billion people on our planet, this brief volume opens the world of the Qur'an to interested readers who want to know where this scripture came from and how it has achieved a profound influence in today's world. Writing in an easy-to-read question-and-answer format, Jane McAuliffe, one of the world's foremost scholars of the Qur'an, introduces readers to this important text by discussing its origins, structure, themes, interpretations, and what it has to say about a host of critical contemporary issues. Where did the Qur'an come from? Do Muslims believe that the Qur'an is God's own word? How do Muslims study the Qur'an? What does the Qur'an say about God? About family? About ethics? About violence? By answering the questions that many people have about the Qur'an and its role in Muslim faith, this book offers an invaluable resource for anyone who is curious about one of the world's most important faiths.

Jane McAuliffe is a senior research fellow at the Berkley Center of Georgetown University. Her previous positions include inaugural director of National and International Outreach at the Library of Congress and director of its John W. Kluge Center, president of Bryn Mawr College, and dean of arts and sciences at Georgetown University. McAuliffe has also taught at Emory University and the University of Toronto. She is general editor of the six-volume Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an, the first major reference work for the Qur'an in Western languages. Among other publications are: the Norton Critical Edition of the Qur'an, the Norton Anthology of World Religions: Islam , The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an , With Reverence for the Word , 'Abbasid Authority Affirmed: The Early Years of al-Mansur, and Qur'anic Christians: An Analysis of Classical and Modern Exegesis. She is past president of the American Academy of Religion and a member of the American Philosophical Society, the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants.