This volume rejects the notion that Islam's sacred text is error free and cannot be critically evaluated. The study of the Koran must develop and mature. Scholars of Islam are of course familiar with the book's many errors and contradictions, but these inherent flaws have rarely been revealed to a wider public. This book is an attempt to remedy this deficiency by bringing together classic critical essays which raise key issues surrounding Islam's holy book.
Divided into four parts, this important anthology begins with Theodor NOldeke's first truly scientific study of the Koran. Part Two...

More than one hundred years ago Western scholars began to investigate the origins of Islam, using the highest standards of objective historical scholarship of the time. Their aim was to determine what could be known about Muhammad and the rise of early Islam quite apart from the pious and totally unobjective traditions preserved by the Muslim religious community. In some ways this research was inspired by a similar investigation of Christianity made famous by Albert Schweitzer's Quest of the Historical Jesus. Today although much has been learned about early Christianity, little comparable...

In the West abandoning one's religion (apostasy) can be a difficult, emotional decision, which sometimes has social repercussions. However, in culturally diverse societies where there is a mixture of ethnic groups and various philosophies of life, most people look upon such shifts in intellectual allegiance as a matter of personal choice and individual right. By contrast, in Islam apostasy is still viewed as an almost unthinkable act, and in orthodox circles it is considered a crime punishable by death. Renowned scholar of Islamic Studies Bernard Lewis described the seriousness of leaving the...

In this unique compilation, Bostom examines Muslim theological and juridical texts, along with essays by preeminent scholars, to analyze jihad war and the ruling conditions imposed upon the non-Muslim peoples conquered by jihad campaigns.

Compiles and explains the significance of the thirty-two Koranic variants found in Korans available in the Islamic world.

For anyone with an interest in the early history of Islam, this erudite anthology will prove to be informative and enlightening. Scholars have long known that the text of the Koran shows evidence of many influences from religious sources outside Islam. For example, stories in the Koran about Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other characters from the Bible obviously come from the Jewish Torah and the Christian Gospels. But there is also evidence of borrowing in the Koran from more obscure literature. In this anthology, the acclaimed critic of Islam Ibn Warraq has assembled scholarly articles that...