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CJ Werleman's book on Islam...
NOTE: Posted in the Atheists-Agnostics Group, a safe haven etc. etc. If you're looking for the long thread on Werleman's new book, it's in Another Forum. But most members of that Forum seem to read here too. (Cue "James Bond Theme..."
Along with Xian-bashing books like "Jesus Lied" and "God Hates You, Hate Him Back," in 2011 C.J. Werleman published "Koran Curious: A Guide for Infidels and Believers."
Werleman only used one translation of the Koran to write his book, and it was a doozy: Qur'an: the Final Testament, published by Islamic Productions, Tucson, Arizona, 1989.
Your BS Meters may already be pegging on the fact that this "Final Testament" of the Koran originated in Arizona.
That translation was done by Rashad Khalifa. Which is sort like referencing a translation of the Bible done by David Koresh or Rev. Jim Jones. Khalifa was an Egyptian biochemist who emigrated to the US and came up with some...interesting ideas about Islam:
Khalifa said that he was a messenger of God and that the archangel Gabriel "most assertively" told him that chapter 36, verse 3, of the Quran, "specifically" referred to him. His followers refer to him as God's Messenger of the Covenant. He promoted a strict monotheism and was a prominent Quranist, rejecting the hadith and sunnah as fabrications attributed to Muhammad by later scholars.
Islamic religious authorities were not impressed. They declared Khalifa a heretic and ruled his "authorized" translation of the Koran invalid. Since it was only authorized by himself in the first damn place.
Khalifa was also a numerology nut who fed the Quran into a computer back in 1968. And as we all know, if you already have a desired answer in your head, you can probably torture numbers into "proving" it if you work hard enough:
He wrote that the Quran contains a mathematical structure based on the number 19 and made the controversial claim that the last two verses of chapter nine in the Quran were not canonical, telling his followers to reject them.
Khalifa was murdered by one of his own followers in 1990.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashad_Khalifa
The Amazon entry on the book with great Comments, from which I stole most of the info above:
http://www.amazon.com/Koran-Curious-guide-infidels-believers/dp/0956427669/ref=pd_sim_14_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=14MEPAK56QK4JS98Q1TQ&dpID=61p7UchR5aL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR104%2C160_
7 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
The pope thinks lgbt people are disordered and that women should be forced to give birth and they have the nerve to call atheists who criticize him intolerant?
If you want the whitewashed, pablum approach to Islam, Quran, and Muhammad, I'd suggest Karen Armstrong - at least she has some scholarly background in religious studies and religious history. Unfortunately (Werleman's) book reads like Karen Armstrong lite, only badly lacking in scholarship. For those interested in a more mature and reasoned approach on understanding the Quran at a basic level, I would recommend: "How to Read the Qur'an: A New Guide, with Select Translations."
From Amazon commenter DEWDDS, who identifies as an atheist, skeptic and freethinker. But obviously one with much knowledge about the Koran, since he repeatedly clobbers Werleman's errors and omissions in "Koran Curious." (I already posted the Amazon link above.)
Speaking of omissions - several commenters mentioned that Werleman was much more sarcastic and critical in his books about Xianity and Judaism. But this one on Islam was written in a more...cautious tone, with a lot less snark. Wonder why that could be?