Understanding the Qur'an

This week, Channel Four screened a two-hour programme on the Islamic holy book the Qur'an. This was television at its best: a thoughtful, informed and balanced examination of an important and controversial subject with global implications. The programme showed how the Shi'ite version of Islam as practised in Iran and the Whabbism version of the Sunni stream of Islam as practised in Saudi Arabia are unrepresentative of mainstream Islam. Also it demonstrated how the most controversial beliefs associated with Islam - such as suicide killings and female genital mutilation - are either based on a misreading of the Qur'an (the former) or have no justification from the Qur'an (the latter). Of course, it is not surprising that the Qur'an is subject to so much interpretation and misunderstanding. It is claimed to be the direct word of... [read full story]