Chapter 4 looks at the way in which the Qur’an develops the concept of paradise: who will be admitted, and what their reward will be. Chapter 3 offers a thorough overview of the term and qur’anic definition of jih ād. Chapter 2 concentrates on the qur’anic presentation of jizya, or the tax issued for non-Muslim monotheistic communities (i.e., Jews and Christians) living under Islamic authority. Chapter 1 focuses on the so called “sword verse” (Q 9:5) used by extremists to justify violent action.

Haleem’s analysis of the Qur’an in this book is divided into three sections: Part I: Teachings, covers some of the more polemical issues in the Qur’an Part II: Style, focuses on the qur’anic method of storytelling which stretches beyond an individual sura, or chapter and Part III: Impact, looks at the effect of the Qur’an inside the Muslim world and also the significance of English translations. According to Haleem, the underlying issues in both approaches is that they focus on individual qur’anic verses or sections, without contextualizing these isolated textual units. Haleem is critiquing the atomistic method of traditional Western qur’anic scholarship and the provocations for violence found in fundamentalist readings of the Qur’an. This book is largely a reaction against the approaches of two seemingly distinct groups.

The most recent work from Muhammad Abdel Haleem, Exploring the Qur’an: Context and Impact, advocates the importance of familiarity with Arabic and placing each verse in the broader framework of the Islamic sacred text.

Abdel haleem quran online