naddie_reads's review
5.0
I remember reading an article a few years back on the beauty of the composition for Ayatul Kursi, which sparked my appreciation of the linguistics of the Quran. Most Muslims are aware that the Quran is THE Holy book for us, as it has been sent down from God as a guidance for practicing Muslims. Sadly, non-native speakers of the Arabic language may not be able to fully appreciate the meaning behind the Quran due to language barriers, and so we are unable to comprehend just how miraculous and meticulously planned the Quran truly is.
I found this particular book while I was raiding my dad's library, and as Nouman Ali Khan's Bayyinah Institute requires no introduction for those who are familiar with his videos on the beauty of the Quran, I was doubly excited to read this study of the Quranic linguistics.
"Divine Speech" offers a comprehensive look into the meaning and nuances behind the classical Arabic language that is used throughout the Quran, where the authors focused on the subject matter holistically instead of going into the details of every surat and ayat. This approach ensures that we understand that while the Quran doesn't follow a "logical" order in terms of surat placements or length as well as in terms of chronological order of events, there is a reason why the Quran has been compiled the way that it was.
While this book can sometimes go into a lot of linguistic detail, the authors did a good job of making this subject matter accessible to non-scholars. I especially loved the insightful and detailed analysis of Surat al-Fatiha, which made me appreciate the surat even more when we understand why it's written the way it was. Yes, some of the chapters may be a bit too technical (and somewhat dry), but if one persists in reading this to the very end, there are a lot of insights to be gained from this book. I found this to be a highly valuable study that gives "casual" readers so much more context into many of the surat and ayat that would in turn make us appreciate the different nuances of the beautiful al-Quran.
I’m not a trained scholar and so I'm unable to comment on the veracity of the content; I leave that to the experts who have studied the Quran extensively. I do think this is worth reading if you are interested in the linguistics aspect of the Quran. Wallahualam.
I found this particular book while I was raiding my dad's library, and as Nouman Ali Khan's Bayyinah Institute requires no introduction for those who are familiar with his videos on the beauty of the Quran, I was doubly excited to read this study of the Quranic linguistics.
"Divine Speech" offers a comprehensive look into the meaning and nuances behind the classical Arabic language that is used throughout the Quran, where the authors focused on the subject matter holistically instead of going into the details of every surat and ayat. This approach ensures that we understand that while the Quran doesn't follow a "logical" order in terms of surat placements or length as well as in terms of chronological order of events, there is a reason why the Quran has been compiled the way that it was.
While this book can sometimes go into a lot of linguistic detail, the authors did a good job of making this subject matter accessible to non-scholars. I especially loved the insightful and detailed analysis of Surat al-Fatiha, which made me appreciate the surat even more when we understand why it's written the way it was. Yes, some of the chapters may be a bit too technical (and somewhat dry), but if one persists in reading this to the very end, there are a lot of insights to be gained from this book. I found this to be a highly valuable study that gives "casual" readers so much more context into many of the surat and ayat that would in turn make us appreciate the different nuances of the beautiful al-Quran.
I’m not a trained scholar and so I'm unable to comment on the veracity of the content; I leave that to the experts who have studied the Quran extensively. I do think this is worth reading if you are interested in the linguistics aspect of the Quran. Wallahualam.
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