The Quran from the perspective of a non-Muslim

Robin Peters is a 44 years old lady who read the Quran and then she liked to
comment on what she've read .. so let's see what did she say ..

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The Koran is the Bible of Islam. Revealed to the world by Muhammad approximately
1,400 years ago, it is regarded by Muslims, universally, as the word of God to
Muhammad and from him to all Islam. No devout Muslim disputes this; in this respect,
there is more agreement among Muslims about the divine origin of the Koran (seen
as having been literally dictated to Muhammad by the mouth of Allah Himself) than
there is about the origins of the Bible among Christians.

Even those of us forced to rely on translations of the Koran (considered

interpretations of same because only the Arabic Koran is the literal Word of God) can
see the literary value of this work. There is tremendous spiritual and psychological
value in reading this book, as well, for Muslim and non-Muslim alike.

For me, the psychological value of this book comes in its emphasis on right and
wrong belief and standing up for what you believe in, even if it costs you dearly in
terms of human relationships. Certainly, no one has accused Muslims of being wishy-
washy about their faith! In fact, the differences in the various branches of Islam come
from the ways in which they practice their faith. A Sunni Muslim will differ from a
Shi'ite or Twelver Muslim in the way in which they practice their faith, but they will
not disagree about the divine origin of the Koran or the fact that there are correct and
incorrect beliefs. I think that Catholics and Protestants can learn an important lesson
from Muslims in this regard; we have become so concerned with whether or not the
Bible is inspired or dictated directly from the mouth of the Lord, or whether certain
beliefs are correct or incorrect, or whether certain actions or practices are moral or
immoral, that we are no longer truly Christian or loving of one another.

The Koran basically mandates certain behavior from the rank-and-file believer. In this
respect, Islam is less a religion than a way of life and pattern of behavior with Allah
(God) at its very center. By way of contrast, Christians leave Christianity at the door
of church on Sunday, still practicing that civil religion so popular during the 1950s
and so offensive to those of us who take the Bible and Christ seriously. Muslims are
expected to pray five times daily; Christians who pray once daily are seen as "out of
the loop" and are thus discouraged from contacting God regularly unless it's to be
polite during a worship service. Muslims fast at least one month a year; Christians
generally ignore the need to undergo cycles of feasting and fasting, unless they
belong to a denomination which takes Lent seriously. Muslims consider charitable
donations a tax of sorts, due and payable once a year during the feast of Eid, one of
the five pillars of the faith without which one is not a Muslim; Christians generally
donate to charity with such highhandedness and snobbery that they might as well
not donate one penny.

I would strongly recommend that people of all religious persuasions read the Koran, if
only to learn more about what Islam really is all about.