…a highly readable, unbiasedly comparative and elegantly insightful study of the Quran, in which [Miles] sets out to show that the three great monotheistic religions do indeed believe in the same deity—although they have "different emphases" when it comes to this God, which accounts for their divergent theologies…Miles, a Christian, is as objective, fair and gracious as one can get.

09/10/2018
Pulitzer-winner Miles (for God: A Biography) provides a generous, if critical, literary interpretation (or “theography,” as he calls it) of Allah, the god of Islam, in this engaging yet disappointing book. It is largely a comparison between the god of the Bible and Allah in the Koran, focusing on how major figures (such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Jesus, and Mary) experience God across the texts. For instance, when considering how God worked through Moses, Miles writes: “Yahweh Elohim wants to defeat the Pharaoh; Allah wants to convert him.” Such an approach plays to Miles’s strengths, allowing the book to relish the literary majesty of all three scriptures. But readers will leave the book feeling that there is much more to be said about Allah outside of the narratives that the Koran shares with the Old Testament and New Testament. Missing from this picture of Allah are many ethical and legal topics, historical events of Muhammad’s era, and exhortations to prayer and charity that dominate the text of the Koran. Although Miles’s attempt is admirable, it lacks authority and its limited appeal only extends to a non-Muslim audience. (Nov.)

Mr. Miles’s account stands alone, both in its generous openness of mind and in its scrupulous yet lively scholarship.” —Eric Ormsby, The Wall Street Journal

“A highly readable, unbiasedly comparative and elegantly insightful study of the Quran . . . Miles gets to the core of the Abrahamic matrix.” —Mustafa Akyol, The New York Times Book Review

“[Miles’s] newest book represents the crowning achievement of his life’s work.” —Jonathan Kirsch, Jewish Journal

“[A] highly engaging and resourceful book.” —Patrick Ryan, Commonweal 

“Keenly interesting, incisive . . . [An] illuminating critique.” —Booklist (starred review)
 
“Miles . . . show[s] his non-Muslim readers that, in many ways, the Islamic God that emerges will be more recognizable to them than Yahweh . . . What Miles inaugurated, the method of theography, remains a brilliant way to try to meet an inimitable protagonist.” —Anna Della Subin, Harper’s

“Miles’s unique talent for writing about religion won him a Pulitzer Prize for God: A Biography, and now the scholar has written a study of Allah . . . Miles’s book is a roadmap toward interfaith understanding.” —The National Book Review
 
“Miles is still an engrossing storyteller and a very capable teacher, with the author taking up specific moments or characters or stories and giving them a solid shaking.” —Steve Donoghue, Christian Science Monitor

“Reading this book could be a crucial step out of ignorance at a time of rising Islamophobia.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“Literary and astute . . . Good reading and an excellent tool for interfaith dialogue.” —Kirkus (starred review)

“A valuable and insightful perspective on Islam and the Qur’an.” —Library Journal

“In its stunning scope, its forensic analysis, and its lofty message, God in the Qur’an has no predecessor and no competitor among books that scan the horizon of Abrahamic scriptures. At once accessible and challenging, the Biblical/Qur'anic narratives are recounted here with clarity and conviction. The reader—whether religious or non-religious, Jewish, Christian, Muslim or atheist—is offered a new vista into divine-human encounters evoked by one of their most skilled interpreters, Jack Miles. A milestone of literary and theological scholarship.” —Bruce Bennett Lawrence, author of The Koran in English – A Biography

“Jack Miles’ God in the Qur’an is the culmination of an extraordinary three-part biography—or theograpy, as he has termed it—of the central character in the sacred scriptures of Jews, the Christians, and now the Muslims. In this book, as in the previous books in the trilogy, Miles draws upon rich theological learning that he manages to wear lightly and gracefully. He draws too upon an extraordinary literary sensibility that enables him to illuminate brilliantly those scriptural places where the three monotheisms converge and where they strikingly differ. Above all, he draws upon unfailing moral intelligence, sympathetic imagination, and human decency, qualities that are sorely needed not only in this critically important interfaith project but also in the world whose shadows fall so darkly upon us all.” —Stephen Greenblatt, Author of The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve

“In this extraordinary, beautifully written book, Jack Miles continues his exploration of the nature of God in scripture by turning his trained eyes to the Qur’an. To put it simply, this is one of the finest books I have ever read on the Qur’an, and everyone who truly wants to understand Islam and Muslims should read it.” —Amir Hussain, author, Muslims and the Making of America

“God in the Qur’an is not your typical ‘feel-good-we-are-all-brothers-and-sisters’ read but rather a careful, critical, loving and deeply perceptive examination of how God really appears in this sacred scripture. This is a remarkable contribution to a remarkable topic, and a book not to be missed.” —Reuven Firestone, author, An Introduction to Islam for Jews

“Jack Miles has done it again! In a fascinating and creative way, his latest book helps Jews and Christians understand the Qur’an, not by paraphrasing or summarizing its teachings, but by having Allah speak directly about key persons—Adam and his wife, Abraham and his sons, Jesus and his mother—who appear in the Tanakh and the Christian Bible. His brilliant comparative reading of selected passages of the Qur’an sheds an appreciative light on all three religions, noting both similarities and differences, but all the while increasing our much-needed understanding of the Qur’an.” —Father James L. Heft, author, Passing on the Faith

“With God in the Qur’an, Jack Miles completes the literary pilgrimage that gave us God: A Biography and Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God. This time Allah is the central character, and drawing on the Qur’an, but also the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, Miles puts him in play with the cross-over figures of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses and Jesus. As with his earlier books, Miles mines all three texts to strikingly original effect, generating new insights about the Qur’an but also about its sibling scriptures.” —Jane McAuliffe, editor, The Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an

★ 2018-08-21

A unique comparison of the Bible and the Qur'an.

Pulitzer Prize winner Miles (Emeritus, English and Religious Studies/Univ. of California, Irving; Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God, 2001, etc.) approaches the Qur'an with respect and curiosity while acknowledging the fact of his roots as a Christian believer and scholar. He sets out to discover who God is in the context of the Qur'an and how God interacts with humanity. Part of the author's motivation is to bring readers closer to an understanding of their Muslim neighbors and how they may view Allah through scripture. Miles studies the Qur'an alongside the Jewish/Christian Bible, comparing and contrasting how the two holy books—and, by extension, the religions they undergird—view deity. "We must learn," he writes, "to read one another's scriptures, be they secular or sacred, with the same understanding and accommodating eye that we turn upon our own." The author focuses on characters familiar to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and Jesus, all of whom appear in the Qur'an with stories far different from those that appear in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles. Miles discovers an author, Allah, who is interested above all else in the conversion of individuals and nations. His all-consuming interest is for his creation to believe in him; to that end, he "corrects" prior scriptures that record the tales of the precursors to Muhammad in a differing manner. Noah is not singled out to be saved so much as he preaches the message of Islam to unbelievers. Abraham is less the father of a nation than he is an ultimate example of a good Muslim, submitting to God's word. Jesus is not a figure of redemption, sacrificing himself for others, but instead a prophet and an example of submission. Ultimately, the author has produced a thoroughly readable, literary, and astute approach toward understanding Allah, as God, through basic literary criticism.

Good reading and an excellent tool for interfaith dialogue.