Introduction
Ingrid Mattson’s Story of the Quran analyzes the holiest source of Muslims’ faith and knowledge across the globe. The key points the author is trying to highlight in the story include the origin of the Muslim cultural, personal, and historical details. It also illustrates how the Quranic revelation is transmitted through the prophets who attempt to explain the different facets of Islamic readership (Mattson 5). The Quranic revelation, although sent through the prophet, is not a response to his concerns alone. This paper will give an illustration of significant issues in the first chapter of the story by analyzing the major events in that particular narrative.
Main body
Ingrid Mattson starts this particular thesis by making various assumptions. By describing some of the traditional practices carried out by the conventional society before God began to use prophets to send messages to people, she assumes that many non-Muslims found reading the book difficult. Hence, she tried to draft a historical story to motivate people to study the faith. Another assumption was that; women were the group of individuals who went through difficult moments in the ancient world. They had little chance of being given positions in any administrative posts, such as in politics and war. Additionally, praying and complaining to God was hardly challenging, but the results were not always positive. Thus, God used prophets to pass His messages to humankind to revoke harmful social practices.
Some valuable concepts the author is trying to demonstrate to readers include illustrating how the Quran attempts to provide an overview of how God speaks to the people. God tries to relinquish useful information to His people through the appointment of prophets. Chapter one of the story describes how Muhammad, being God’s prophet, persevered in many challenging situations for him to be sanctified. For example, Muhammad was an orphan who experienced numerous challenges in the desert. By growing up in different environments, Muhammad had numerous difficult encounters in dealing with varying situations in life. Moreover, before dedicating his life to serving God, he was never distinguished from Mecca’s political and or economic power. His honesty and integrity made him be referred to as “the trustworthy” (Mattson 7). He was, however, known among the Quraysh as a man of uprightness and honor.
One of the strengths of the reading is that it gives a clear and summarized way of understanding the Quran. It explains how God revealed himself through virtuous dreams during sleep. “While I was Asleep, Gabriel came to me with a coverlet of brocade upon which was some writing,” Muhammad said (Mattson 11). The author explains how Muslims express their love for God by reading and kissing the Quran and wrapping it with a piece of fine fabric, and this is a show of humility and acknowledgment. However, the question remains whether the reading consequently explains different sources of the Islamic beliefs and practices or whether they have the same revelation as the story. The answer is clear, Arab Islamic gives some other illustrations that people are meant and desire to live through the will of God. For instance, the Quran forbade society from forcing enslaved women into prostitution and other inhuman tortures.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Ingrid authored her story to be instrumental in the study of the Qur’an, making it enjoyable and exciting to read. The book relates to other previous readings in that it gives a beautiful overview of human life that is also highlighted in the Holy book. It summarizes the Holy Quran, giving it a scholarly approach that can allow readers from all beliefs to learn more about Islam. It also prevents people who do not have the Islamic faith knowledge from misinterpreting and compromising the Quran.
Work Cited
Mattson, Ingrid. “God Speaks to Humanity”. The Story of the Qur’an: Its History and Place in Muslim Life, 2ndedition. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2013.