James Flynn

This sura is titled "women" because it contains quite a few rules regarding women and marriage.

Again, there is a handful of decent advise in this chapter thrown in amongst some harsh, brutal advice too.

There is a paragraph or two regarding orphans and how they should be treated fairly, and rules regarding a kind of inheritance system.

Basically, there are some quite precise rules which seemed ok, and it was also mentioned that men and women get a share of what parents leave behind, and if there are poor and needy people around at the time, then give them some too, which is a pretty good bit of advice.

Unfortunately just about every page is filled  with the usual warnings about how unbelievers await an agonizing torment, and that you better not break the rules that are set out otherwise you will suffer for it etc etc.

And this is not an exaggeration either.  I think every page more or less is there to just drum into the reader that god controls everything, and if you believe and obey, you will be fine, but if you are an unbeliever then agonizing torment awaits.

My favourite rant in this chapter is when god says that anyone who rejects the revelations will burn in the fire until their skin has been burned away, and then god will give them new skin just so they can suffer some more.  But if you believe, you get to live in a nice garden with a stream.  Don't believe me? Read it for yourself below......

This is just one of many threats contained whin this sura, but other preachings that I noted down was the fact that you can have up to four wives(this almost made me want to convert) and other rules regarding women that were a little bit biased.

One rule, broken down into my own words, basically went like this.....

If a women commits a lewd act, call four witnesses, then if she admits to guilt, keep her at home until death.  Not for a few weeks/months, but literally until death.  Or until god shows another way of sorting it out. It then goes on to say if two men commit lewd act, punish them, then if they mend their ways, leave them alone - "god is full of mercy!".

Being a man does have it's perks.

As far as I can tell so far, muslims can drink alcohol, but cannot pray whilst intoxicated.  You can walk through a mosque intoxicated as long as you don't speak to god, and if you have had intercourse then you must wash before passing through.

"People of the book are mentioned in the quran, and I have worked out that this means people of the bible basically. 

There is a message for people of the book to stop thinking too highly of Jesus, for he was only a messenger, and to stop talking of a holy trinity.  I can't really tell whether this is good advise or bad because I have never read the bible(maybe that will be my next book).

There are messages in here that are a bit worrying too.  Believers are basically given permission to kill unbelievers if they turn on you, and act in a ruthless manner towards them.  I have added a paragraph here for you to read.....

I was hoping for a peaceful book, there is some nice messages in here, but it seems to be aimed at believers only.

Maybe the rest of the book will get better.

I have now finished reading the third sura of the quran and I am ready to review this chapter.

But first I would just like to put the point across that this whole project has nothing to do with racism of any kind.  Anyone who knows me personally knows that's not me.  And the only reason I am reviewing the quran is because it is relevant to current affairs at the moment. 

So, sura three "the family of Imran".....

This part starts off in very much the same way as the previous parts, explaining that god is merciful, but swiftly goes back to the usual messages that have already been drummed into the reader.

Embedded in all this is a short story however, and this sura also confirms earlier scriptures of the bible I presume.

Mary, Adam, Noah and Jesus are mentioned here and it seems that christians and muslims actually worship the same god, which I was unaware of.

It is confirmed that previous messages passed down to Adam and Noah were from this very same god, and the Imran story summed up briefly is this....

Imrans wife, during a conversation with god said "lord I have dedicated what is in my womb to you".

She gave birth to a girl which was a shock to her, but god was cool, calm and collective and accepted this, named her Mary and then put her in the care of someone called Zachariah.

Eventually god gives Mary a son named Jesus even though there was no sexual contact involved, and so the whole Jesus saga was born.

Forgive me for being brief, but this story only takes up about two pages of the sixteen pages that make up this sura, and the rest is honestly just the same messages repeated in different ways.

There was a pretty decent message I found in this chapter though, and it is, I quote - "be a good community that calls for what is good, urges for what is right, and forbids what is wrong : those who do this are the successful ones".......

Spot on, I say.

Unfortunately there are a lot of negative statements in here too in my opinion.

I have taken photos of certain paragraphs for you to view yourself, here is god showing his slightly needy side......

This next message I don't really agree with as it basically illustrates once more - only be friends with fellow believers......

And there seems to be an undercurrent of contradiction throughout by god displaying a lust for punishment, followed by a reminder of how merciful he is....

I haven't got much more to say about this sura really, other than i'm slightly disappointed by how similar it was to the last.

The next sura is titled simply "women", so it should be interesting.....

I have just finished the second sura of the quran titled "the cow".

Things seemed to get a bit astringent very quickly in this part, by the time I was into the second page I was very clear about the general theme or message that was being put forward.  To put it basically, god is saying in this chapter - believe in me, and you will be fine, but if you are an unbeliever you will regret it, and end up in agonising torment.

This is made very clear, and put forward in quite a blunt/no holds barred fashion right throughout the sura.   It did get a little bit tiring after the first few pages, but there is also a fair amount of good advice in here too.

Good community spirit and generosity are encouraged by god, who informs his followers that he will repay those individuals who are kind with love and unlimited rewards for their good efforts.

I couldn't help but notice a reoccuring theme of contradiction throughout this sura though.  The main one being that it starts off with "in the name of god, the lord of mercy, the giver of mercy", but then about ten lines down it is made very clear that unbelievers will have great torment.

God seems very merciful in this chapter, but only to those who believe in him and obey him.  To those who do not believe, he comes across as quite cruel and spiteful.

The final pages deal with marital matters, and divorce arrangements where god, in my opinion shows his warmer side once more.  I won't write down all the rules and regulations which must be obeyed, but they are quite fair from what I could make out.

There are of course bits I have not included here, but the main theme of "the cow" in a nutshell is believe in god and you have nothing to fear, but if you are an unbeliever then you are pretty much destined for agonising pain.  Be charitable, give generously and look after fellow believers.

The next sura is called "The family of Imran" and is a little bit shorter than this one, so I will eagerly read on.....