100 Minutes with the Qur’an

The work under review represents the latest addition to this useful series, of which the earlier titles cover the Bible, Buddha and the Torah. The publisher is to be complimented for including this volume in the series. The author, Abdur Rasheed Siddiqui, who has written several books on the Qur’an, has done full justice to the objectives of this series. For his imaginatively conceived and assiduously executed work offers a conspectus of all that there is to learn about the Qur’an in such a compact and easy to grasp way. This anthology serves well as an informative, engaging and insightful introduction to the Qur’an. Amid the numerous selections of the Qur’anic text in English, Siddiqui’s work stands out on several counts. First, its pithy Preface (pp.i-vi) familiarizes readers with the contents, styles and key topics of the Qur’an. In outlining the major themes of the Qur’an, particularly in projecting the Qur’an as an essential guide and reminder for everyone in every aspect of this worldly life and the Hereafter, Siddiqui has taken the cue from Shah Waliullah (1703-172), the eighteenth century Muslim Sufi, scholar and revivalist of the Indo-Pak subcontinent.