Book Review

36 BOOK REVIEW (Naeem Osman Memon) INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE HOLY QURAN Author: Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad Publisher: London Mosque, 16 Gressenhall Road, London SWI8 5QL. Hard Bound: pages 446 The opening pages introduce briefly, the purpose of the book and then proceed to discuss the universality of the Quran as compared to the national character of other scriptures, namely the ludeo-Christian and Hindu Scriptures. It also discusses the extensive interpolation suffered by the earlier scriptures. examines contradictions in the content and explores the teachings of these books in the light of logical and rational acceptability. The author also discusses at length. God’s promise to Abraham as recorded by the Book of Genesis and several other prophecies contained in , the Old and New Testaments are examined. The scholarly reasoning extend over several pages, conclusively establishes the fulfillment of these prophecies in the person of the Prophet of Islam. The second part of the book is devoted to the life of the Prophet of Islam. It depicts the state of the Arabian society at the time of the Prophet’s birth and then proceeds to record the life of the Prophet before and after his call, Some remarkable features of the Prophet’s personality and character are also outlined at great length. The later part of the book outlines the compilation of the Holy Quran, the committing of it to memory, its transcription and its standardisation and the closing chapters discuss some important Quranic prophecies. A highly scholarly work, the author highly deservers compliments for his excellent treatment of such a wide range of topics in one book. The language is simple and plain and easily understandable. The book has to be read by not only students of religion but also by every average person who wishes to : know about Islam. It is an excellent introduction to Islam. its Prophet and I Scriptures. !