I read the Qur'an: a new translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem (Oxford World Classics) in 2018. It's not the first time I've read the Qur'an, because I've been fascinated by Islam for a long time, especially their holy book. Islam is Christianity's younger sibling in the same way as Judaism is Christianity's older sibling. I've read other translations of the Qur'an in the past, but I was particularly impressed by this translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, not only because of the excellent introduction and footnotes, but also the translation helped me understand the Qur'an in a better way than other translations I've read in the past. As far as a review, I give it two thumbs up. My goal is not to write a complete review of this translation, but to share some miscellaneous thoughts on the Qur'an in reflection. 

"People of the Book"

The Qur'an praises Jews and Christians as "People of the Book" many times, and doesn't condemn people who are loyal believers in the human witness of the Bible. I appreciated these gracious praises, because I'm familiar with Christians brashly condemning Islam and the Qur'an (and Christians in the past have condemned Jews including Martin Luthers and other famous Christians). So I appreciated that the Qur'an praises Jews and Christians and understands itself as a succession to them. 

"[Believers] argue only in the best way with the People of the Book [Christians] except with those of them who act unjustly. Say, ‘We believe in what was revealed to us and in what was revealed to you; our God and your God is one [and the same]; we are devoted to Him" (Quran 29:46)

“The [Muslim] believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabians—all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do good—will have their reward with their Lord. No fear for them, nor will they grieve.” (Qur’an 1:62)

The Qur'an praises Christians and Jews as "People of the Book" throughout, but there are some rare exceptions, where the Qur'an contains condemning statements. Typically, these rare verses are directed against Christians who are knowledgeable of the Qur'an and are hostile towards the Qur'an and Muslims. To be honest, the islamophobia espoused by many Christians is intolerable and may be also condemned with the Bible. 

"Those who disbelieve among the People of the Book and the idolaters will have the Fire of Hell, there to remain. They are the worst of people." (Qur'an 98:6)

Trinity

Perhaps the strongest object to Islam by Christians is the anti-Trinitarian statements in the Qur'an. The Qur'an strongly emphasizes the oneness of God, and insists that there is only one God, and there are not multiple gods. Muhammad's strongest opponents were polytheists, so it is understandable that the Qur'an would contain firm condemnations of all kinds of polytheism. 

The most famous anti-Trinitarian verses appear in Qur'an 5:72 it says God is not "a third of three" and Qur'an 4:170 discourages using the term "Trinity". These verses are frequently cited as proof that Islam is incompatible with Christianity. However, Christians agree that Jesus is not the third god of three gods too, and Christians reject the definition of Trinity as three different gods, and so these verses are not inconsistent with Thomas Aquinas' doctrine of divine simplicity at the beginning of his Summa Theologica. 

"Those who say, 'God is the Messiah, son of Mary,' have defied God. The Messiah himself said, Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord.' If anyone associates others with God, God will forbid him from the Garden, and Hell will be his home. No one will help such evil doers. Those people who say that God is the third of three are defying [the truth]: there is only One God. If they persist in what they are saying, a painful punishment will afflict those who persist.' (Qur'an 5:72-3)

"People of the Book, do not go to excess in your religion, and do not say anything about God except the truth: the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was nothing more than a messenger of God, His word, directed to Mary, a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers and do not speak of a 'Trinity'—stop [this], that is better for you—God is only one God, He is far above having a son, everything in the heavens and earth belong to Him and He is the best one to trust. (Qur'an 4:170)

"Say 'He is God the One, God the eternal. He begot no one nor was He begotten. No one is comparable to Him.'" (Qur'an 112:1-4). "The Prophet [Muhammad] said this sura, despite its brevity was equal to one-third of the Qur'an" — M. A. S. Abdel Haleem

The birth of Jesus

The anti-Trinitarian verses (quoted above) are interpreted by Christians to mean that the Qur'an denies the divine nature of Jesus because it says those who say "God is the Messiah, son of Mary" have denied God. Throughout the Qur'an, it emphasizes that God does not have any physical offspring (which Christians agree), and Christians likewise agree that Jesus is not physically descended from God through copulating with Mary. So again, this famous surah apophatically rejects what Christians have also rejected. 

The Qur'an lacks positive statements about the Trinity and Christology that were made in the ecumenical councils (especially Nicea and Chalcedon) but these statements are not explicitly in the Bible either. The Qur'an does have many surprising affirmations of Christianity, including some later Catholic dogmas like the immaculate conception of Mary. For instance, here are two verses that praise Mary:

“We gave Moses the Scriptures and We sent messengers after him in succession. We gave Jesus, son of Mary, clear signs and strengthened him with the holy spirit. So how is it, you become arrogant, calling some imposters and killing others?” (Qur’an 1:87)

"The angels said to Mary: 'Mary, God has chosen you and made you pure: He has truly chosen you above all women. Mary, be devout to your Lord, prostate yourself in worship, bow down with those who pray.'" (Qur'an 3:42-43)

The death of Jesus

The differences between the Qur'an and the Bible on the death of Jesus is also difficult is also difficult to harmonize. In the Night Journey (Surah 4), there is a famous statement that appears to deny that Jesus was crucified. 

"And because they disbelieved and uttered a terrible slander against Mary, and said, ‘We have killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of God.’ (They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, though it was made to appear like that to them; those that disagreed about him are full of doubt, with no knowledge to follow, only supposition: they certainly did not kill him—God raised him up to Himself. God is almighty and wise. There is not one of the People of the Book who will not believe in [Jesus] before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.)" (Qur’an 4:156-159)

A superficial read suggests that the Qur'an completely denies the crucifixion, but there is a peculiar phrase "though it was made to appear like that to them" that significantly changes the meaning of the entire statement in Surah 4:156-159. From my limited study of it, there's disagreement between muslim scholars. It may mean that Jesus wasn't really crucified, and someone else that looked like him was crucified in his place (i.e. substitute theory). It may also mean that Jesus was crucified but didn't die (i.e. swoon theory). Or it might mean that the Jews did not kill Jesus, but they thought they did. The last theory reconciles well with Christianity because it was the Romans (not the Jews) who crucified Jesus. The Qur'an elsewhere discusses that death of Jesus, the ascension of Jesus and the future return of Jesus at the last day. So there is not an impasse regarding the crucifixion. 

It's important to remember that not all Christians agree upon the historical events of the crucifixion too. Many theologians including Rudolf Bultmann and John Dominic Crossan argue that Jesus died and was not raised, and they see the death of Jesus as the rise of the Easter faith. Also, there are Christian heresies who have made alternate statements about Jesus death (and heresies are often the unpaid debts of the church). So there is more than one correct view of the death of Jesus, so some humility and willingness to dialog with Islamic theologians may result in a better understanding of the death of Jesus and may in time brings the New Testament into closer proximity with the Qur'an on the death of Jesus.

Resurrection

The Qur'an insists upon a future resurrection and judgment (Qur’an 4:159). It is a strong 7th century witness to a future resurrection (rather than a realized resurrection) that it inherited from the Christian and postexilic Jewish tradition. From beginning to end, the resurrection (and corresponding judgement) are emphasized, and many proofs are provided. For instance, the Qur'an argues a person appears in the resurrection in the same way people are conceived.

"Man should reflect upon what he was created from. He is created from spurting fluid [semen], then he emerges from between the backbone and breastbone: God is certainly able to bring him back to life." (Qur'an 86:5-8)

It also provides many prophecies that will precede the resurrection, such as the splitting of the moon as a sign of final judgment. (I've attached a picture of the moon from Apollo 10 showing a split speculated to pertain to this prophecy.)

"The Hour draws near; the moon is split" (Qur'an 54:1). 

Mercy over Judgement (and Violence)

Islam is unfairly judged as a religion of violence, but the message most emphatically proclaimed throughout the Qur'an is that God is merciful, and the beginning of almost every sura begins “In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy.” The Qur'an does contain many ghastly condemnations of disbelievers, and horrific descriptions of hell and torment. The Bible contains similar violent statements about hell and judgment, (e.g. Rev 14:20), yet Christians generally do not judge Christianity to be violent religion in the same way as Islam. The Qur'an has a stronger emphasis on judgement between believers and disbelievers that resembles the Calvinistic doctrine of Double Predestination, and it's emphasis on mercy is often contrasted against several judgement. One particular image is the Zaqqum Tree, which is a tree of death that parallels the tree of life. This ‘cursed tree’ is the antithesis of the tree of life and is particularly horrifying.

“The Zaqqum Tree will be food for sinners: hot as molten metal, it boils in their bellies like seething water.” (Qur’an 44:43-46)

The "sword verse" (Qur'an 9:5) is most frequent prooftext cited to prove Islam is a violent religion. M. A. S. Abdel Haleem argues that the sword verse is wrongly generalized to justify violence, but the Qur'an does not support this interpretation and other sura's (i.e. Qur'an 2:256) explicitly condemn compulsion in religion (including violence). 

"When the [four] forbidden months are over, wherever you encounter the idolaters, kill them, seize them, besiege them, wait for them at every lookout post; but if they repent, maintain the prayer, and pay the prescribed alms, let them go on their way, for God is most forgiving and merciful." (Qur'an 9:5)

"There is no compulsion in religion: true guidance has become distinct from error, so whoever rejects false gods and believes in God has grasped the firmest hand-hold, one that will never break. God is all hearing and all knowing." (Qur'an 2:256)

The "sword verse" is not different than Christian "just war theory" because the sword verse teaches that Muslims were able to defend themselves from the violent antagonism from polytheists (as a last resort), and this sword verse was "sent down" as a specific answer to a particular crisis at a vulnerable time in Islam's history.  

Inspiration of the Qur'an

The mode of inspiration in the Qur'an is dictation. Biblical inerrancy in Christian fundamentalism is an imitation of Qur'an similar dictation theory of inspiration. The Qur'an contains 114 suras that are units of inspiration where Allah has "sent down" the Qur'an to the prophet Muhammad. According to the Hadith, Muhammad would enter a trance like state when a sura was revealed to him. The suras address specific circumstances in Muhammad's life, and are often directly address to Muhammad. The suras are like letters from god, that Muhammad dictates after receiving them. Most of the sura's begin with three Arabic letters, which are primarily symbolic, and indicate that God has truly communicated via Muhammad in the Arabic language.

It is possible that the message of the Qur'an may be sent down to other people, but the Qur'an's message is tightly coupled with the events in Muhammad's life. The humanity of Muhammad is shown throughout the Qur'an, and many sura's defend Muhammed instruct Muslims in the proper way to speak to Muhammad. Once, Muhammed was left alone as a wedding caravan arrived with music. A sura was then sent down that scorned Muslims who abandoned Muhammad: "Yet they scatter towards trade or entertainment whenever they observe it, and leave you standing there. Say 'What God has is better than any entertainment or trade" (Qur'an 62:11) On another incident, a spider built a web over a cave entrance where Muhammad was hiding, and this was interpreted as God's providential care for Muhammad. So spiders are a fascinating theme in the Qur'an.

“Those who take protectors other than God can be compared to spiders building themselves houses—the spider’s is the frailest of all houses—if only they could understand.” (Qur’an 29:41)

Muhammad received the first sura in circa 610, which the Qur'an calls the "Night of Glory" and Muhammad received additional surahs throughout his life: "We sent it down on the Night of Glory" (Qur'an 91:1). The Qur'an frequently cites the sending down of the Qur'an as a circular proof that the Islam is the true religion. 

The Qur'an emphasizes the message "sent down" (or dictated by Muhammad), and although it does place special significance upon Muhammad, it is ultimately the text of the Qur'an that is the revelation of God. In Christianity, the Bible is not the revelation of God (in the same way as the Qur'an), because the Bible is a human witness to Jesus Christ who is the revelation of God. It's a key difference in inspiration between the Qur'an and the Bible. 

Genies

The Qur'an contains many genies, who are spirits similar to demons in the New Testament. Genies (or jinn or jinni) are different than demons, and have the ability to become believers (unlike demons). The New Testament distinguishes between people and demons, where demons are evil spirits awaiting judgment, but the Qur'an says there are people and genies (jinn). The Qur'an says jinn are capable of believing and ends with a promise "whether they be jinn or people" (Qur'an 114:6). Genies are one of my favorite features of the Qur'an.

Conclusion

I highly recommend the Qur'an: a new translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem (Oxford World Classics) as an excellent translation with a helpful and concise introduction and footnotes. And, I recommend Allah: A Christian Response by Miroslav Volf for a scholarly introduction to the compatibility of Christianity with Islam. After reading the Qur'an again, I was reminded how similar Islam is to Christianity, and it gave me a hope for future reconciliation between Islam and Christianity and Judaism. The differences are complicated, and Islam is aware of Christianity's claims and the Qur'ans makes assertions intended to correct Christian and Jewish errors, yet at the same time, the Qur'an also affirms the revealed message witnessed in the Bible. 

(*Note: The "Trinity" and "birth of Jesus" and "death of Jesus" were updated on 2019-02-07 and 2019-04-26 to add commentary on the crucifixion of Jesus.)

Related: genie, Islam, jinn, jinni, Koran, M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, Mohammad, Muhammad, Muslim, Qur'an, tree of death, zaqqum tree