In this introduction to the Qur'an, Fazlur Rahman unravels its complexities on themes such as God, society, revelation, and prophecy.

The Quran, a book which brings glad tidings to mankind along with divine admonition, stresses the importance of man's discovery of truth on both spiritual and intellectual planes. Every book has its objective and the objective of the Quran is to make man aware of the Creation plan of God. That is, to tell man why God created this world; what the purpose is of settling man on earth; what is required from man in his pre-death life span, and what he is going to confront after death. The purpose of the Quran is to make man aware of this reality, thus serving to guide man on his entire journey through life into the after-life. The main themes of the Quran are enlightenment, closeness to God, peace and spirituality. The Quran uses several terms, tawassum, tadabbur, and tafakkur, which indicate the learning of lessons through reflection, thinking and contemplation on the signs of God scattered across the world. The present translation of the Quran and its explanatory notes are written keeping in mind these very themes.

"The Qur'an has been interpreted by many scholars (Muslims and non-Muslims) for centuries, and many interpretive works presently in circulation are more or less similar in tone and contents. The "Essential Message of Islam," however, is a challenging book that stands apart from the traditional interpretive works. Evolved primarily by a computer-aided scrutiny of the Qur'anic text, the book provides an invaluable source that offers eye-opening and enlightening insights to the Muslims' sacred Text, without any personal, sectarian, cultural or gender influences. The book removes any misconception about Muslim-Christian-Jewish relationships, presenting Islam as a 'Universal Religion' that promotes a peaceful coexistence of people of all faiths. A must read book for all!" -- Publisher description.

This volume is an attempt to be free from the influences of sectarianism in order to present a genuine and honest viewpoint of Monotheism's Holy Book, the Qur'an, by translating it the way it always deserved to be translated.