Summary Of Ingrid Mattson's 'The Story Of The Qur' An

In February 2013, Ingrid Mattson had published her book titled, The Story of the Qur'an, from Malden, MA. Mattson had written this book after she taught a course about the Qur'an at Hartford Seminary and wanted to provide an academic and comprehensible history and interpretation of the Qur'an. She pursued to make the book elaborate enough for anyone interested in the subject, whether or not they were general readers or Islamic researchers. In writing this book, Mattson's goal was to assist people in determining the meaning of the Qur'an and what it contains. The author wanted to provide additional interpretation on the subject and help some people avoid the general perspectives they perceive that the Qur'an contains, without knowing having
Mattson believes that "The initial opposition of many scholars to the printing of the Qur'an was not unreasonable" (128). I believe the author's input on this turning point of history is an accurate depiction of how many must have felt as Qur'ans were no longer hand-written by scribes yet copied effortlessly with printing machines. Scholars were concerned about this new innovation because specific purification and mannerly treatment in the production process was no longer used. I can imagine many were hesitant on this new development because they felt the words of God needed greater worship and treatment. Within this section, Mattson did well with analyzing the different processes in which the Qur'an had been transformed into modern society as texts, videos, and Internet
She cited the Qur'an as a few examples that state people should not preach on their pre-conceived notions about God, however they should discover knowledge and find external reliable sources. Similarly, this point of view is connected to Mattson's overall thesis for the book that people need to carefully interpret the context and language of the Qur'an to discover its meaning. One of the downfalls to Mattson's book would be her one-sided use of sources. Throughout the chapters and explanations of historical information, conflicts, and etc., the author chose sources that more favored the Qur'an and traditional views. It would have been more academic and scholarly of Mattson to have included more sources and arguments from both sides on the many issues she touched basis on. Although they may or may not be accurate, providing various sources on a situation or conflict would provide the reader a greater understanding that not all people agree on issues regarding Islam and its