I have not read very much so far only eight percent not even got through the first chapter which is called The Cow. The reasons behind this name I could not tell you but it is fairly big, the chapter that is.
Basically what I have got so far is that it reads like a summary of the old testament.
Satan did not want to bow down to the humans so he fell, but stayed in paradise long enough to tempt Adam to the 'tree' so god banishes Adam and Eve to the Earth, funny it said earlier that god knew all things maybe he is only good at present and past. Or perhaps the order is wrong. The preface and forward to this book tells us that the Koran's chapters are out of order chronically which seems to be a clever method of telling the story differently. What is more curious is that right at the beginning there is this passage:
"..beneath a dark storm-cloud charged with thunder and lightning, thrust their fingers into their ears at the sound every thunder-clap for fear of death (God thus encompasses the unbelievers). The lightning almost snatches away their sight: whenever it flashes upon them they walk on, but as soon as it darkens they stand still. Indeed, if God pleased, He could take away their hearing and their sight..."That reads like the end of my short story Thunder Road so perhaps if god knows the future he has stole my ideas. There are many logical reasons against this though.
Moving on their god's convenant should you accept it, so that means we have a choice on whether to believe in god or not?!? Apparently no choice if you deny or reject off you go to the 'fire' which is made of humans and stones, you will abide there for ever. Stones are not known for their properties of burning well except in volcano like temperatures something of a curious choice by the author.
It repeats several times about the alms levy which upon researching this is to do with a charity tax which is given to the poor. Also repeated is the phrase:
"He is the Relenting One, the Compassionate."Apparently god is unhappy that his flock wanted: "green herbs, cucumber, corn, lentils and onions" which is hardly the fast food or bad for you. What were they eating before?
Their is a cow sacrifice (reason for chapter maybe) which had to be a "rich yellow, pleasing to those that see it." I have seen brown, white and black cows never a yellow one, I can only assume it was suffering from liver disease.
Then there is this wonderful passage which effectively allows for any interpretation of the Koran:
"[2:106] Any verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We will replace by a better one or one similar."The operative word here is 'similar', changing one word can change the entire meaning of a sentence.
According verse [2:115] god belongs only to the East and West, did they not have a concept of North and South back then? The same verse states that god is omnipresent and all-knowing but not in the North or South or knows of it!
[2:122] God's convenant does not apply to wrongdoers so there is a choice?
[2:126] ..."I shall let them live awhile, and then shall drag them to the scourge of the Fire..." That sounds like torture from the Compassionate god.
[2:155] "We shall test your steadfastness with fear and famine..." More torture, more excuses for why bad things happen. Its god's fault!
[2:178] Apparently god allows slaves.
[2:185] Time to go hungry but god desires your "well-being" not "discomfort", not eating for a whole month is going to be a slow yet fast killing.
[2:187] Multiple wives time during your fast, Compassionate god remember.
[2:190] My favourite verse so far, you allowed to fight but you cannot be the aggressors because god does not love them. Basically you are allowed to defend yourself however you can attack the wrongdoers who is anybody that does not believe in god.
[2:190] Update 3/6/17: Nowhere in the verse does it say kill, fight and attack only. If they attacked with swords the likelihood of death during those days would have been high due to the lack drugs to fight off infection. My above statement about Murder is not certain.
Thought Experiment in Summary (Creative Ideas)
It seems to me that so far there is a lot of giving by us humans to the Compassionate god and not a lot given in return. This god is happy that we fight which would suggest that this god is perhaps maybe a devil or an entity that feeds off the energy created by violence. Taken to its logical conclusion perhaps all religious texts are written by this dark entity. Maybe there is another entity that feeds on love and peace maybe it does not need much to maintain itself and faces away from us. Whereas the dark one's face is always towards us hence all the contradictory religious texts and the constant need for violence. There is a symbiotic balance between the two, the dark one would starve if we all killed one other or there was only peace.
Th above paragraph is somewhat rambling, welcome to my mind.
