THE HIDDEN WORLD

Roswell questions traditional interpretations of the Quran in this nonfiction debut.

While firmly embracing the “ancient wisdom” found in the Quran, the author argues that the lessons of the holy book have been distorted by religious leaders who only read the work through lenses of rigid tradition, ritual, and practice. “Shorn of the shackles of conventional interpretations and literalist perspectives,” he argues, the Quran becomes a relevant, underacknowledged commentary on human psychology and a “wellspring of wisdom” whose relevance extends beyond the devoted faithful. The book begins with an introductory essay on the problematic nature of most religions, highlighting the ways in which religious leaders often lean on rhetorical strategies of circular reasoning and ad hominem attacks. While arguing that the core texts of Christianity, Hinduism, and other religions have also been misinterpreted by religious scholars, the author chose to focus on the foundational text of Islam because he “was born and raised within a context where the Quran was regarded with great reverence.” After a brief primer on the history of Islamic traditions, the body of the book is divided into two parts. The first centers on the “core psychological concepts” found in the Quran, with a particular emphasis on the nuances of the Arabic language that calls into question theologically motivated interpretations that have long been accepted in the faith but don’t always align with the actual text (in the author’s convincing reinterpretation, for instance, the word “Heavens” may represent the psyche and “the higher aspects of consciousness and intellect” rather than a post-death paradise). The book’s second part makes the case for the Quran’s pragmatic relevance to 21st-century psychology and the alignment of its teachings with modern cognitive science. Muslim readers, particularly traditionalists, may not be comfortable with the book’s iconoclastic reinterpretations, or with Roswell’s explicit desire that humanity “liberates itself” from religion. However critical of conventional religion the book may be, it nevertheless approaches the Quran with a profound appreciation that makes the text relevant to modern readers both inside and outside the faith.

A well-researched, accessible reinterpretation of Quranic teaching.