Order Description
The requirements regarding style, format, and method of citing the readings and/or the Qur’an are as follows: please make sure to cite any direct quote, direct discussion, or paraphrase from the
readings; for example, (Author, page number). Citations from the Qur’an should include chapter number and verse number; for example, (Qur’an 15: 1). You may use footnotes if you prefer.
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Please make sure to proof read and double-check your written work before submitting the hard-copy of your exam on Tuesday February 28, 2017, in class. Your work will be graded on the basis of your
engagement with the required readings set for the essay topic you have selected. Your essay will also be graded in terms of clarity of writing, the presentation of your ideas, and your critical
analysis. ///////////////////////////

Note: The recommended length of this essay is four pages, double-spaced.
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Several of the readings we have looked at so far in class discuss approaches to the Qur’an. A number of Western scholars have worked towards introducing the Qur’an as a sacred text to non-Muslims.
Based on your reading of Esack, Ernst, and Cantwell-Smith, discuss the main reasons underlying why and how the Qur’an has often been misrepresented. In your essay, take into account the following
points and discuss them as well: 1). How these three scholars discuss the “appreciation of the Qur’an”; 2). If there are social, political or historical reasons for why the Qur’an’s authorship is
often debated in the West