Sunday, August 23, 2009


Interpretation of the Meaning of The Noble Quran Translated into the English Language By Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali Ph.D. and Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan. This is a pocket sized edition of a popular translation of the Quran. According to the Wikipedia article, this translation of the Quran is disliked by Western Muslims (what is a Western Muslim? verse 3.149 and an associated Hadith by Samara bin Jundab indicate that Muslims shouldn't live in the land of al-shirk, i.e. western countries. See here number 2781.) because it is too blunt, contains grotesque misogyny, and is more like a supremacist Muslim, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian polemic than a rendition of the Islamic scripture. Harsh. The book has both Arabic and English, 975 pages for the Quran and about another 130 pages of preface and appendix. There are many notes attached to the Quran translation taken from Hadith, etc. Here is the text of the translation.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. ISBN 0-440-32497-1. This is the Twentieth Anniversary edition, printed 1984. Purchased at Powell's, 1992-08-14 for $2.95, used, regular sized paperback (the one I read, not the one pictured.) This book is credited by some as starting the second women's liberation movement. It is well written and full of information, even though it is now more than 45 years old (originally published in 1963.)