Leslie Hazleton: On Reading the Koran

Leslie Hazleton, author of the new book, First Muslim, finds much to like about the Koran in this ten minute Ted Talk in 2010. She notes that it has an environmental awareness, that unlike the Bible, it includes women talking of believing women and believing men, and that many of its verses show remarkable flexibility. Reading the Koran, however, is no easy task and requires patience because it is not the kind of book that most people could curl up with and read. The English writer, John Carlye, called it toilsome.