Salaam Alaikum wrt all, new to the forum... :exhausted
rabimansur: I totally sympathise with your experiences.
I was born a Muslim, but never had a true grounding in knowledge or the Qur'an, as I think is the predicament of many born Muslims today, much to the detriment of themselves and others.
I had never read the Qur'an fully, subhanallah, and based on the words and actions of people rather than my own knowledge, pretty much "left" Islam for a period when I was not praying and essentially became an agnostic. During this period I was, confused, disillusioned with religion, and lost in myself.
I then picked up the Qur'an and started reading it during this Ramadan. It is the translation by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem. I am trying to finish it before Ramadan insha'Allah and it is opening my eyes to the "real" Islam, not the the one portrayed by so-called Muslims or the television or the newspapers. It is also translated in a language I can understand, unlike certain translations in King James I "Bible English". It is also the case that many translators try to take too many liberties with the text which this one alhamdulillah doesn't. It is a joy to read.
I agree that it is hard for non-Arabic speakers such as us to truly comprehend the beauty of the Qur'an: all we can get is a translation, but we should strive to find a decent translation as we can and this one is both highly recommended by scholars and written in modern English (though I would still recommend using another translation alongside with more footnotes, Yusuf Ali for example).
The verse that has clinched the deal for me is, as my username suggests: 21:30 (though in reality 21:30-33), from the Surah: "The Prophets". In several verses the Qur'an talks about the big bang, the fact we are all made from water, the fact mountains stabilise the earth and finally how the sun and moon follow orbits. These ideas, as well as many other scientific concepts embedded within the Qur'an, make Islam truly unique in this way; there is no way the Prophet (saws) could have predicted this.
But as someone mentioned, different people are guided in different ways. Everyone can quote you a hundred ayahs but you may not be convinced. God guides those whom he wills. But I would definitely recommend the above translation of the Qur'an as it is for me, the closest I will get to the beauty of the Arabic until I can understand the Arabic itself.
Also want to add that this is an amazing site with many interesting discussions that I hope to be a part of in future.
