I used to just research the Qur'an as I needed. I have read some Hadiths in order to piece together Islam’s intent without ever reading the Qur'an. Now I know why Islamic scholars rely on Fiqh and Hadiths comprised of other texts relating to Muhammad. I don't know how I can describe the Qur'an without being offensive to possible members of this forum or lurkers. I could have seriously read better first draft stories from inspiring science-fiction authors.

At least the Bible (which I've read - King James version) has a great biblical story that's presented in chronological order. You know exactly why you have followers of Christianity when reading the Bible. With the Qur'an you have numerous chapters laid out by length and any given time. With the 1st chapter being the longest and the rest shorter than the next. Don't worry about finishing the 400pg+ text before lunch. It may seem like an impossible task given the initial chapters but by the time you get two-thirds finished you'll be skimming through the extremely short chapters within 2 minutes to 15 seconds. Assuming your nose doesn't start to bleed from confusion, of course.

When you read the first chapter you have a sense of inspiration to turn the page. It reads like a good introduction. Those that have read it know what I’m talking about. "Do as I command thee and do not question my motives" is what you gather from the first chapter. You think to yourself that this story is going to be good. May even have a few nice fight scenes to boot. You're pretty sure that Muhammad will tackle the "outline" he seems to presented in the initial chapter. Not so much. But there's another 400 pages, Eric! Yeah, I know...

Instead, each chapter there after is a vague reiteration of what the previous chapter presents. The only thing that differs from the chapters is the occasional new command in order to reach heaven. But even some of those contradict what was mentioned in previous chapters. You go from being instructed to pray a couple times a day, to a few times a day to numerous times a day and so forth. Praying five times a day came from early Muslim scholars, not the Qur’an.

All I have to say is that Muhammad must have been a truly inspirational genius of his time. Had there not been Muhammad ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, the Sira biographies or the Hadith collections, Islam would have never had a chance of being a religion solely based on the Qur'an.