One side effect of being distant from the Holy Quran is that Muslim societies, in general, have developed quite a few misconceptions about what the Holy Quran is, what is the purpose and how to use it. Let me attempt to clarify some common ones.
The Holy Quran is a collection of speeches, or sermons, delivered to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) at various times, often in response to a particular situation or to address a certain issue. This constuction is unlike ordinary books. This is done in a way that the overall message remains quite universal and the guidance provided is not time-bound. In other words, the messaging is still contemporary and "fresh" - and by all appearances, it will stay that way in the future as well.
It is very clear that Arabic was chosen as a language deliberately because it is a vast language and is comprehensive enough to convey complex subjects in a very compact way. Many words and expressions in Arabic contain multiple meanings, leading to a very rich linguistic description that spans a broad range of interpretation according to any circumstances - cultural, geographical or societal.
The Holy Quran is essentially a book of moral and ethical guidance to peoples and societies. It is not a book of sciences, whether it be physics, chemistry, biology, geography, or geology. Although it uses examples of scientific discovery (e.g., iron ore extraction, planetary movement, etc) and brilliant insights (e.g., embryonic development) the purpose is not to serve as a scientific handbook from which scientific discoveries can be derived. Many Muslims accept the fallacy that Quran contains knowledge on every aspect of human knowledge; this comes from not understanding why the Holy Quran was delivered to us, i.e., as a Moral GPS.
The Holy Quran is not a book of history. Again, it points to many historical events to make certain points about societal problems and their consequences. It also corrects the historical inaccuracies that have crept into other "edited" divine scriptures. Most notably, many descriptions relating to previous prophets in the Bible and Talmud have been corrupted to show that those people had many moral weaknesses and flaws; that is done partly to justify moral depravities found in those societies. So, the Holy Quran sets the record straight - but again the purpose is not to become a history book.
The most significant misconception amongst a vast majority of Muslims is that because they have heard bits and pieces of the Holy Quran in TV shows, Friday sermons and school, they really know the Quranic message. These commonly-used verses comprise perhaps 5% of the whole book. It is like claiming that a person can become a doctor by reading a selection of few paragraphs from a medicine text book. I can speak from my own experience that my misconception was only corrected after I read the whole book. The message in the book is holistic and comprehensive, and can be really understood by reading all of it.
An even more dangerous trend is pick out one or two verses and interpret them out of context. The worst examples of this can be observed by the usage of a few select verses by extremist groups to serve their own nefarious purposes. Not only is the Holy Quran contextual, but it is holistic as well - you need to get the big picture in order for it to really serve as the Moral GPS.
Finally, many Muslims shy away from reading the Quran on the pretext that either it is too complex or that reading it will somehow put undue constraints on their lifestyle. The former pretext is entirely incorrect. The Holy Quran has been translated into every known language, so are books of "tafseer" which provide historical and circumstantial context. One can easily pick up any of these translations, for non-Arabic speakers, and follow the book on their own. For Urdu speakers, I would recommend going to Quranurdu.com for many text and audio resources. The latter pretext is also wrong but the concept is correct - the purpose of reading and understanding the Holy Quran is precisely to change your life from inside out.
So, please take this as an invitation to discover the Holy Quran on your own. Every time you read it, you will get new insights into its guidance and message. That is the beauty of the book that gives you arguments and guidance that can fit both deep spiritual aspects as well as common day-to-day issues.
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