http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/jul/12/guidefeatures.theguide1 – Charlie Brooker, Guardian

“There are at least 14 brilliant programmes tucked inside this scrupulously fair-minded, definitive, magisterial programme…you could read about 80 books on the history of the Koran, now the most ideologically influential text in the world, and learn less than in this documentary by Antony Thomas…Thomas tells this story with consummate grace and understanding…Please set this Monday night aside, and learn it all, and think, and rejoice, and weep, and think again” – Euan Ferguson, Observer

“There have been scores of post-9/11 documentaries attempting to understand the fundamentalist Muslim mindset, and a film about the Islamic holy book may sound like a somewhat dry addition to the genre.  However, in the hands of the journalist Antony Thomas, this might be singly the most illuminating documentary of the lot…Out of the Koran, Thomas builds an overview of Islamic civilisation…a fair and fascinating film” – Gerard Gilbert, Independent

“Well done, Channel 4, for showing realities of Islam that too seldom see the light of day…Channel 4’s documentary The Qur’an is not exactly my dream fulfilled, but it is head and shoulders about anything I have seen on television about Islam.  If such programmes were the norm, what wonderful debates it would be possible to have…it seems that Thomas does a great deal to break down barriers to actually learning some very important facts about Islam and Muslims.  He manages to convey the diversity of interpretation of Islam as a normal part of Muslim existence…The programme also deals intelligently with what the text of the Qur’an says and what Muslims make of reading it.  The range of voices, outlooks, experiences reflected is genuinely broad enough to be reasonably representative of a reality that seldom sees the light of day in media coverage.  And for that reason, this programme manages to explain how inaccurate the conventional idea of Islam as a monlith actually is.  But there is more.  The film succeeds in making clear how interpretations and religious orientations within Islam change over time.  It shows that what is understood as age-old and authentic – by which people usually mean fundamentalism – is in fact a very modern, reactionary movement across the Muslim world” - Ziauddin Sardar, Guardian Comment Is Free
 
“The Qur’an is – as director Antony Thomas agrees – ‘a very brave commission.  An entirely worthwhile one, too…this exhaustively researched film talks to the full spectrum of moderates, dissenters and extremist as it attempts to make sense of the often wildly divergent interpretations of the same words…viewed as a whole, the documentary adds up to a plea for open-mindedness” – Phil Harrison, Time Out

 “Tonight’s highlight is Antony Thomas’s magisterial documentary The Qur’an.  Thomas narrates a fascinating survey of Islam in all its global denominations, visiting a host of Islamic countries and interviewing authoritative academics” – Sunday Telegraph

“Antony Thomas’s long but rewarding documentary builds an illuminating picture of Islamic thinking” – Gerard Gilbert, Independent

“A thoughtful and courageous exploration of the Koran and the various dilemmas of diverse Muslims across the volatile globe” – Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Independent

“A riveting exploration of an enigma” – Martin Hoyle, FT

“A highlight of a week of Channel 4 programmes exploring Islam, this ambitious documentary by Antony Thomas tackles a big subject – the religion’s holy book itself…This is a fascinating exploration of a vast, paradoxical subject, but it certainly provides no easy answers” – Daily Mail

 “Thomas’s film is neither unctuous nor prejudiced, evokes the lyricism and beauty of Islam and yet is startlingly candid about the volatility and intolerance in most Muslim societies…Thomas made me glad to be a Muslim, and will others, I hope.  For that, our undying thanks” – Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Radio Times