In these strange times, writers and others who are intrigued by religion have extra time on their hands. This offers a special opportunity, often hard to manage when deadlines beckon, to read substantive, off-the-news material.

So The Religion Guy offers a few suggestions on what media folk might read themselves or recommend to their audiences.

First, heavy material.

For obvious reasons, any educated 21st Century citizen should read through Islam’s holy book, the Quran, at least once and here’s the chance. (Note that for Islam, English versions are mere educational paraphrases; actual Scripture exists only in the Arabic language.) This can be a challenge for non-Muslims because the meaning is often elliptical, the context obscure and the chronology absent. So The Guy highly recommends “The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary” (HarperOne, 2015) by a team of North American Muslim scholars led by Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University. The readable text is enlightened by elaborate commentary.

Serious inquirers might want to compare the comments in the rather fusty 1934 Quran translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali (Amana), a traditionalist favorite. For personal reading, M.A.S. Abdel Haleem’s rendition is a felicitous choice (Oxford University Press, 2004). However, The Guy recommends that journalists quote from Majid Fakhry’s translation (New York University Press, 2000) because it carries approval from Sunnism’s Al-Azhar University in Cairo.

Jewish Scripture, a.k.a. the Tanakh or what Christians call the Old Testament, is much better-known.

Attention journalists: A Muslim landmark that belongs on your desk

Media personnel obviously are giving far more attention to Islam than they did years ago -- because they need to.

Therefore “The Study Quran” (HarperOne, 1,988 pages, US$59.99, e-book US$19.99) that was noted in a post by GetReligion’s Julia Duin should be in media company libraries (if they still exist) or in the private collections of all newswriters whose work is in any way linked to religion in the news.

This classy landmark, nine years in preparation, imitates Christians’ many “study Bibles,” a couple of which also belong on newsroom desks. The totally new English translation of Islam’s holy book is accompanied by an extensive verse-by-verse commentary, 16 related essays, an index and other “helps.” The work provides a much-needed option to the useful but somewhat outdated 1934 translation and commentary by A. Yusuf Ali that Saudi Arabia has distributed widely.

To The Religion Guy’s eyes the one big negative is the translators’ ill-advised reversion to fusty King James-ish phrasing, as though it's somehow more reverent: “Dost thou not know?” “God is wroth.” “Thou grant me reprieve till a term nigh.” While the commentary is invaluable, the recent translations by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem or Majid Fakhry may be more useful for journalistic quotations.

With this book, English-speakers can now gain ready access to authoritative scholarship representing the grand tradition of this massive religion. Since much of the relevant literature is in Arabic, the material drawn from 41 standard commentators, and the 43 pages of citations from hadith traditions of Muhammad’s teachings, are especially important for western Muslims and non-Muslims.

The editor-in-chief was the well-respected Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University, working with former students Caner Dagli of the College of the Holy Cross, Maria Massi Dakake of George Mason University (a female scholar’s participation is significant), Joseph Lumbard of American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and Mohammed Ruston of Canada’s Carleton University. Dakake and Lumbard are converts from Christian backgrounds, a plus in this situation, but it’s a thoroughly Muslim reference work, from a team with expertise in the Sunni, Shi’a and Sufi branches.