qu'ran

much the same way that christians use the bible, i imagine

They let short members of their mosque sit on the koran (or a stack of korans) so they can see over the heads of taller members of the group sitting in front of them.

In the way that only a man can use a tool.

I can see how someone can use a koran like a mallet or a not so accurate leveler but as tools go, I don't think a koran would make a good hand saw or drill or wrench.

Shah Pestool once said, "الجبر al-jabr, it all adze up in the shed."

It is one of the greatest acts of worship, so my beloved and the joy of my eyes (May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
"The best worship of my nation is reciting Koran."
Reciting is a kind of remembrance, listening to Koran is also a kind of remembrance, if I recite, it is remembrance, if I can't recite and I listen to a recorder, it is also remembrance, the prophet (May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
"The listener and the reader have equal rewards," In another narration: "The scholar and the learner have equal rewards."
The most important thing is when I hear the Koran either at home or in the car or at work, I should apply what Allah says: "When the Quran is recited, you shall listen to it and take heed," Why? "That you may attain mercy." (Surat Al-A'raf, verse 204) The word may in Koran doesn’t mean possibility as it is in Arabic language but it means certainty.
When we listen to the Koran, we should be all ears and stop talking, if someone wants to talk to me while I am listening to Koran, I should say Sadaka Allah Al-Azeem and close the radio or the recorder until we finish talking, someone may say that it is the words of Allah and let the radio switched on, but who is listening here? Are Jinn and angels here more polite than me in listening to the words of Allah? No, listening to Koran not only requires me to listen carefully but also to be reactive or go with verses, if it is a verse with invocation Allah mentioned, I should repeat it or say amen or oh Allah respond oh Lord of Mankind.
If the verse urges for supplication, I should supplicate, when I hear the reader recites: "Your Lord says: Implore Me, and I will respond to you." (Surat Ghafer, verse 60) What should I do? I should invocate by what comes to my mind as it is my provision and grants from Allah and He will respond to me God willing. My sir Ahmed Ibn-Attaa'-Allah Assakandary says in his great aphorisms:
"If Allah opens the door of invocation to you, then He surely opens the door of respond."
If I hear verses talking about paradise, I ask Allah to make me among its people, if I hear verses talking about the Hell, I ask Allah to protect me from its torture.
Herby I am reactive with the book of Allah during listening.
I should be alert at situations the noble prophet was interested, if I hear a verse of prostration, I should turn towards Ka'ba and prostrate if I have my ablution, but if I am not having ablution, or on a journey and can't turn towards Ka'ba, I should say Sobhan Allah Wal-Hamdulellah Wala-Ilaha-Illa-Allah Wallah Akbar, if I am in consolation and there is no suitable place for prostrating, I should also say Sobhan Allah Wal-Hamdulellah Wala-Ilaha-Illa-Allah Wallah Akbar.
If the reader recited the last verse in Surat At'teen: "Is GOD not the Most Wise, of all the wise ones?" (Surat At'teen, verse 8) I should say secretly as the prophet said: Yes, and I am one of those who testify that, if he read the last verse of Surat Al-Keyamah: "Is He then unable to revive the dead?" (Surat Al-Keyamah, verse 40), I say: Yes, He is able to do. And so I should be reactive with the verses of Allah.
If I am going to recite the Koran to myself, then it is better to read in a book with explanation, there is the original Koran and beside it there is simple summarized explanation of difficult words and also the causes of revealing some verses that I don’t know; why they were revealed, as the first duty for me after believing in Allah is to learn the book of Allah and know its meanings, if I don’t know the meaning, I refer to the explanation margin, as it is not the matter of the number of verses I read, but it is the matter of understanding and remembrance, Allah calls and says: "And We have indeed made the Qur'an easy to be understood and remembered: then is there any who will receive admonition?" (Surat Al-Kamar, verse 17), He didn’t say: Is there any who will recite. He didn’t also say: Why do they not read the Koran? But He said: "Why do they not study the Quran carefully?" (Surat Annesaa', verse 82) It is not the matter of reciting, but it is the matter of the study or understanding, so it was narrated in the noble Hadeeth:
"There is no usefulness in recitation without study, or in worship without understanding."
Sayedah A'isha said:
"To read Surat Azalzalah with study is better than reading the whole Koran harmazah."
Harmazah means to read without understanding as lots of people do in Ramadan.
That who reads and understand the Koran in Ramadan, does he take holiday from Koran after Ramadan as people do now? Who permitted such holiday? Do you forget that the Koran comes at the Day of Judgment and complains from you to Allah, Allah says:
"The messenger said: My Lord, my people have deserted this Quran." (Surat Al-Forkan, verse 30)
How is it deserted while we put it on the table of the lounge or hang it in the car or put it in bedrooms or on desks? We put it only for decoration but do we open it, read it, understand it and the most important thing after that do we apply it? Desertion here is not desertion of reciting but desertion of applying and following Koran. When I read or listen to the Koran, I should think carefully, contemplate and remember the meanings of Koran, it is the moral or the philosophy of Koran that it is easy to be understood for all people and Jinn, if there is an illiterate man and he reads and thinks in the Koran with a present heart, Allah grants him types of knowledge never read by explanation scholar, this is what Allah says:
"And We have indeed made the Qur'an easy to be understood and remembered." (Surat Al-Kamar, verse 17)
We made it easy means that we facilitated it so that any Muslim reads and thinks with pure heart, he will certainly understand; some of you may have seen this.
Even Muslims who can't speak Arabic like those we see in Haramain (Mecca and Medina) but they want to read the Koran, all that they do is to open the book of Koran and they read the Koran in good Arabic.
When you listen to such person you think he knows Arabic, but when you talk to him you discover that they don’t speak Arabic, why he reads the book of Allah, it is the facilitation of Allah the Sublime and the Grand. Someone may say that they read but they don’t understand, no, because you see them reading and tears flow from their eyes and this means that they are reactive by the words and understand what they read, why did they understand while they don’t speak Arabic?
It is the facilitation of Allah to the verses of Koran for all Muslims; those who can read and those who can't read. The aphorism of revealing the Koran from Allah to the prophet while he is illiterate to let us know that Koran is not only for those who read or for those who have fluency or those who have good knowledge of Arabic language and grammar because all these things come after revealing the Koran.
Understanding the Koran is for every believer who has certainty in his heart and thinks deeply in its verses while reading or listening to it. Our good ancestors used to have divine talent and some people still have it. Sometimes a blind man who doesn’t know the Koran by heart asks another one to read for him to listen to Koran, during recitation the reader may forget a verse, the blind man says to him: You are mistaken, the same thing happens again, the reader asks the blind if he knows the Koran by heart, he says: No, he asks him how he knew that he was mistaken, he says: While you were reading I saw light, when the light stopped I knew that you were mistaken.
This happens everywhere and at all times as they were listening to Koran and still do as Allah the most Gracious says: "That any listening ear may understand." (Surat Al-Hakkah, verse 12)
It is not the known corporeal ear but it is called listening ear if it listens to knowledge and wisdom or disporting ear if it listens to songs and fun, but the listening ear is the ear of the heart that listens to the words of Allah. So the greatest type of remembrance is the words of Allah, it becomes so easy now, if I can't recite, I should listen, the broadcast of Koran never stops by day or night and there are recorders and there are the tapes of the most famous readers, the most important thing is to listen carefully.

Sounds like you use it much like many Xtians use the bible.

Me, I believe in mathematics. If I were to look for an ancient text that told the truth, I'd choose Euclid's Elements.

Rap