The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Blackwell Companions to Religion
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1686

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Fully revised and updated, the second edition of The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an offers an ideal resource for anyone who wishes to read and understand the Qur'an as a text and as a vital component of Muslim life. While retaining the literary approach to the subject, this new edition extends both the theological and philosophical approaches to the Qur'an. Edited by the noted authority on the Qur'an, Andrew Rippin, and Islamic Studies scholar Jawid Mojaddedi, and with contributions from other internationally renowned scholars, the book is comprehensive in scope and written in clear and accessible language. New to this edition is material on modern exegesis, the study of the Qur'an in the West, the relationship between the Qur'an and religions prior to Islam, and much more. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an is a rich and wide-ranging resource, exploring the Qur'an as both a religious text and as a work of literature.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

List of Contributors

Preface

Organization

Technical Considerations

Introduction

PART I: Orientation

CHAPTER 1: Introducing

Structure of the Text

Voice and Audience

History of the Text

Relationship of the Qurʾān to Other Scriptures

Themes of the Qurʾān

Role of the Qurʾān in Islamic Life: Ritual and Art

The Qurʾān in Law

Principles and Practice of Qurʾānic Interpretation

CHAPTER 2: Discovering

Why the Qurʾān?

Academic Study of the Qurʾān

How to Read the Qurʾān?

Revelation and the Abrahamic Faiths

How the Qurʾān Was Revealed

Sources of Revelation?

Major Themes of Revelation

Reading Revelation

Assessing the Qurʾān

Appreciating the Qurʾān

Applying the Qurʾān

Academically Assimilating the Qurʾān

CHAPTER 3: Contextualizing

The Broad Historical Context of the Qurʾān

Outline of Muḥammad’s Life as a Framework for Understanding the Qurʾān

The Qurʾān as “Revelation” in Arabic

The Qurʾān as Scripture

Central Themes of the Qurʾān

Satan as the symbol of evil

Understanding the

Sūra

Understanding Parts of the Qurʾān with the Help of Other Parts

Concluding Remarks

PART II: Text

CHAPTER 4: Linguistic Structure

The Problem

Previous Works

A New View of Qurʾānic Structure

Conclusions

CHAPTER 5: Patterns of Address

Particles, Pronouns, and Other Methods of Designating the Audience

Effects on the Audience

Patterns of Utterance

CHAPTER 6: Language

The Qurʾān as a “Clear” Book

Valorization

Orality

Genres

Verbal Economy

Parataxis

Repetition

Imagery

Concluding Remarks

CHAPTER 7: Poetry and Language

Author note

CHAPTER 8: Foreign Vocabulary

Attitudes of the Medieval Arabs

Bibliographical Resources

The Scope of Jeffery and Supplementary Studies

A Classified Presentation of Jeffery’s Data

Ancient Borrowings

Pre‐Islamic Borrowings

Contemporary Borrowings

New Meanings

Proper Names and Problem Words

Conclusion

CHAPTER 9: Structure and the Emergence of Community

Three Self‐designations of the Qurʾān:

Muṣḥaf–Qur

ʾ

ān–Kitāb

Structure of the Codex: Shape

Place, Time, and Agents of the

Muṣḥaf

The Oral

Qur

ʾ

ān

: The Message and its Communication Process

The Oral

Qur

ʾ

ān

: The Early Meccan Texts and their Structure

Structure of the Later Meccan Texts

From Ritual to Textual Coherence

Becoming a Representation of the “Scripture”: Medinan Texts

CHAPTER 10: Sacrality and Collection

The Qurʾān’s Divine Origin and Nature

The Distinction Between the Actual Qurʾān and the Heavenly Qurʾān

CHAPTER 11: Written Transmission

The First Qurʾān Manuscripts

Experimentation During the First Centuries

Written Copies of the Qurʾān from the Fifth/Eleventh Century Onwards

The Qurʾān Manuscripts in Muslim Societies

From Printed Editions to the Qurʾān Online

CHAPTER 12: Context

The Revelation(s) of the Qurʾān to Muḥammad

The Qurʾān on Muḥammad

Muḥammad’s Role in Shaping the Qurʾān

Muḥammad on the Qurʾān

The

Tafsīr

of Muḥammad

The

Sīra

of Muḥammad

The Qurʾān’s Role in Shaping the Biography of Muḥammad

Conclusions

CHAPTER 13: Context

Aiming at God’s Mind

Mutual Agreement

The Jewish Sources: Moses

Anticipating God’s Revelation

The Case of the

Ḥijāb

Verse

The Case of the Prohibition Against Wine

The Ransom of the Prisoners of the Battle of Badr

ʿUmar and the Hypocrites

Conclusion

PART III: Content

CHAPTER 14: God

God as King

God is King

God as Judge

God and His Covenant

God of the House

The Meaning of the Symbolic God

CHAPTER 15: Prophets and Prophethood

Stories about the Prophets

Status of the Prophets

Virtues of Individual Prophets

Ranks of Prophets

Modes of Prophetic Revelation

Revealed Scriptures

Prophets and Messengers

Scope of the Prophetic Mission

Aims of the Prophetic Mission

Signs and Miracles

Reception of the Prophets

Polemics

CHAPTER 16: Moses

Moses in Egypt

Moses and the Israelites

Mythology and Intertextuality of the Islamic Moses

Moses and Jacob

Moses and Alexander

Moses in Q 18 and 28

Conclusions

CHAPTER 17: Abraham

Abraham’s Trials

Battle with Nimrod (Namrūd)

The Sacrifice of Abraham’s Son

Abraham’s visit to Ishmael

CHAPTER 18: Jesus

Introduction

Description of the Qurʾānic Material

Miracles

Death of Jesus

Deity of Jesus

Lacunae in the Qurʾānic Portrait

Tone and Context

Qurʾānic Commentary

Medieval Trends

Christian Backgrounds

Contemporary Discussions

CHAPTER 19: Biblical Background

The Biblical Material in the Qurʾān

Adam and Eve

Cain and Abel

Noah

Abraham and Lot

Joseph

Moses and Aaron

Saul, David, and Solomon

Jonah

John, Zechariah, and Mary

Jesus and the Holy Spirit

Other Biblical Material in the Qurʾān

Biblical Material not Mentioned by the Qurʾān

Knowledge of the Canonical Bible

Departures from the Bible

The Qurʾān’s Assessment of the Bible

Debates over the Nature of Biblical Material in the Qurʾān

CHAPTER 20: Other Religions

Ambivalent Attitudes

The Qurʾān and Its Interreligious Context

Approaches to Polemical Passages

Concluding Remarks

CHAPTER 21: Argumentation

Qurʾānic Attitude to Argumentation

God’s Unity (

Tawhīd

)

Authenticity of Muḥammad’s Prophethood

Resurrection

Conclusion

CHAPTER 22: Knowing and Thinking

Divine and Human Knowledge in the Qurʾān

Divine Knowing and Teaching

God as Teacher

Human Knowing as Perception, Cognition, and Understanding

Supposition and Assertion

Perception: Seeing, Hearing, Awareness, and Recognition

Cognition: Recollection, Reflection, and Understanding

Knowing

Divine Knowledge and Human Knowing

Limits of Human Knowing

Necessity of Divine Knowledge

Conclusions

CHAPTER 23: Sex, Sexuality, and the Family

CHAPTER 24: Jihād

Contextual Meanings of

Jihād

,

Qitāl

, and

Ḥarb

Qurʾānic Militancy in Historical Context

The Range of Qurʾānic Articulations of War

Qurʾān and

Jihād

in the Contemporary Period

PART IV: Interpretation

CHAPTER 25: Hermeneutics: al‐Thaʿlabī

The Détente with Philology

Tafsīr

and Pietistic Sensibilities

Narration and Exegesis

Exegesis and Theology

Prophetic

Ḥadith

and

Tafsīr

Tafsīr

as the Absorber of New Challenges to Sunnism

Shīʿī Traditions in

Al‐Kashf

Al‐Thaʿlabī and Medieval Qurʾānic Exegesis

CHAPTER 26: Stories of the Prophets

Introduction to the Text

Publication History

Major Sources

Construction of the Text

Social and Intellectual Context

Reception of the Text

CHAPTER 27: Ṣūfism

CHAPTER 28: Rūmī

Rūmī

The Qurʾān and the

Mathnawī

The

Mathnawī

in Relation to the Qurʾān

Conclusion

CHAPTER 29: Ibn al‐ʿArabī

Using Simple Logical Arguments

Exploiting the First Meanings of the Words

Word‐Play with the Etymology of Words

Paraphrasing of Verses

Creating a Whole Picture through Adding Verses from Other

Sūra

s

Conclusion

CHAPTER 30: Twelver Shīʿī

Ta

ʾ

wīl

Origin of Shīʿī Islam

Early Debates on the Qurʾān

Early Exegetes

Medieval Exegetes

Modern Exegetes

Conclusion

CHAPTER 31: Ismāʿīlī

Ta

ʾ

wīl

Early Exegetes

Fāṭimid Exegetes

Alamūt Exegetes

Ginānic Exegetes

Modern Exegetes

Conclusion

CHAPTER 32: Modern and Contemporary Interpretation of the Qurʾān

The Evolution of the Exegetical Tradition

Revolutionizing an Evolutionary Tradition

Mass Media, Popular Exegesis, and Apologetics

Modernism and Postmodernism

Contexts and Conflicts

Unity and Diversity

PART V: Application

CHAPTER 33: Exegetical Sciences

Starting with Summation

Comparing Two Compendia

Selecting Some Samples

Seeking the Sources

Evolution and Expansion

CHAPTER 34: Theology

Theology in the Qurʾān

The Qurʾān as Stimulus to Theological Discussions

Types of Theology

Conclusion

CHAPTER 35: Jurisprudence

Defining the Book

Reliability (

Tawātur

)

The Basmala

Abrogation – The Assessment but Not the Recitation

Abrogating – The Recitation but Not the Assessment

Translation

Hermeneutics: Found Text and the Construction of Context

The Qurʾān Is Language

The Qurʾān Is Arabic

Particles

The Qurʾān’s Context

Self‐subsistence: Manifest and Indeterminate, Figurative and Literal

Textual Force: General and Restricted

Ḥanafī Rhetorical Analysis: The Sliding Scale of Clarity and Effective Force

Conclusion

CHAPTER 36: Contemporary Ethical Issues

Classical Background

Modern‐day Texts

Conclusions

CHAPTER 37: Narrative Literature

Past: The Stories of the Prophets

Present: The Life of Muḥammad

Future: Heaven or Hell

Conclusion

CHAPTER 38: Recitation

The Qurʾān and the

Sunna

on the Recited Qurʾān

Systems for Reading the Qurʾān:

Qirā

ʾ

āt

and

Tajwīd

Norms of Qurʾānic Worship, Preservation, and Piety

Qurʾānic Aesthetics and Performance

The Recited Qurʾān and Contemporary Islamic Revitalization

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index of People, Places and Topics

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Tables

Chapter 02

Table 2.1 Polarities in the study of the Qurʾān

Chapter 04

Table 4.1 General categories of textual relations

Chapter 31

Table 31.1 The chain of prophethood

Table 31.2 Hidden meaning of the seven pillars

List of Illustrations

Chapter 31

Figure 31.1 Ismāʿīlī theory of interpretation.

Chapter 33

Figure 33.1 Al‐Suyūṭī’s textual architecture.

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

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The Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion

The Wiley Blackwell Companions to Religion series presents a collection of the most recent scholarship and knowledge about world religions. Each volume draws together newly commissioned essays by distinguished authors in the field, and is presented in a style which is accessible to undergraduate students, as well as scholars and the interested general reader. These volumes approach the subject in a creative and forward‐thinking style, providing a forum in which leading scholars in the field can make their views and research available to a wider audience.

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The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the QurʾānEdited by Andrew Rippin and Jawid Mojaddedi

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Qurʾān

Second Edition

Edited by

Andrew Rippin

University of VictoriaVictoria, BC, Canada

Jawid Mojaddedi

Rutgers UniversityNew Brunswick, NJ, USA

This second edition first published 2017© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Edition history: Blackwell Publishing Ltd (1e, 2006) except for editorial material and organization © 2006 by Andrew Rippin.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

The right of Andrew Rippin and Jawid Mojaddedi to be identified as the editors of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with law.

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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data

Names: Rippin, Andrew, 1950– editor. | Mojaddedi, J. A. (Jawid Ahmad) editor.Title: The Wiley Blackwell companion to the Qurʾān / edited by Andrew Rippin, Jawid Mojaddedi.Description: Second edition. | Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, 2017. | Series: The Wiley Blackwell companions to religion | Includes bibliographical references and index.Identifiers: LCCN 2016045435 (print) | LCCN 2016047317 (ebook) | ISBN 9781118964804 (cloth) | ISBN 9781118964842 (pdf) | ISBN 9781118964835 (epub)Subjects: LCSH: Qurʾān –Criticism, interpretation, etc. | Qurʾān –Appreciation.Classification: LCC BP130.4 .W55 2017 (print) | LCC BP130.4 (ebook) | DDC 297.1/226–dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016045435

Cover Image: © Gyuszko/GettyimagesCover Design: Wiley

List of Contributors

Binyamin Abrahamov, Professor of Islamic Theology and Qurʾānic Studies, Bar‐Ilan University, Israel.

Carol Bakhos, Professor of Late Antique Judaism and Jewish Studies, University of California at Los Angeles, USA.

Herbert Berg, Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religion, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, USA.

Christopher Buck, Independent scholar and attorney in Pennsylvania, having taught at Michigan State University, Quincy University, Millikin University, and Carleton University, USA.

Michael Carter, Professor of Arabic, University of Oslo (until 2005), Honorary Professor at the Medieval and Early Modern Centre of Sydney University, Australia.

François Déroche, Professor, École pratique des hautes études, Paris, France.

Salwa El‐Awa, Lecturer in Arabic, Department of Languages, Translation, and Communication, Swansea University, UK.

Reuven Firestone, Regenstein Professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles, senior fellow at the University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture and co‐director of the Center for Muslim‐Jewish Engagement, USA.

Anna M. Gade, Professor, Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia and the Religious Studies Program, University of Wisconsin‐Madison, USA.

Alan Godlas, Associate Professor, Department of Religion, University of Georgia, USA.

Rosalind Ward Gwynne, Emerita Professor of Islamic Studies, Department of Religious Studies, University of Tennessee, USA.

Avraham Hakim, Arabic teacher and lecturer on Islam, The Lowy School for Overseas Students, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Navid Kermani, writer, Cologne, Germany.

Leah Kinberg, Senior Lecturer, Department of Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Marianna Klar, Research Associate, Centre of Islamic Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, UK.

Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Director of John W. Kluge Center and Office of Scholarly Programs, Library of Congress, USA.

Mustansir Mir, University Professor of Islamic Studies, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Youngstown State University, Ohio, USA.

Khaleel Mohammed, Professor of Religion, San Diego State University, California, USA.

Jawid Mojaddedi, Professor of Religion, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA.

Angelika Neuwirth, Professor, Seminar für Semitistik und Arabistik, Freie Universität, Berlin, and director of the Project Corpus Coranicum at the Berlin‐Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Germany.

Gordon Nickel, Adjunct Professor, University of Calgary, Canada.

Johanna Pink, Professor, Orientalisches Seminar, Albert‐Ludwigs‐Universität Freiburg, Germany.

A. Kevin Reinhart, Associate Professor, Department of Religion, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA.

Gabriel Said Reynolds, Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology, University of Notre Dame, USA.

Andrew Rippin, formerly Dean, Faculty of Humanities, Professor of History, University of Victoria, Canada.

Uri Rubin, Professor Emeritus, Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Abdullah Saeed, Sultan of Oman Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies, Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies, University of Melbourne, Australia.

Walid Saleh, Associate Professor, Department of Religion and Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto, Canada.

Aliza Shnizer, Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Mun’im Sirry, Assistant Professor, Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame, USA.

Tamara Sonn, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al‐Thani Professor in the History of Islam at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, USA.

Diana Steigerwald, Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, California State University, Long Beach, USA.

Roberto Tottoli, Professor, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale,” Italy.

Brannon Wheeler, Professor of History. Director of the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, USA.

A. H. Mathias Zahniser, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky, USA, and Scholar in Residence at Greenville College, Illinois, USA.

Kate Zebiri, Senior Lecturer in Arabic and Islamic Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, UK.

Preface

Andrew Rippin

The publication of a volume devoted to the Qurʾān in the “companion” genre marks the emergence of the text of Muslim scripture within the canon of world literature in a manner particularly appropriate to the twenty‐first century. This companion is explicitly designed to guide the reader who may have little exposure to the Qurʾān beyond a curiosity evoked by the popular media. It aims to provide such a person with the starting point of a general orientation and take him or her to a well‐advanced state of understanding regarding the complexities of the text and its associated traditions. However, a “companion” volume such as this is also an opportunity for scholars to extend the boundaries of what might be deemed to be the “accepted” approaches to the text of the Qurʾān because such a volume provides, it is to be hoped, the material which will inspire future generations of scholars who first encounter the Qurʾān in the classroom and for whom new avenues of exploration provide the excitement of research and discovery.

Organization

This companion has been organized in order to facilitate its usefulness for the groups of readers who may wish to embark on a deeper understanding of the Qurʾān in its historical context and as an object of scholarly study. Part I functions as an introduction to the text but its three chapters are oriented in different, yet complementary ways. All readers, but especially those who are coming to the Qurʾān with little foreknowledge of the text and/or the scholarly study of it, will find these chapters the place to start. “Introducing” the Qurʾān (chapter 1) means orienting the reader to the basic facts, themselves coming from a variety of perspectives both internal and external to the text. “Discovering” the Qurʾān (chapter 2) speaks to the experience of a student and considers how one might integrate the Qurʾān within a framework of religious studies. “Contextualizing” the Qurʾān (chapter 3) orients the reader to a Muslim scholarly perspective, putting the emphasis on the historical context in which the facts about the Qurʾān are to be understood. Each chapter thus adds a level of complexity to the task of approaching the Qurʾān, although each chapter recognizes certain common elements which pose a challenge to the reader, especially the question of the choice of “lens” through which one should read the text.

Part II addresses the text of the Qurʾān on both the structural and the historical level, two dimensions which have always been seen in scholarly study as fully intertwined. Issues of origin and composition lie deeply embedded in all of these concerns because, it is argued, the structure of the text – which is what makes the book a challenge to read – must be accounted for through the process of history. However, the final aim of these attempts at explaining the Qurʾān is directed towards a single end, that of coming to an understanding of the text. The internal structure of the Qurʾān is the focus of chapter 4. These observations are complemented by an intricate series of observations about the nature of the text and its language, including the patterns of address used in the text (chapter 5), language – especially its use of literary figures – in chapter 6, the relationship between poetry and language as it affects the Qurʾān (chapter 7), and the range of the vocabulary of the text that is thought to come from non‐Arabic sources in chapter 8. All of these factors – structure, language, and vocabulary – combine and become manifested in the emergence of a text of the scripture within the context of a community of Muslims (chapter 9), creating the text which emerges as sacred through the complex passage of history (chapter 10), which is then transmitted through the generations of Muslims, the focus of chapter 11. All of this happens in a historical context of the early community which is shown to be foundational to the understanding of the text in both the person of Muḥammad and his life (chapter 12) and that of the early leader ʿUmar b. al‐Khaṭṭāb (chapter 13).

Such details provide an understanding of the text on a linguistic and historical level, but the overall nature of its message is fundamentally ignored in such considerations. Part III thus turns to consider some of the major topics which characterize that message. Muslims have, in fact, seen the Qurʾān as all‐encompassing in its treatment of human existence and an inventory of themes can really only provide examples of ways of analyzing and categorizing the contents of the scripture: there is little substitute for a rigorous study of the text itself if one wishes to gain a clear sense of what it is really about as a whole. However, certain aspects do provide key ideas and provide the opportunity to illustrate methods of approach. Dominating all of the message of the Qurʾān is, of course, the figure of Allāh, the all‐powerful, one God revealed in the Qurʾān just as He is in the biblical tradition (chapter 14), through a process of revelation brought by prophets (chapter 15), three important ones of whom in the Qurʾān are Moses (chapter 16), Abraham (chapter 17), and Jesus (chapter 18). The inclusion of such prophets in the Qurʾān highlights the importance of understanding the biblical background in the Qurʾān (chapter 19) and its references to other religions in general (chapter 20). The message those prophets (including Muḥammad in the Qurʾān) bring argues for belief in God (chapter 21) among reflective, thinking human beings (chapter 22). However, the prophets also bring a message of how life should be lived in both love (chapter 23) and war (chapter 24).

This text of the Qurʾān, as all of the preceding material has made clear, is a complex one that Muslims have always known needed interpretation. This might be said to be the nature of divine revelation, which poses the problem of how the infinity and absoluteness of God can be expressed in the limited and ambiguous format of human language. Such a situation calls for a hermeneutics that is elaborated within the framework of Islam (chapter 25) which can also draw its inspiration from a multitude of sources, always filtered through Islamic eyes and needs (chapter 26). Differing approaches to Islam developed in the Muslim world, variations which the Qurʾān facilitated through its conduciveness to interpretation: thus ṣūfīs (chapter 27), two of the most influential of whom were Rūmī (chapter 28) and Ibn al‐ʿArabī (chapter 29), Twelver Shīʿites (chapter 30), and Ismāʿīlīs (chapter 31) all sought strength and support for their ideas in the text of the Qurʾān and developed their own principles by which to understand the scripture. Modernity has posed its own distinct challenges that can be seen reflected in changes in the interpretation of the Qurʾān (chapter 32).

However, the Qurʾān has far more significance within Muslim life than as an object functioning as a ground for exegesis. The world of the Qurʾān extends much further, becoming the basis of scholastic consideration and development of learning within the context of exegetical elaboration (chapter 33), theology (chapter 34), and jurisprudence (chapter 35). It is a touchstone for every discussion of ethical issues in the modern world (chapter 36), just as it was the basis for literary development in the classical world (chapter 37). Underlying all of that, however, is the status of the Qurʾān not so much as a rational launching pad for further thought but as a text of devotion, as displayed in the attention to its orality and manifestation in recitation (chapter 38). The application of the Qurʾān thus extends through the many aspects of Muslim day‐to‐day life.

Technical Considerations

A work such as this depends upon a significant number of scholars interested in making their academic work accessible to a broad reading public and a new generation of students. As editors of the volume, we would like to express our appreciation to all of the contributors – a truly international gathering of scholars – for their efforts. There is a delicate balance in a work such as this between documenting and annotating every thought and being mindful of the variety of readers who are the potential audience; thus, the number of references and endnotes has been drastically reduced but not totally eliminated, for it is in such supporting apparatus that there lies one of the sources of research directions for future generations of scholars. As well, it is notable that there clearly continues to be a need to justify many points of discussion with reference to original and secondary sources; it is perhaps indicative of the still‐developing nature of Qurʾānic studies that it is not possible to assume an agreed‐upon core of basic data and interpretation that would simplify much of the documentation in a volume such as this.

In an attempt to eliminate some of the “clutter” that is often associated with academic work, the bibliographical references for each chapter have been consolidated into one overall bibliography at the end of the volume. The exercise of compiling this bibliography has been, for the editors, and for the publisher’s copy‐editor as well, a task made all the more complex because of the lack of standard editions of many works of constant reference in the field – an aspect aggravated by the loose control over the reprinting of works by different publishers in many parts of the Arab world who make no reference to the source of the original print and who oftentimes use slightly variant page numbering even in direct reprints of a text; thus, for some items in the bibliography, several prints will be listed because those are the ones available to individual writers, and only seldom has it been possible to consolidate different editions. The situation does not exist solely with reprints of Arabic texts in the Arab world, although it certainly afflicts that area far more extensively; the record of the European publishing project of the Encyclopaedia of Islam is equally complex, although the correlations between the multiple versions of that work are at least somewhat more straightforward. For ease of citation, all references to the Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition (= second edition) in this book have been reduced to EI2 (2004), meaning the CD‐ROM version which is a direct reproduction of the printed work in English which appeared in twelve volumes (plus supplements) between 1954 and 2004 (and which is now also available in a Web version). The now emerging third edition appears to be planned under English head words, so no correlation with that edition will likely be possible.

References to the Qurʾān are cited generally in the format “Q sūra number:āya number,” numbered according to what is commonly called the Cairo text. Dates are generally cited in the format “Hijrī/Gregorian” unless otherwise indicated.

Introduction

Jawid Mojaddedi

On July 22, 2015, the academic study of the Qurʾān made international headlines due to the announcement of the results of the radiocarbon dating of a manuscript held at the University of Birmingham. The resulting dates (568–645 CE) covered a range that encompasses earlier dates than previously achieved by such methods, including before the traditional date of birth of the Prophet Muḥammad of 570 CE. While the average viewer of this news item might have believed the original manuscript of the Qurʾān had been discovered, or “the one belonging to the first caliph, Abū Bakr” (http://www.bbc.com/news/business‐35151643), informed inquirers found that this radiocarbon dating raised more questions than it answered.

The immediate cause of doubts over the results of this radiocarbon dating, which are always very broad and have been known to fail with documents of verifiable dates of origin, was the graphical evidence, which has been interpreted as pointing to a much later date; it is after all the date of the text that is most important, not the specific date of the parchment, though possibilities of storage or reuse of such material would open further areas of exploration. And, of course, the Birmingham manuscript is not a complete Qurʾān, but just two folios of an estimated 200 in its source. In spite of all these concerns, this discovery nonetheless managed to raise public awareness of the complexities of dating the Qurʾān and also of the many question marks that remain about the history of the Islamic holy text.

If this discovery had been made forty years ago, the opinions of academicians about its historical value may not have diverged so much, neither among themselves nor from the opinions of the widely quoted local Muslim leaders in Birmingham. However, the academic study of the history of the text of the Qurʾān has transformed considerably in the past four decades, not only with regard to paleography and codicology, but also, in combination with this, through the seriousness with which scholars have attempted to situate the Qurʾān in the wider history of the Near and Middle East. The adoption of the same principles of historical study as used in other fields has enabled a much larger number of scholars than ever before to communicate and collaborate in constructive ways, rather than exceptionalize and thereby isolate the study of the history of Islam.

In view of scholarly preoccupations in recent decades, a whole section, Part II, is devoted to the analysis of the textual structure of the Qurʾān and its history. Among the chapters of Part II there can be found, in addition to the chapters on the Qurʾānic text itself, a chapter on Muḥammad by Herbert Berg. This is because the biography of the prophet of Islam and its relationship to Islamic scriptures is at the center of diverging theories about the history of the Qurʾānic text. It provides the narrative framework for the revelation of the Islamic holy book in traditional understanding, and, through the correspondence of its content with much of the content of the Qurʾān, makes a compelling case for this role. It is therefore not altogether surprising that for most of the history of the academic study of the Qurʾān and the biography of Muḥammad, there was a near consensus about their inseparable historical relationship.

The reason for doubting the traditional understanding of the relationship between the Qurʾān and the biography of Muḥammad is that, while it satisfies theological needs perfectly adequately, the same cannot be said for historical questions. The work of John Wansbrough in the 1970s represents the most important turning point for newer, “revisionist” approaches to this relationship in the quest for more convincing historical answers. For Wansbrough, “prophetic logia” (the Qurʾān) were much later exegetically historicized by “the Muḥammadan evangelium” (the biography of Muḥammad), and there is no reason for academicians to assume that the two were originally related. Based on the dating of available textual material and through Wansbrough’s influence, the Qurʾān has increasingly come to be seen in the academy as independent in origin from the much later written biography of Muḥammad, while in traditional scholarship they have continued to be treated as inseparable. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Qurʾān includes chapters that take a range of differing approaches to this issue, reflecting the diversity of opinion among academicians today.

Pulling away the entire framework that has propped up a structure always has a devastating effect. This case of a framework that has endured for more than a millennium through different intellectual traditions by embedding the Qurʾān within a contemporary life‐story is no exception. However, as Wansbrough has put it, “the seventh century Hijaz owes its historiographical existence almost entirely to the creative endeavor of Muslim and Orientalist scholarship” (Wansbrough 1987: 9); the knowledge that remains without this is sparse. As a result, while the study of the Qurʾān adopted rules of the game that correspond to those of historians of other aspects of the Near and Middle East in the same time period, the heavy price to pay for this has been the loss of confidence in accumulated knowledge of generations of scholarship on the history of early Islam that had taken on the assumptions of the faith traditions being studied.

The experience of comparing scholarship on early Islam before the 1970s with that which emerged afterwards among revisionists can be like comparing work on a previously busy and crammed canvas with that on a fresh canvas, where the justification for every brush stroke is more rigorously scrutinized. This is one of the more challenging aspects of more recent scholarship on the history of the Qurʾān, as well as the more startling, for those familiar with traditional scholarship on the subject. In consequence, although the academic study of the Qurʾān is hardly in its infancy, new ways of understanding it have proliferated in recent decades, including ground‐breaking works by contributors to this volume.

There is still much research that needs to be carried out, as highlighted by the fact that even a critical edition of the Qurʾān is yet to be prepared. But this is a most exciting field at the present time, and the developments in academic research into the Qurʾān may have an impact eventually on traditional understanding as well, especially since this is a fertile period for new twenty‐first‐century interpretations of the religion by Muslim reformers. More broadly, the fruits of this research so far, such as through highlighting the consonance and continuities between the Qurʾān and late antique Syriac sources for Christianity, have already been drawn upon increasingly to counter the exceptionalization of Islam by both islamophobic circles and supremacist Muslim factions. As a result, Islam is increasingly seen, both theologically and historically, as another product of the same milieu of Semitic monotheism in the Near and Middle East that also eventually produced the forms of Judeo‐Christian traditions that dominate the English‐speaking world today.

The fact that it is the Qurʾān that is being studied in this new light means that other fields in Islamic studies are also inevitably being impacted by these developments, since it is of fundamental importance to all representations of Islam. The most obvious example is the study of minority religious traditions that had long been dismissed by mainstream theologians for their belief in the continuation to some degree of divine revelation and prophethood after Muḥammad, with the effect that academicians had also taken on the same prejudices. Seemingly afoul of the basic dogmas of Islam, traditions such as Ṣūfism and Ismāʿīlism had even developed defensive public justifications that ended up being regarded in traditional scholarship as the normative expressions of their traditions rather than apologetics. A more nuanced understanding of the sacralization of the Qurʾān and the development of related dogmas as being the results of a slower process can reveal a much more diverse and historically dynamic range of competing interpretations about revelation and prophethood, especially during the early centuries of Islam. These matters are explored further in the chapters in this volume in Part IV on interpretations of the Qurʾān in minority traditions, and by influential representatives such as Rūmī and Ibn al‐ʿArabī.

Whatever interpretation one has of the history of the text of the Qurʾān and its sacralization, there is no doubt about its status in the eyes of Muslims for the documented history of the community. It is also precisely because of its supreme status for them that the changing experiences of the Muslim community over the centuries have necessitated new readings of the Qurʾān. Since the encounter of modernity has had the most emphatic impact of this kind, the chapters on modern interpretations of the Qurʾān and its usage in the Internet age in this volume are particularly illuminating in this regard.

The increasingly multimedia experience of texts in recent decades has also had the effect of highlighting the aesthetic qualities of the Qurʾān, especially in aural, oral, and visual experience. This arguably redresses the imbalance in much academic study focused on the written text. The chapters in this volume about such qualities are strong reminders of the significance of the primary encounter of the Qurʾān for Muslims in these different dimensions and the aesthetic beauty that has inspired convictions about the Qurʾān’s inimitability.

Aesthetic aspects are increasingly highlighted through studies using the latest critical theory and can be experienced more easily than ever through the latest technology, ensuring that they do not become overshadowed by research developments in the study of the Qurʾānic text’s early history. They ensure that it will never be difficult to see why the Qurʾān is so revered and treasured by more than a billion people in the world today. The inclusion of these chapters makes the Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Qurʾān not only a resource for accessible introductions based on the latest academic scholarship, but also a very well‐rounded volume in its coverage of topics.

The principal editor of this volume, Andrew Rippin, became too ill in Spring 2015 to continue with its preparation, at which point I became involved in its editing. Andrew died on November 29th, 2016. On behalf of all contributors, I would like to dedicate this volume to his memory.

PART IOrientation

1 Introducing

Tamara Sonn

2 Discovering

Christopher Buck

3 Contextualizing

Abdullah Saeed

CHAPTER 1Introducing

Tamara Sonn

The Qurʾān (“Koran” in archaic spelling) is the sacred scripture of Islam. The term qurʾān means “recitation” or “reading,” reflecting the Muslim belief that it is the word of God, not of the prophet who delivered it. Although the Qurʾān was revealed (or “sent down,” munzal, as the Arabic term has it) in the first/seventh century, Muslims believe that it is nonetheless timeless, the word of God, revealed word for word in the Arabic language through God’s final messenger, Muḥammad (d. 11/632). Sunnī Muslims (approximately 85 percent of the world’s Muslim population) believe the Qurʾān is therefore uncreated; like God, whose speech it is, it has always existed. The Qurʾān says that its words reflect a divine archetype of revelation, which it calls “the preserved tablet” (al‐lawḥ al‐maḥfūẓ, Q 85:22). This allows for interpretation of the term qurʾān as “reading,” even though Muḥammad is described by the Qurʾān as unlettered or illiterate (Q 7:157; 62:2). Rather than “reading” a message, Muḥammad is described as delivering a message that God had imprinted upon his heart (e.g., Q 26:194). At one point the Qurʾān refers to Gabriel (Jibrīl) as the one “who has brought it [revelation] down upon your heart” (Q 2:97). As a result, traditional interpreters claim that Gabriel was the medium through whom Muḥammad received God’s revelation.

The Qurʾān uses the term qurʾān seventy times, sometimes generically referring to “recitation” but usually referring to revelation. The Qurʾān also refers to itself, as it does to the Torah and the Gospels, as simply “the book” (al‐kitāb), a term used hundreds of times to refer to recorded revelation. Muslims therefore frequently refer to the Qurʾān as “The Book.” Muslims also commonly use terms such as “noble” (al‐Qurʾān al‐karīm), “glorious” (al‐Qurʾān al‐majīd), and other terms of respect for the Qurʾān. They commemorate annually the beginning of its revelation on the “night of power” (or “destiny,” laylat al‐qadr), during the last ten days of Ramaḍān, the month of fasting. So important is the revelation of the Qurʾān that the Qurʾān describes laylat al‐qadr as “better than a thousand months” (Q 97:3).

Muslims’ respect for the Qurʾān is demonstrated by the fact that only those who are in a state of spiritual purity are allowed to touch it. It is the miracle of Islam; Muḥammad brought no other. The Qurʾān tells us that when people asked Muḥammad to demonstrate the authenticity of his prophecy by performing miracles, as other prophets had done, he offered them the Qurʾān. The beauty of its language is believed to be beyond compare, and impossible to imitate. (This belief is conveyed in the doctrine of the inimitability of the Qurʾān, iʿjāz.) Whereas Jesus’ life was miraculous and forms the basis of Christianity, the Qurʾān itself is the basis of Islamic life. It forms the core of Islamic ritual and practice, learning, and law.

Structure of the Text

The Qurʾān consists of 114 chapters, called sūras (plural: suwar). The verses of the chapters are called āyāt (singular: āya). The chapters range in length from 3 to 287 verses. The first sūra is very short, but the remaining sūras are arranged roughly in descending order of length, that is, from longest to shortest, rather than in chronological order.

The chronological order in which the chapters were delivered is determined based on both internal evidence and traditional literature concerning the circumstances of revelation (asbāb al‐nuzūl). Although not all scholars agree on the precise dating of all the verses of the Qurʾān, there is general agreement that approximately ninety of the chapters were delivered during the earlier period of revelation, while Muḥammad and his community lived in Mecca. The remaining chapters were delivered after the emigration (hijra) to Medina (1/622). Accordingly, scholars often refer to chapters as being Meccan or Medinan. The former tend to be shorter (and therefore placed at the end of the Qurʾān), poetic in form, passionate in tone, and characterized by general references to monotheism; the glory, power, mercy, and justice of God (Allāh, from the Arabic al‐ilāh: the [one] god); and the need for submission (islām) to the will of God in order to achieve the great rewards promised in the afterlife and avoid divine retribution. The Medinan sūras tend to be longer (and therefore found at the beginning of the Qurʾān), more prosaic in form, and deal with more practical issues such as marriage and inheritance.

Each chapter of the Qurʾān has a name, such as “Opening” (Q 1), “Women” (Q 4), and “Repentance” (Q 9). These names were ascribed after the Qurʾān was canonized (established in its authoritative form) and typically derive from major references in the chapters. All but one chapter (Q 9) begins with the phrase “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.” Twenty‐nine chapters of the Qurʾān are also preceded by a letter or brief series of Arabic letters, whose meaning is unclear. Some scholars believe they refer to elements within the chapter itself, some believe they refer to early organizational components of the chapters, while others believe they have mystical or spiritual meanings. Whatever their significance, these letters are considered to be part of revelation itself.

Voice and Audience

The Qurʾān often speaks in the first person (“I” or “We,” used interchangeably), indicating that it is the voice of God. For example, as in the verse about the first night of revelation (laylat al‐qadr) cited above, the Qurʾān says, “Surely We sent it [revelation] down on the night of power” (Q 97:1–2). In this voice, the Qurʾān frequently addresses itself to Muḥammad, instructing him to “say” or “tell” people certain things, sometimes in response to specific issues. For example, when people were doubting Muḥammad’s role as prophet, the Qurʾān instructs him: “Say, ‘O people, indeed I am a clear warner to you. Those who believe and do good works, for them is forgiveness and generous blessing’” (Q 22:49–50). The Qurʾān also offers advice to Muḥammad. When people accused him of being a mere poet or even a fortune‐teller, the Qurʾān says, “Do they say that you have forged [the Qurʾān]? Say, ‘If I have forged it, my crimes are my own; but I am innocent of what you do’” (Q 11:35). The Qurʾān also offers encouragement to Muḥammad when his efforts seem futile: “Have we not opened your heart and relieved you of the burden that was breaking your back?” (Q 94:1–2). At other times, the Qurʾān speaks directly to the people about Muḥammad. Concerning the issue of the authenticity of his message, the Qurʾān addresses the community, saying, “The heart [of the prophet] was not deceived. Will you then dispute with him about what he saw?” (Q 53:11–12). The Qurʾān is the word of God throughout, but many of the longer verses appear in the voice of Muḥammad, addressing the community with the word of God and referring to God in the third person. For instance, we are told, “There is no compulsion in religion. Right has been distinguished from wrong. Whoever rejects idols and believes in God has surely grasped the strongest, unbreakable bond. And God hears and knows” (Q 2:256).

The audience addressed by the Qurʾān is assumed to be the community of seventh‐century Arabia, where Muḥammad lived, although its message is meant for all times and places. Interestingly, and uniquely among monotheistic scriptures, the Qurʾān assumes both males and females among its audience, and frequently addresses the concerns of both. For example, it tells us that God is prepared to forgive and richly reward all good people, both male and female:

Men who submit [to God] and women who submit [to God],Men who believe and women who believe,Men who obey and women who obey,Men who are honest and women who are honest,Men who are steadfast and women who are steadfast,Men who are humble and women who are humble,Men who give charity and women who give charity,Men who fast and women who fast,Men who are modest and women who are modest,Men and women who remember God often. (Q 33:35)

History of the Text

Unlike earlier scriptures, the history of the Qurʾān is well known. The Qurʾān was delivered by Muḥammad to his community in Arabia in various contexts over a period of twenty‐two years, 610 to 632 CE. According to tradition, Muḥammad’s followers sometimes recorded his pronouncements, while others of his followers memorized and transmitted them orally during his lifetime. After the death of Muḥammad (11/632), and with the deaths of some of those who memorized the Qurʾān (ḥuffāẓ), the prophet’s companions decided to establish a written version of the Qurʾān so that it could be preserved accurately for posterity. This process was begun by a close companion of Muḥammad, Zayd b. Thābit (d. 35/655), who collected written records of Qurʾānic verses soon after the death of Muḥammad. The third successor (caliph) to the prophet, ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān (d. 36/656), is credited with commissioning Zayd and other respected scholars to establish the authoritative written version of the Qurʾān based upon the written and oral records. Thus, within twenty years of Muḥammad’s death, the Qurʾān was committed to written form. That text became the model from which copies were made and promulgated throughout the urban centers of the Muslim world, and other versions are believed to have been destroyed. Because of the existence of various dialects, slight variations in the reading of the authoritative versions were possible. To this day seven slightly variant readings remain acceptable, traditionally believed to be of divine origin.

In the modern era, scholarly efforts to critically analyze the history of the text beyond this accepted narrative are highly controversial. This is due to European colonialism throughout the Muslim world, which was often accompanied by critiques of Islam and missionary efforts to convert Muslims into Christians.

The Qurʾān was copied and transmitted by hand until the modern era. Early Arabic lacked vowel markers; in order to avoid confusion, markers indicating specific vowel sounds were introduced into the language by the end of the third/ninth century.

The first printed version was produced in Rome in 1530 CE; a second printed version was produced in Hamburg in 1694. The first critical edition produced in Europe was done by Gustav Flügel in 1834.

The numbering of the verses varies slightly between the standard 1925 Egyptian edition and the 1834 edition established by Flügel, which is used by many Western scholars. (Editions from Pakistan and India often follow the Egyptian standard edition with the exception that they count the opening phrase, “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate,” of each chapter as the first verse.) The variations in verse numbering comprise only a few verses and reflect differing interpretations of where certain verses end.

The Qurʾān is considered to be authentic only in Arabic. Even non‐Arabic‐speaking Muslims pray in Arabic, the language serving as a great symbol of unity throughout the Muslim world. Nevertheless, numerous translations of the Qurʾān have been produced. The first Latin translation was done in the twelfth century CE, commissioned by Peter the Venerable, abbot of the monastery of Cluny in France. It was published in Switzerland in the sixteenth century. The Qurʾān is now readily available in virtually all written languages.

Relationship of the Qurʾān to Other Scriptures

The Qurʾān contains numerous references to the earlier monotheistic scriptures, which it identifies as the Torah, the Psalms, and the Gospels, and assumes people are familiar with those texts. As a result, it does not recount their historic narratives. Instead, the Qurʾān uses characters and events familiar to Jews and Christians to make specific moral or theological points. References to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, and Jesus, for example, therefore appear frequently but not in chronological order.

The Qurʾān refers to the monotheistic tradition as simply “the religion” (al‐dīn