The Qur’an in its Historical Context

Providing commentary on the controversial revisionist school of Qur’anic studies, this book explores the origins, scholarship and development of the Qur'an. The collection of articles, each written by a distinguished author, treat very familiar passages of the Qur’an in an original manner, combining thorough philology, historical anthropology, and cultural history. This book addresses in a critical fashion the hottest issues in recent works on the Quran. Among other things, the contributors analyze the controversial theories of Luxenberg regarding Syriac and the Quran, and in particular his argument that the term Hur refers not to virgins but to grapes.

Foreword D. Madigan. Notes on Contributors. List of Images. Map: Locations Cited in the Present Volume. Abbreviations. Introduction: Qur'anic Studies and its ControversiesG.S. Reynolds Part 1: Linguistic and Historical Evidence 1. The Qur'an in Recent Scholarship- Challenges and Desiderata F. Donner 2. Epigraphy and the Linguistic Background to the Qur’an R. Hoyland3. Reconstructing the Qur’an: Emerging Insights G. Böwering 4. Reconsidering the Authorship of the Qur’an. Is the Qur’an Partly the Fruit of a Progressive and Collective Work? C. Gilliot 5. Christian Lore and the Arabic Qur’an: The “Companions of the Cave” in Surat al-Kahf and in Syriac Christian Tradition S. Griffith Part 2: The Religious Context of the Late Antique Near East 6. The Theological Christian Influence on the Qur’an: A Reflection S.K. Samir 7. Mary in the Qur’an: A Reexamination of Her Presentation S.A. Mourad 8. The Legend of Alexander the Great in the Qur’an 18:83-102 K. van Bladel 9. Beyond Single Words: ma’ida – Shaytan – jibt and taghut. Mechanisms of Translating the Bible into Ethiopic (Ga’az) Bible and of Transmission into the Qur'anic Text M. Kropp 10. Nascent Islam in the 7th Century Syriac Sources A. Saadi Part 3: Critical Study of the Qur'an and the Muslim Exegetical Tradition 11. Notes on Medieval and Modern Emendations of the Qur’an D. Stewart 12. Syriac in the Qur’an: Classical Muslim Theories A. Rippin. Bibliography. Index of Biblical Verses. Index of Qur'anic Verses. Index of People, Places and Subjects

Gabriel Said Reynolds is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology at the University of Notre Dame, where he specializes in Qur'anic Studies.