Representing a new development in the study of Qur'anic text, this book tackles the issue of Qur'anic text structure by fusing the fields of linguistics and Qur'anic studies. The Qur'an contains many long suras covering diverse topics but with no apparent common context within which such variety can be explained. This book proposes a new explanation of Qur'anic text structure, arguing that the long suras have structure that are explicable within a framework for the mechanisms of human verbal communication. Through a systematic step-by-step analysis of the cognitive process involved in verbal communication and comprehension of text, this work provides interesting and useful insights into methods of analysis, mechanisms and dynamics of the Qur'anic text structure. The unique application of a sophisticated linguistic theory to the Qur'an introduces an entirely new way of reading the Qur'an and with detailed analysis of two Qur'anic passages the book presents a solid working out of the theory that will be accessible to both linguists and scholars of the Qur'an.

Qur'anic Studies Today brings together specialists in the field of Islamic studies to provide a range of essays that reflect the depth and breadth of scholarship on the Qur'an. Combining theoretical and methodological clarity with close readings of qur'anic texts, these contributions provide close analysis of specific passages, themes, and issues within the Qur'an, even as they attend to the disciplinary challenges within the field of qur'anic studies today. Chapters are arranged into three parts, treating specific figures appearing in the Qur'an, analysing particular suras, and finally reflecting on the Qur'an and its "others." They explore the internal dimensions and interior chronology of the Qur'an as text, its possible conversations with biblical and non-biblical traditions in Late Antiquity, and its role as scripture in modern exegesis and recitation. Together, they are indispensable for students and scholars who seek an understanding of the Qur'an founded on the most recent scholarly achievements. Offering both a reflection of and a reflection on the discipline of qur'anic studies, the strong, scholarly examinations of the Qur'an in this volume provide a valuable contribution to Islamic and qur'anic studies.

Part 1 is a comprehensive study of the Qur'anic data about each prophet, with a full portrait of every figure and dealing also with all the major scholarly literature on the subject and with the Qur'anic concept of prophetology. Part 2 is a history and study of the general Muslim literature dealing with the prophets.

أول قراءة أدبية تقدّم رؤية القرآن الكريم للأنثوي والأمومي من خلال صورة السيدة مريم. وهي تصدر في هذا الوقت الحساس من تاريخ صراع الإسلام لإحياء ذاته وللتحديث. تعتبر شخصيّة مريم نموذجاً فريداً. ليست فقط شخصيّة مسيحية مباركة تُستدعى لأهمية الحمل بـ "الكلمة"، لكنّها أيضاً الأنثى التي تُستدعى لأهمّية الخصوبة عند العرب. تعرض المؤلّفة آراء المفسّرين المسلمين بنبوّة مريم بين مثبت ونافٍ. وتقرأ سورة مريم وقصّتها في القرآن، على التناصّ مع صورتها وقصّتها في الموروث المسيحي. وتزعم مركزية اللقاء الكبير بين الديانتين في شخصيّة مريم. يفتتح هذا الكتاب حقلاً جديداً في دراسة السورة القرآنية كخطاب، وفي منظور النقد النسوي ومعيار "الجندر" للتحليل. حسن عبود حائزة دكتوراه في دراسة الإسلام والفلسفة الإسلاميّة من جامعة تورنتو في كندا. نشرت أبحاثاً في أدبيات التفاسير القرآنيّة وفي النقد الأدبي، وحاضرت في جامعات ومعاهد دينيّة ومراكز ثقافيّة عدّة في لبنان والخارج. عضو ناشط في "تجمّع الباحثات اللبنانيّات"، ومؤسّس في حركة "درب مريم" الناشطة للحوار المسيحي الإسلامي. \* نبذة دار الساقي للطباعة والنشر

This book examines in detail the concept of abrogation in the Quran, which has played a major role in the development of Islamic law and has implications for understanding the history and integrity of the Quranic text. The term has gained popularity in recent years, as Muslim groups and individuals claim that many passages about tolerance in the Quran have been abrogated by others that call on Muslims to fight their enemies. Author Louay Fatoohi argues that this could not have been derived from the Quran, and that its implications contradict Quranic principles. He also reveals conceptual flaws in the principle of abrogation as well as serious problems with the way it was applied by different scholars. Abrogation in the Quran and Islamic Law traces the development of the concept from its most basic form to the complex and multi-faceted doctrine it has become. The book shows what specific problems the three modes of abrogation were introduced to solve, and how this concept has shaped Islamic law. The book also critiques the role of abrogation in rationalizing the view that not all of the Quranic revelation has survived in the mushaf, or the written record of the Quran. This role makes understanding abrogation an essential prerequisite for studying the history of the Quranic text.

This volume studies how the literary elements in the Qur'an function in conveying its religious message effectively. It is divided into three parts. Part one includes studies of the whole Qur'an or large segments of it belonging to one historical period of its revelation; these studies concentrate on the analysis of its language, its style, its structural composition, its aesthetic characteristics, its rhetorical devices, its imagery, and the impact of these elements and their significance. Part two includes studies on individual suras of the Qur'an, each of which focuses on the sura's literary elements and how they produce meaning; each also explores the structure of this meaning and the coherence of its effect. Part three includes studies on Muslim appreciations of the literary aspects of the Qur'an in past generations and shows how modern linguistic, semantic, semiotic, and literary scholarship can add to their contributions.

Exploring the subjectivity of the Qurʾān’s meaning in the world, this book analyses Qurʾānic referencing in Muslim political rhetoric. Informed by classical Arabic-Islamic rhetorical theory, the author examines Arabic documents attributed to the ʿAbbāsid Caliph al-Maʾmūn (r. 813-833), whose rule coincided with the maturation of classical Islamic political thought and literary culture. She demonstrates how Qurʾānic referencing functions as tropological exegesis, whereby verses in the Qurʾān are reinterpreted through the lens of subjective experience. At the same time socio-historical experiences are understood in terms of the Qurʾān’s moral typology, which consists of interrelated polarities that define good and bad moral characters in mutual orientation. Through strategic deployment of scriptural references within the logical scheme of rhetorical argument, the Caliph constructs moral analogies between paradigmatic characters in the Qurʾān and people in his social milieu, and situates himself as moral reformer and guide, in order to persuade his audiences of the necessity of the Caliphate and the religio-moral imperative of obedience to his authority. The Maʾmūnid case study is indicative of the nature and function of Qurʾānic referencing across historical periods, and thus contributes to broader conversations about the impact of the Qurʾān on the shaping of Islamic civilization. This book is an invaluable resource for those with an interest in Early Islamic History, Islam and the rhetoric of contemporary Middle East regional and global Islamic politics.

The work of the twelfth-century Shi’ite scholar al-Tabrisi, Majma’ al-bayan, is one of the most important works of medieval commentary on the Qur’an, and is still in use today. This work is an in-depth case study of Islamic exegetical methods and an exploration of the nature of scriptural interpretation in Islam. Drawing on a wide variety of sources including unpublished manuscripts, the author examines how exegesis serves to construct, maintain and defend the status of the Qur’an as scripture and to uphold certain ideological agendas, among them the notion of the literary and rhetorical supremacy of God’s revelation in Arabic. Focusing on the genre and process of Qur’anic exegesis itself, he treats Qur’an interpretation as part of a category of religious practice recognizable from the history and comparative study of religion. Written in clear and accessible style, Qur’anic Hermeneutics makes Qur’anic exegesis intelligible to specialists in Islam as well as those interested in scripture and its interpretation in general. As such, it will be a valuable reference to scholars of Islamic studies, religion and scripture.

The most important debate in Islamic origins is that of the reliability of the lists of transmitters (isnads) that are said to guarantee the authenticity of the materials to which they are attached. Many scholars have come to the conclusion that most traditions (hadiths), which claim to preserve the words and deeds of Muhammad and early Muslim scholars, are spurious. Other scholars defend hadiths and their isnads, arguing for an early continuous written transmission of these materials. The first purpose of this study is to summarize and critique the major positions on the issue of the authenticity of hadiths in general and exegetical hadiths in particular. The second purpose is to devise a means of evaluating isnads that does not rely on circular arguments and to use it to determine if the hadiths in the Tafsir of al-Tabari, attributed to Ibn 'Abbas, are genuine.