The Quran

Business stuff

• ID’s & Test format?

The History of the Text • A History told by Muslims• Revealed Piecemeal from 610-632• Compilation

– Written down or memorized by Muslims during the lifetime of Muhammad

– 632 Abu Bakr orders a comprehensive copy made, held by Hafsa, daughter of ‘Umar

– ‘Uthmanic text: disagreements lead ‘Uthman to order one consonantal text in 650 (on camel parchment). Oldest full test of Quran comes from the mid 900’s

• An Oral Text/ the Arabic Script: – Consonants not dotted example– Consonants not vowelled example– At least 10 well-known ‘readings’ of the Quran

Other Theories?

• Archaic Material, Later Compilation: the Quran addresses Near Eastern audience, so is it from the post-conquest period… but how did it escape the civil wars?

Quran as a Book• Types of material:

– Hortatory/didactic: believe, do good deeds, fear God, beware the Day of Judgment, obey God and his Prophet

– Narrative: tales of Moses, Abraham, Noah, Salih– Predictive/Eschatological: fate of believers and

unbelievers, creation and end of the world– Polemical: claims of Muhammad’s opponents, the

failings of the ‘People of the Book’– Doctrinal: the nature of God– Legal: less than 500 verses deal with law and ritual

• Structure of Quran:– Not a continuous narrative– Contextual ‘azbab al-nuzul = occasions of revelation’– Ellipticalism: assumes audience knowledge – Person: God as beyond language… ‘He’, ‘I’ ‘We’ and ‘God’

• Good for all time?

Themes

•Tawhid: worship of God alone Vs. Shirk: assigning partners to God ex.

•Knowledge (‘ilm) vs. Speculation ex.

•History and Nature testify to the Message ex.

Quran as Source

• The Quran is the “first source (al-asl al-awwal)” of Islamic law and dogma.

• A Genre of Quranic Exegesis: Tafseer

Quran as Sacred Object

• ‘The Book/Kitab’: the “Preserved Tablet” with God, the Quran as earthly manifestation

• Ijaz of the Quran: inimitability c. 850• Sacred Art: calligraphic tradition• Recitation and Reading: the Holy

word brought to life• Talisman