Qur'anic Studies Today

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.

Michael A. Sells is Barrows Professor of the History and Literature of Islam and Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago. Angelika Neuwirth is Professor Emeritus of Arabic Studies at the Freie Universität in Berlin.

Introduction; 1 Wansbrough, Bultmann, and the Theory of Variant Traditions in the Qur-an - Devin J. Stewart; 2 Lot's Wife: Late Antique Paradigms of Sense and the Qur-an - Nora K. Schmid; 3 The Sign of Jonah: Transformations and Interpretations of the Jonah Story in the Qur-an - Hannalies Koloska; 4 End of Hope: Suras 10-15, Despair, and a Way out of Mecca - Walid A. Saleh; 5 The Casting: A Close Hearing of Surat TaHa 9-79 - Michael A. Sells; 6 Qur-anic Studies and Historical-Critical Philology: The Qur-an's Staging, Penetrating, and finally Eclipsing of Biblical Tradition - Angelika Neuwirth; 7 The Sunna of Our Messengers: The Qur-an's Paradigm for Messengers and Prophet: A Reading of Surat ash-Shu-arä- Sidney H. Griffith; 8 Textual and Paratextual meaning in the Recited Qur-an: An Analysis of a Performance of Surat al-Furqan by Sheikh Mishari Rashid Alafasy - Lauren E. Osborne; 9 The Qur-an's Theopoetic Manifesto - Ghassan el Masri; 10 The Qur-an between Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism - Holger M. Zellentin; 11 Reinterpreting the Qur-anic Criticism of Other Religions - Mun'im Sirry