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The Qur'an is the sacred religiousbook of Muslims around the world. Yet its history, from its inception inseventh-century Arabia to its transmission in the modern world, remainsunderstudied. The twelve chapters in this book address this lacuna by examiningmultifaceted stages in the Qur'an's history and transmission through a broadrange of methodological and theoretical approaches. The volume examines theearliest material evidence of the Qur'an through its manuscript tradition andexplores their content and form. This includes a focus on the Qur'an's uniqueorthography and insights into the Sanaa manuscripts. Additionally, this work providesnew insights by broaching upon critical moments in the Qur'an's history, suchas the codification of Abu Bakr. A crucial component of the book deals withapproaches to the variant readings of the Qur'an, understood as beingsanctioned through narrations on the a?ruf. It explores freshinsights into how Muslim scholars theorised such variances and the way theyrelated them to the qira'at, including how they approached thevariant codices of prominent companions. Furthermore, this work exploresunderstudied non-Qur'anic transmissions of the Qur'an alongside the historicaldevelopment of Qur'an translations. This volume advances the field of Qur'anicstudies and Qur'anic history.
List of contents
Acknowledgements v
Stylistic Conventions vii
List of Contributors ix
1. Towards a History of the Qur’ān
F. Redhwan Karim 1
2. Early Qur’ānic Manuscripts: An Overview
François Déroche 27
3. Ancient Scribes and Qur’ānic Manuscripts:
Uncovering Scribal Practices in the Ṣanʿāʾ Palimpsest
Éléonore Cellard 65
4. Writing About the Qur’ān: Scribal Practices of
Qur’ānic Studies Manuscripts from the Fourth/
Tenth century
Yousry Elseadawy 89
5. The Compilation of the Qur’ān during
the Reign of Abu Bakr
Ammar Khatib and Nazir Khan 121
6. Rasm (Qur’ānic Orthography): The Written
Representation of the Recited Text of the Qur’ān
M.A.S. Abdel Haleem 163
7. The View of ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas’ūd on the
‘Uthmānic Qur’ān Compilation
Zahed Fettah 193
8. An Alternative Opinion on the Reality of the
‘Seven Aḥruf’ and Its Relationship with the Qirāʾāt
Yasir Qadhi 221
9. The Multifaceted Sanad Traditions of Extra-Muṣḥaf Qur’ānic Transmission
Khairil Husaini Bin Jamil 281
10. Multivocality, Variegation, and the Trajectories
of “Text”: Ausgangstexte as an Approach to
Qur’ānic Pluriformity
Stephen Cúrto 307
11. The Recitations of the Shīʿah Imams and its
Role in the History of the Qur’ān
Meysam Kohantorabi 355
12. Shaping the Qur’ān’s Journey:
A Global History of Translation
Afsan Redwan 381
About the author
Dr F. Redhwan Karim is a Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Markfield Institute of Higher Education, as well as the Course Leader for the B.A Islamic Studies program. He completed his PhD under Professor M.A.S Abdel Haleem at SOAS, University of London. His thesis examined the concept of gender relations in the Qur’an. Prior to this, he obtained an M.A in Islamic Studies and a B.A in Arabic and Islamic Studies. He has also studied at various capacities in Egypt, Jordan, and Oman. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
