Co-edited by Maria Dakake, Ph.D. 2000.

The Routledge Companion to the Qur’an offers an impressive and comprehensive overview of the formative scripture of Islam. Including a wide number of scholarly approaches to the Qur’an by both established authorities and emergent voices, the 40 chapters in this volume represent the latest word on the academic understanding of the Muslim scripture.

The Qur’an is spoken of in scholarship across disciplines; it is the beating heart of a living community of believers; it is a work of beauty and a basis for art and culture; it is a profoundly significant historical artifact; and it is a mysterious survivor from the Late Ancient Arabic-speaking world. This Handbook accompanies the reader into the many worlds that the Qur’an lives in, from its ancient settings, to its internal drama, and through the 1,400 years of discussion and debate about its meaning.

Bringing diverse approaches to the Qur’an together in one volume The Routledge Companion to the Qur’an represents the vibrancy of the field of Qur’anic Studies today. This Handbook is essential reading for students and researchers in religious studies and Islamic studies. It will also be very useful for those in related fields, such as area studies, sociology, anthropology, and history.

Table of Contents

Editors’ Introduction: The Qur’an’s Three Worlds, Daniel Madigan, Maria Dakake, and George Archer

Part I: The World Before the Qur’an

1. Late Antiquity and the Religious Milieu of the Qur’an’s Origins, Sidney Griffith

2. Arabia: Ripe for a New Prophet, Gordon Newby

3. Mecca and Medina: The Sacred History and Geography of the Qur’an, Maria Dakake

Part II: The World of the Qurʾan

4. God: The Many-Named One of the Qur’an, Tim Winter

5. Humanity in Covenant with God, Joseph Lumbard

6. Qur’an and Eschatology, Mohammed Rustom

7. Abraham and his Family, Halla Attallah and George Archer

8. Biblical Prophets: Moses, Joseph, Jonah, and Job, Roberto Tottoli, translated by Jason Welle

9. John, Jesus, and Mary in the Qur’an, George Archer

10. Muhammad in the Qur’an, Joseph Lumbard

11. The Praiseworthy (and the Reprehensible), Feryal Salem

12. The People of Scripture (Ahl al-Kitāb), Michael Pregill

13. Qur’anic Creation: Anthropocentric Readings and Eco-centric Possibilities, Sarra Tlili

14. Jinn in the Qur’an, Ali A. Olomi

15. Style in the Qur’an, Devin J. Stewart

16. Structure and Organization of the Qur’an, Nevin Reda

17. Qur’anic Kerygma: Epic, Apocalypse, and Typological Figuration, Todd Lawson

18. Metaphor, Symbol, and Parable in the Qur’an, Caner Dagli

19. The Relationship Between the Oral and the Written, Lauren Osborne

Part III: The World in Front of the Qur’an

20. Asbāb al-Nazūl: The (Good) Occasions of Revelation, Ahmed Ragab

21. The Early Commentators of the Qur’an, Stephen Burge

22. Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī Seen Through His Great Commentary on the Qur’an, Michel Lagarde

23. Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr: A Window onto Medieval Islam and a Guide to the Development of Modern Islamic Orthodoxy, Younus Y. Mirza

24. The Formative Development of Shiʿi Qur’anic Exegesis, Maria Dakake

25. Methodological Observations in al-ʿAllāma al-Ṭabāṭabāʾī’s Qur’an Commentary: Al-Mīzān, Abdulaziz Sachedina

26. The Qur’an in the Thought of Ibn ʿArabī, William Chittick

27. Sufi Readings of the Qur’an, Lahouari Ramzi Taleb

28. Shi’i Ismaili Approaches to the Qur’an: From Revelation to Exegesis, Khalil Andani

29. Women’s Contemporary Readings of the Qur’an, Hadia Mubarak

30. War and Peace in the Qur’an, Rumee Ahmed

31. Muhammad ʿAbduh and Sayyid Qutb, Massimo Campanini

32. Readings of the Qur’an from Outside the Tradition, Emran El-Badawi

33. Translations, Johanna Pink

34. The Qur’an and Material Culture, Travis Zadeh

35. The Qur’an and the Internet, Gary R. Bunt

36. The Qur’an in Contemporary Mass and Popular Culture, N. A. Mansour

37. The Qur’an and Kalām, David Thomas

38. The Impact of the Qur’an on Islamic Philosophy, Gholamreza Aavani

39. Political Theology and the Qur’an, Paul L. Heck

40. The Qur’an, Science, and Medicine, Elaine van Dalen