The Qur?an A User's Guide

by Esack, Farid

• ISBN13: 9781851683543
• ISBN10: 1851683542
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-02-01
• Publisher: Oneworld Publications

Summary

Islam's Holy Qur'an - spiritual guide for millions of Muslims across the USnd throughout the world yet condemned by many non-Muslims as a source ofvil and inspiration for terrorism. In this ground-breaking introductionnternationally renowned scholar and author Farid Esack presents all thenformation needed to understand the Qur'an and its significance.;Esack - auslim committed both to his religion, and to critical thinking about allspects of it - explores how the Qur'an came into being and examines itstructure as a unique literary work. He outlines its key themes, explains itsistorical and cultural context, and looks at the controversies that haveurrounded it over the centuries. Blending faith, fact and an innovativepproach, this is a concise guide to a major religious text, and annvaluable insight into its role in the everyday lives of Muslims.

Author Biography

Farid Esack is currently Professor of Ethics, Religion, and Society at Xavier University, Cincinnati.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	x
INTRODUCTION	1	(12)
The Uncritical Lover	2	(1)
The Scholarly Lover	3	(2)
The Critical Lover	5	(1)
The Friend of the Lover	6	(2)
The Voyeur	8	(1)
The Polemicist	9	(1)
Where does this work fit in?	10	(1)
Clarifying Terms	11	(1)
Using the Qur'an	12	(1)
1 THE QUR'AN IN THE LIVES OF MUSLIMS	13	(17)
The Qur'an is alive	17	(1)
The Qur'an as the recited word of God	18	(3)
The Qur'an as contested scripture	21	(8)
Islam - a Qur'an belt	29	(1)
2 THE WORD ENTERS THE WORLD	30	(26)
The stages (history?) of Qur'anic revelation	31	(2)
The social world of the revelation of the Qur'an	33	(3)
Muhammad, the recipient of the Qur'an	36	(3)
The early Qur'anic revelations	39	(3)
The nature and modes of revelation	42	(3)
Muhammad's mission as a response to the Qur'an	45	(1)
Mecca - laying the foundations of the faith community	45	(2)
The Qur'an and the challenges of a new society in Medina	47	(5)
The last revelations	52	(2)
The beginning of diverse claims about the word of God	54	(2)
3 THE QUR'AN AS WRITTEN WORD	56	(22)
Divisions of the Qur'an	56	(6)
The disjointed letters	62	(1)
Parts and sections (ajza and ahzab)	63	(1)
The arrangement of the Qur'an	64	(3)
The language of the Qur'an	67	(2)
The literary style of the Qur'an	69	(6)
Categorical (muhkamat) and allegorical (mutashabihat) verses	75	(3)
4 GATHERING THE QUR'AN	78	(22)
Gathering the Qur'an during the Prophet's lifetime	79	(6)
The Qur'an becomes a canon	85	(4)
The Shi'i perspective	89	(2)
Non-Muslim critical Qur'anic scholarship	91	(1)
The gradual development of the Arabic script	92	(1)
The existence of several variant codices	93	(1)
Variant readings or modes	93	(4)
Worlds apart	97	(3)
5 THE PROPHET AND THE BEGOTTEN-NOT-CREATED QUR'AN	100	(21)
Recited revelation: development of doctrine regarding the Qur'an	101	(1)
The doctrine of inimitability ('ijaz)	102	(3)
The doctrine of the Qur'an's uncreatedness and eternalness (qadim)	105	(1)
The Mu'tazilites and the emergence of Kalam	106	(3)
The implications of the mihnah for Qur'anic scholarship	109	(2)
The sunnah: unrehearsed revelation	111	(4)
The Prophet Muhammad and the Qur'an	115	(6)
6 UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETING THE QUR'AN	121	(25)
Progressive revelation (tadrij)	121	(1)
Meccan and Medinan revelations	122	(2)
Occasions of revelation (asbab al-nuzul)	124	(2)
Abrogation (naskh)	126	(2)
Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir)	128	(1)
Sources of tafsir	129	(2)
Traditional classification of tafsir	131	(6)
A non-confessional typology	137	(5)
The Qur'an and hermeneutics	142	(3)
Farewell to innocence	145	(1)
7 BELIEF IN THE QUR'AN	146	(20)
Belief in God	147	(3)
Prophethood	150	(7)
The Hereafter	157	(9)
8 RIGHTEOUS CONDUCT IN THE QUR'AN	166	(25)
Personal conduct	166	(7)
Social and economic conduct	173	(11)
Institutionalized religious practices	184	(7)
Postscript	191	(2)
Bibliography	193	(8)
Index	201