Angelika Neuwirth - Böcker

In this book, Angelika Neuwirth provides a new approach to understanding the founding text of Islam. Typical exegesis of the Qur'an treats the text teleologically, as a fait accompli finished text, or as a replica or summary of the Bible in Arabic. Instead Neuwirth approaches the Qur'an as the product of a specific community in the Late Antique Arabian peninsula, one which was exposed to the wider worlds of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires, and to the rich intellectual traditions of rabbinic Judaism, early Christianity, and Gnosticism. A central goal of the book is to eliminate the notion of the Qur'an as being a-historical. She argues that it is, in fact, highly aware of its place in late antiquity and is capable of yielding valuable historical information. By emphasizing the liturgical function of the Qur'an, Neuwirth allows readers to see the text as an evolving oral tradition within the community before it became collected and codified as a book. This analysis sheds much needed light on the development of the Qur'an's historical, theological, and political outlook. The book's final chapters analyze the relationship of the Qur'an to the Bible, to Arabic poetic traditions, and, more generally, to late antique culture and rhetorical forms. By providing a new introduction to the Qur'an, one that uniquely challenges current ideas about its emergence and development, The Qur'an and Late Antiquity bridges the gap between Eastern and Western approaches to this sacred text.

The first volume of a world-renowned scholar’s long-awaited Qur’an commentary, now available in EnglishAngelika Neuwirth’s six-volume commentary, published originally in Germany, offers a historical and philological analysis of the form, structure, and semantic message of each of the 114 Qur’anic suras. It brings together the fruits of the past hundred years of modern scholarship and provides access to the aesthetic, theological, linguistic, and semantic background required to appreciate the unique novelty, force, and historical position of the Qur’an. Contextualizing the Qur’anic message in the broader world of late antiquity, it bridges the gaps between the inner-Islamic scholarly world and the academy.  Skillfully translated by Samuel Wilder, this first volume focuses on the Meccan suras, the earliest and often the most aesthetically striking and compelling part of the corpus of Qur’anic proclamations.

The second volume of a world-renowned scholar’s long-awaited Qur’an commentary, now available in English  Angelika Neuwirth’s six-volume commentary, published originally in Germany, offers a historical and philological analysis of the form, structure, and semantic message of each of the 114 Qur’anic suras. It brings together the fruits of the past hundred years of scholarship and provides access to the aesthetic, theological, linguistic, and semantic background required to appreciate the novelty, force, and historical position of the Qur’an. Contextualizing the Qur’anic message in the broader world of late antiquity, it bridges the gap between the inner-Islamic scholarly world and the academy.  Skillfully translated by Samuel Wilder, this volume focuses on the early middle Meccan suras.

Qur'ānic 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'ān. Combining theoretical and methodological clarity with close readings of qur’ānic texts, these contributions provide close analysis of specific passages, themes, and issues within the Qurʾān, even as they attend to the disciplinary challenges within the field of qur’ānic studies today. Chapters are arranged into three parts, treating specific figures appearing in the Qurʾān, analysing particular suras, and finally reflecting on the Qur’ān and its "others." They explore the internal dimensions and interior chronology of the Qur’ān 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’ān founded on the most recent scholarly achievements. Offering both a reflection of and a reflection on the discipline of qur’ānic studies, the strong, scholarly examinations of the Qur’ān in this volume provide a valuable contribution to Islamic and qur’ānic studies.

Arabic Literature: Postmodern Perspectives introduces the work of twenty-nine pivotal authors from the Arab world writing in Arabic, English, French and Hebrew. Organised around the central themes of memory, place and gender, each of which is discussed in an introductory essay, the volume provides a critical framework for Arab writing, locating it alongside contemporary world literature. The contributors maintain that Arabic literature reflects the Western postmodern condition without denying its own traditions. As such, Arabic Literature: Postmodern Perspectives paves the way for an important cultural dialogue between East and West. This collection is ideal for students of Arabic and comparative literature and equally of interest to general readers. Authors covered include Rabih Alameddine, Hoda Barakat, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Mahmoud Darwish, Assia Djebar and Elias Khoury. It provides an extensive list of further reading to complement the work.

Qur'ānic 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'ān. Combining theoretical and methodological clarity with close readings of qur’ānic texts, these contributions provide close analysis of specific passages, themes, and issues within the Qurʾān, even as they attend to the disciplinary challenges within the field of qur’ānic studies today. Chapters are arranged into three parts, treating specific figures appearing in the Qurʾān, analysing particular suras, and finally reflecting on the Qur’ān and its "others." They explore the internal dimensions and interior chronology of the Qur’ān 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’ān founded on the most recent scholarly achievements. Offering both a reflection of and a reflection on the discipline of qur’ānic studies, the strong, scholarly examinations of the Qur’ān in this volume provide a valuable contribution to Islamic and qur’ānic studies.

Der Koran ist noch immer nicht Teil des europäischen Wissenskanons, obwohl er tief in der biblischen Tradition verwurzelt ist. Er gilt weithin noch als exklusiv islamischer Text. Die kritische Bewertung seiner Beziehung zur Bibel und damit zur europäischen Tradition setzt seine Einbettung in die ‒ auch für das spätere Europa formative – spätantike Kultur voraus, in die er sich theologisch innovativ einbrachte. Die großen Fragen der Zeit wurden nicht nur von Rabbinen und Kirchenvätern, sondern auch von der koranischen Gemeinde debattiert. Ihre besonderen Antworten verdienen daher als Beiträge zu einer neuen, sich intensiv in die laufenden Religionsdebatten einbringenden Theologie Beachtung. Die sich dabei abzeichnende Fokussierung des gesprochenen Wortes als der maßgeblichen Manifestation Gottes in der Welt kann nicht außerhalb des besonderen kulturellen Umfelds gesehen werden, in dem lokale Dichtung der arabischen Hochsprache bereits eine besondere Aura verliehen hatte. Der neue Blick auf den Koran erfordert jedoch gleichzeitig eine kritische Neureflektion unserer modernen – nie ganz unpolitischen – Philologien. Der Blick muss frei werden für die Textpolitik des Koran, die den Prozess der Islamentstehung am ehesten erkennbar macht.

Besides commemorating the scholar Julius Wellhausen (1844–1918), the series of lectures aims to continue and publicise research in the fields he represented and their neighbouring philological-historical disciplines. In the course of his life, Julius Wellhausen conducted research in three fields: the Old Testament, the New Testament and ancient Arabia, or to put it another way: Judaism, Christianity and early Islam. The annual lectures, named after Wellhausen, are held by the Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.

In welchem Verhältnis steht der Koran zur biblischen Tradition? Ist er Teil der für das spätere Europa formativen spätantiken Mittelmeerkultur, oder dominiert in seiner Botschaft "das Eigene", die lokale, kämpferische Kultur Arabiens? Seine Entstehungsgeschichte zeigt, dass er wie die Mischna und das Neue Testament - semantisch Teil der biblischen Tradition ist. Ist er es aber auch hermeneutisch? "Der Koran" ist ja nicht nur historisches Faktum, er ist auch Konstrukt unserer Forschungstradition, seine sehr unterschiedlichen Lektüren bilden zumeist Schulmeinungen ab, die ihm die Zugehörigkeit zu der im Judentum und Christentum entwickelten biblischen Hermeneutik verweigern - eine exklusivistische Position, die sein Verständnis blockiert. Liest man den Koran ohne den Verständnisfilter der monotheistischen Hermeneutik, einfach im Wortsinn, so fallen entscheidende biblisch nicht attestierte Erzählelemente und Argumentationen als fremd aus dem Rahmen. Gerade sie erweisen sich aber bei Anlegung des für die Spätantike typischen Analysekonzepts der Typologie als substantielle Bausteine der sich im Koran spiegelnden Konstruktion einer Gemeindeidentität. Typologie begegnet bei der Hörergemeinde, die biblische Begebenheiten nach-erlebt und sich so selbst zu einem neuen Gottesvolk entwickelt. Typologie begegnet auch beim Verkünder, wenn dieser Mekkas Erwählung zum Geburtsort der neuen Glaubensgemeinschaft als die Erfüllung einer Verheißung Abrahams erkennt. Nicht allein Teilhabe an den biblischen Wissensbeständen, auch Teilhabe an der biblischen Hermeneutik muss dem Koran zuerkannt werden, will man ihn als eine Schrift auf Augenhöhe zu den anderen würdigen. Angelika Neuwirth wendet sich diesen Fragen mit bereits in den Nachbarphilologien erprobten Kriterien (Typologie, Allegorie, Anziehung versus Abstoßung) zu. Sie berücksichtigt dabei auch erstmals die Tatsache der mündlichen Komposition des Koran und damit die Gleichzeitigkeit der Entstehung von Text und Gemeinde.