Nicolai Sinai - Böcker

A detailed commentary with a new translation that integrates intertextual, theological, literary, and historical perspectivesThis historical and literary commentary on the Qur’an’s first two surahs provides a structural analysis of the two texts, advances a novel theory of Surah 2’s intricate redactional history, contextualizes the Qur’an among writings from the Biblical tradition, and considers a variety of other textual, linguistic, and theological issues. It offers the first comprehensive historical and literary commentary in English on Surah 2, the longest and most complex Qur’anic text. Both surahs have been newly translated by the author.Surahs 1 (Sūrat al-Fātiḥah, “The Opening”) and 2 (Sūrat al-Baqarah, “The Cow”) discuss such important theological notions as divine testing and divine foreknowledge; offer narratives about Adam, Abraham, Saul, and other figures; include polemics against Jews and Christians; and issue legislative commandments, with an emphasis on those relating to marriage and divorce. Building on his previous work, Key Terms of the Qur’an, Nicolai Sinai begins each surah commentary with an introductory overview, and then proceeds to a verse-by-verse exegesis. He pays particular attention to inner-Qur’anic parallels and doublets and to the resulting questions of textual chronology. Sinai’s commentaries make selective use of interpretive resources found in premodern Islamic Qur’an scholarship. Short summaries follow the detailed exegetical treatment of each surah.The Qur’an, like the Bible, is a sophisticated work of literature that employs artful compositional techniques. This volume offers an original exploration of what the Qur’an might have meant to its first readers and how the Qur’an draws on, engages with, and diverges from ideas, narratives, and literary forms that may have informed it. The book will be an indispensable resource for scholars of Islam and Qur’anic studies.

An essential single-volume companion to the critical interpretation of Islamic scriptureThis book provides detailed and multidisciplinary coverage of a wealth of key Qur’anic terms, with incisive entries on crucial expressions ranging from the divine names allāh (“God”) and al-raḥmān (“the Merciful”) to the Qur’anic understanding of belief and self-surrender to God. It examines what the terms mean in Qur’anic usage, discusses how to translate them into English, and delineates the role they play in expressing the Qur’an’s distinctive understanding of God, humans, and the cosmos. It offers a comprehensive but nonreductionist investigation of the relationship of Qur’anic terms to earlier traditions such as Jewish and Christian literature, pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, and Arabian epigraphy. While the dictionary is primarily engaged in ascertaining what the Qur’an would have meant to its original recipients in late antique Arabia, it makes selective and critical use of later Muslim scholarship alongside an extensive body of secondary research in English, German, and French from the nineteenth century to today.The most authoritative historical-critical reference work on key Qur’anic termsFeatures a host of entries ranging from concise overviews to substantial essaysDraws on comparative material such as Jewish and Christian literature, pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, and Arabian epigraphyDiscusses how to best translate Qur’anic terms into EnglishExplores the Qur’an’s vision of God, humans, and the cosmos through an analysis of fundamental and recurrent Qur’anic expressionsAccessible to readers with little or no Arabic

The Qur'an represents both Islam's historical point of origin and its scriptural foundation, inaugurating a new religion and, ultimately, a new civilisation. Yet the text itself can be difficult to understand, and the scholarship devoted to it is often highly technical. This comprehensive introduction to the basic methods and current state of historical-critical Qur'anic scholarship covers all of the field's major questions, such as: Where and when did the Qur'an emerge? How do Qur'anic surahs function as literary compositions? How do the Qur'an's main themes and ideas relate to and transform earlier Jewish and Christian traditions? Reading this book will give you the tools needed to work with and understand this vital but complex text.

The Qur'an represents both Islam's historical point of origin and its scriptural foundation, inaugurating a new religion and, ultimately, a new civilisation. Yet the text itself can be difficult to understand, and the scholarship devoted to it is often highly technical. This comprehensive introduction to the basic methods and current state of historical-critical Qur'anic scholarship covers all of the field's major questions, such as: Where and when did the Qur'an emerge? How do Qur'anic surahs function as literary compositions? How do the Qur'an's main themes and ideas relate to and transform earlier Jewish and Christian traditions? Reading this book will give you the tools needed to work with and understand this vital but complex text.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Journal of the International Qur'anic Studies Association (JIQSA). In support of the association’s mission of fostering scholarship on the Qur'an, the journal will publish twice annually. Articles will be rigorously peer-reviewed through a double-blind review process, with reviewers appointed by the Co-Editors and the international Editorial Board. The journal is being launched at a time of particular vitality and growth in Qur'anic Studies, and its primary goal is to encourage the further development of the discipline in innovative ways. Methodologies of particular interest to the journal include historical-critical, contextual-comparative, and literary approaches to the Qur'an. We welcome articles that explore the Qur'an’s origins in the religious, cultural, social, and political contexts of Late Antiquity; its connections to various literary precursors, especially the scriptural and parascriptural traditions of older religious communities; the historical reception of the Qur'an in the west; the hermeneutics and methodology of Qur?anic exegesis and translation (both traditional and modern); the transmission and evolution of the textus receptus and the manuscript tradition; and the application of various literary and philological modes of investigation into Qur'anic style and compositional structure.

We are pleased to announce the launch of the Journal of the International Qur'anic Studies Association (JIQSA). In support of the association’s mission of fostering scholarship on the Qur'an, the journal will publish twice annually. Articles will be rigorously peer-reviewed through a double-blind review process, with reviewers appointed by the Co-Editors and the international Editorial Board. The journal is being launched at a time of particular vitality and growth in Qur'anic Studies, and its primary goal is to encourage the further development of the discipline in innovative ways. Methodologies of particular interest to the journal include historical-critical, contextual-comparative, and literary approaches to the Qur'an. We welcome articles that explore the Qur'an’s origins in the religious, cultural, social, and political contexts of Late Antiquity; its connections to various literary precursors, especially the scriptural and parascriptural traditions of older religious communities; the historical reception of the Qur'an in the west; the hermeneutics and methodology of Qur'anic exegesis and translation (both traditional and modern); the transmission and evolution of the textus receptus and the manuscript tradition; and the application of various literary and philological modes of investigation into Qur'anic style and compositional structure.

The Journal of the International Qur'anic Studies Association (JIQSA) is a peer reviewed annual journal published on behalf of the International Qur'anic Studies Association, a non-profit learned society for scholars of the Qur'an. JIQSA welcomes article submissions that explore the Qur'an's origins in the religious, cultural, social, and political contexts of Late Antiquity; its connections to various literary precursors, especially the scriptural and parascriptural traditions of older religious communities; the historical reception of the Qur'an in the West; the hermeneutics and methodology of qur'anic exegesis and translation (both traditional and modern); the transmission an evolution of the textus receptus; Qur'an manuscripts and material culture; and the application of various literary and philological modes of investigation into qur'anic style, compositional structure, and rhetoric.

The Journal of the International Qur'anic Studies Association (JIQSA) is a peer reviewed annual journal published on behalf of the International Qur'anic Studies Association, a nonprofit learned society for scholars of the Qur'an. JIQSA welcomes article submissions that explore the Qur'an's origins in the religious, cultural, social, and political contexts of Late Antiquity; its connections to various literary precursors, especially the scriptural and parascriptural traditions of older religious communities; the historical reception of the Qur'an in the West; the hermeneutics and methodology of qur'anic exegesis and translation (both traditional and modern); the transmission and evolution of the textus receptus; Qur'an manuscripts and material culture; and the application of various literary and philological modes of investigation into qur'anic style, compositional structure, and rhetoric.

The Journal of the International Qur'anic Studies Association (JIQSA) is a peer reviewed annual journal published on behalf of the International Qur'anic Studies Association, a non-profit learned society for scholars of the Qur'an.JIQSA welcomes article submissions that explore the Qur'an's origins in the religious, cultural, social, and political contexts of Late Antiquity; its connections to various literary precursors, especially the scriptural and parascriptural traditions of older religious communities; the historical reception of the Qur'an in the West; the hermeneutics and methodology of qur'anic exegesis and translation (both traditional and modern); the transmission and evolution of the textus receptus; Qur'an manuscripts and material culture; and the application of various literary and philological modes of investigation into qur'anic style, compositional structure, and rhetoric.

Philons Biographie Abrahams ist eine Werbeschrift für das Judentum. Sie entstand vermutlich als literarisches Begleitprojekt zu Philons politischer Mission in Rom: In Alexandria hatte es Ausschreitungen gegen die jüdische Bevölkerung gegeben, die Philon bei Kaiser Caligula zur Sprache bringen sollte. Der vorliegende Band führt in diesen zeitgeschichtlichen Kontext ein und bietet den mit Anmerkungen versehenen Text der Schrift samt einer Neuübersetzung. Erläuternde Essays aus unterschiedlichen Fachperspektiven würdigen Philon als Biographen und als Philosophen, ergründen sein Tugendverständnis und sein Frauenbild und beleuchten sein Schriftverständnis aus der Perspektive des antiken Orakelwesens. Abgerundet wird der Band durch einen Ausblick auf die Rezeption Abrahams im Islam, inder sich bemerkenswerte Parallelen zu Philons allegorischen Auslegungen wiederfinden lassen.

Although recent scholarship has increasingly situated the Qur'ān in the historical context of Late Antiquity, such a perspective is only rarely accompanied by the kind of microstructural literary analysis routinely applied to the Bible. The present volume seeks to redress this lack of contact between literary and historical studies. Contributions to the first part of the volume address various general aspects of the Qur'ān’s political, economic, linguistic, and cultural context, while the second part contains a number of close readings of specific Qur'ānic passages in the light of Judeo-Christian tradition and ancient Arabic poetry, as well as discussions of the Qur'ān’s internal chronology and transmission history. Throughout, special emphasis is given to methodological questions.