The
Quran
Business stuff
• ID’s & Test format?
• New Reading for Tues: Herodotus
• Error!: Last class I messed up a
Quranic verse:
Read in the name of thy Lord who created
Created man from a clot of blood
Read for thy Lord is most bountiful
Who taught by the pen
Who taught man what he did not know.
The History of the Text
• A History told by Muslims
• Revealed Piecemeal from 610-632
• Compilation
– Written down or memorized by Muslims during the
lifetime of Muhammad
– 632 Abu Bakr orders a comprehensive copy made,
held by Hafsa, daughter of ‘Umar
– ‘Uthmanic text: disagreements lead ‘Uthman to
order one consonantal text in 650 (on camel
parchment). Oldest full test of Quran comes from
the mid 900’s
• An Oral Text/ the Arabic Script:
– Consonants not dotted example
– Consonants not vowelled example
– At least 10 well-known ‘readings’ of the Quran
Other Theories?
• Archaic Material, Later
Compilation: the Quran addresses
Near Eastern audience, so is it
from the post-conquest period…
how did it escape the civil wars?
Page from a
Quran from
the 1st
Islamic
century/
7th Century
CE
Quran as a Book
• Types of material:
– Hortatory/didactic: believe, do good deeds, fear God,
beware the Day of Judgment, obey God and his Prophet
– Narrative: tales of Moses, Abraham, Noah, Salih
– Predictive/Eschatological: fate of believers and
unbelievers, creation and end of the world
– Polemical: claims of Muhammad’s opponents, the
failings of the ‘People of the Book’
– Doctrinal: the nature of God
– Legal: less than 500 verses deal with law and ritual
• Structure of Quran:
–
–
–
–
Not a continuous narrative
Contextual ‘azbab al-nuzul = occasions of revelation’
Ellipticalism: assumes audience knowledge
Person: God as beyond language… ‘He’, ‘I’ ‘We’ and ‘God’
• Good for all time?
Themes
• Tawhid: worship of God alone
Vs. Shirk: assigning partners
to God ex.
• Knowledge (‘ilm) vs.
Speculation ex.
• History and Nature testify to
the Message ex.
Quran as Source
• The Quran is the “first source (al-asl
al-awwal)” of Islamic law and dogma.
• A Genre of Quranic Exegesis: Tafseer
Quran as Sacred Object
• ‘The Book/Kitab’: the “Preserved
Tablet” with God, the Quran as earthly
manifestation
• Ijaz of the Quran: inimitability c. 850
• Sacred Art: calligraphic tradition
• Recitation and Reading: the Holy word
brought to life
• Talisman
Quran in Kufic script from
the 700’s CE
Quran dated 641 AH / 1243 CE
Quran
dated 1341
CE
Quran
from
Andalusia
(Spain)
From the
1100’s CE
back
Quran shirt from
Mughal India
(1500’s -1800’s)
For the rich
only!
Quranic Recitation
•
•
•
•
•
Saudi Style
Shaykh al-Husary (Egypt)
Woman reciter
South Asian reciter
Recitation session in Pakistan
back
Friday Question
What is the nature of the Prophet’s
authority during his life, and how do
people perceive it after his death?
Undotted Consonants
• ‫ بيت‬house
• ‫ بنت‬daughter
• ‫ ثبت‬strong
back
Unvowelled Consonants
M-L-K
Mulk – dominion
Milk – property
Malik – King
Malak – Angel
Malaka – he owned
Mulika – it was owned
back
Tawhid vs. Shirk
• “Have you not seen those people who make their
fancies and desires their god…”
• “Say ‘Indeed my Lord had guided me to a
straight path, the correct religion and way of
Abraham the Hanif, he was not one of those who
associated partners with God.’ Say, ‘Indeed my
prayers, devotions, living and dying are for God,
Lord of the all the worlds. He has no partner.
This is what has been ordained for me, and I am
the foremost of those who submit to God
(muslim).” (6:161-62)
back
Knowledge (‘Ilm) vs. Speculation
• “They say, ‘All there is is the life of
this world, we die and we live, and all
that destroys us is time (dahr).’ But
they do not have any knowledge (‘ilm)
of that, indeed they do but speculate.”
(46:24)
back
History and Reality Bear
Witness
• “Have you not seen the ship running
through the waters by the blessing of
God to show you evidence from his signs,
indeed in that there are signs for all
those who persevere and are grateful.”
31:31-32
• “Will they not voyage across the earth
and see the fate of those who came
before?” (12:109)
• The Star
back
By Time
• By time, indeed mankind is surely in
loss…
• Except those who believe and do good
deeds…
• And enjoin upon one another the truth…
• And enjoin one another to persevere.
back
Chapter of Purity
• Say He is the One God.
• The God ever sought after.
• He does not beget, nor is he
begotten.
• And there is nothing
comparable to Him.
back
Abraham’s Discovery
And so We showed Abraham the dominion of the
Heavens and the Earth so that he might be one of
those possessed of certainty. And when night fell, he
saw a heavenly body and said, “This is my Lord,” but
when it set he said, “Verily I do not love things that
disappear.” So when he saw the moon rising he said,
“This is my Lord,” but when it set he said, “Verily, if my
Lord does not guide me then I shall be one of those
astray.” When the sun rose he said, “This is my Lord,
this is most great,” and when it set he said, “O my
people, indeed I am free of that which you associate
as a partner with God, I have turned my face to Him
that created the Heavens and the Earth in pure
worship (hanifan), and I am not one of those who
attributes partners to God.” 6:75-79 back
Dealing With Enemies
“God has not forbidden you from being
goodly towards or dealing justly with those
who have not driven you from your homes
or fought you in your religion. Indeed God
loves those who deal justly. Rather, God
has only barred you from taking as friends
those who have driven you from your
homes, assisted in this, or fought you in
your religion. And whoever takes them as
friends, they surely are among the
wrongdoers.” 60:8-9 back
Heaven and Hell
Indeed those who do not look towards meeting Us
and are content with the earthy life, sure of it,
those who are heedless of Our signs, their
abode is Hellfire, recompense for what they
earned. But those who believed and did good
deeds, God guides them by their faith. Rivers
will run beneath them in gardens of blessing.
Their call there will be ‘Most glorious is God,’
and they will be greeted with ‘Peace!’, and they
will finally call out ‘Indeed, praise be to God,
Lord of all the worlds.” 10:7-10 back