History of the Qur'an : Approaches and Explorations

The Qur’an is the sacred religiousbook of Muslims around the world. Yet its history, from its inception inseventh-century Arabia to its transmission in the modern world, remainsunderstudied. The twelve chapters in this book address this lacuna by examiningmultifaceted stages in the Qur’an’s history and transmission through a broadrange of methodological and theoretical approaches. The volume examines theearliest material evidence of the Qur’an through its manuscript tradition andexplores their content and form. This includes a focus on the Qur’an’s uniqueorthography and insights into the Sanaa manuscripts. Additionally, this work providesnew insights by broaching upon critical moments in the Qur’an’s history, suchas the codification of Abu Bakr. A crucial component of the book deals withapproaches to the variant readings of the Qur’an, understood as beingsanctioned through narrations on the a?ruf. It explores freshinsights into how Muslim scholars theorised such variances and the way theyrelated them to the qira’at, including how they approached thevariant codices of prominent companions. Furthermore, this work exploresunderstudied non-Qur’anic transmissions of the Qur’an alongside the historicaldevelopment of Qur’an translations. This volume advances the field of Qur’anicstudies and Qur’anic history.