History of the Qur’an: Approaches and Explorations (P/B)

This beautiful presentation of a selection from the Holy Qur’an engages the reader in a moment of daily reflection. Edited for ease of comprehension, English-speaking readers will find this compilation both spiritually enriching and easy to understand. With 365 verses covering the whole year, this is a must for every home.

An introduction to the Qur’an and its eternal message for humanity is included, giving the reader an insight into its origin, purpose, and style.

Abdur Raheem Kidwai is professor of English at the Aligarh Muslim University in India and the well-known author of many works on the Qur’an and Islam.

There is no way to understand the Qur’an properly, or to elucidate as accurately as possible the meaning of its verses, without studying Qur’anic terminology and concepts. Taken together these sum up the universal truth of the Faith (the great moral code), not only animating the text and giving it incredible life, precision, and flexibility, but also enriching the communication of the Qur’anic message through their beautiful and comprehensive nature.

The Qur’an reigns supreme in Muslim hearts as the most sacred of texts: a profusion of exalted ideas to rouse the mind, noble histories to stir the soul, universal truths to awaken the conscience and precise injunctions directing humanity to its own deliverance, all distilled into the melodious essence that is the Word of Allah. Through fourteen centuries Muslims have persevered in championing the text against corruption, memorising its every word and contemplating its every phrase, so that in our own times untold millions have enthusiastically committed each letter to heart.

Beginning with a catalogue of ancient and contemporary attacks on the Qur’an, this expansive book provides unique insights into the holy text’s immaculate preservation throughout its history, as well as exploring many of the accusations leveled against it. The reception of divine revelations, Prophet Muhammad’s role in teaching and disseminating these verses, the text’s compilation under his guidance and the setting of its final external shape shortly after his death, are meticulously and scientifically examined alongside such topics as the origins of Arabic, its paleography and orthography, the so-called Mushaf of Ibn Mas’ud, and the strict methodology employed in assembling textual fragments.

By way of comparison the author investigates the histories of the Old and New Testaments, relying entirely on Judaeo-Christian sources including the Dead Sea Scrolls and uncovers a startling range of alterations that touch almost every fact of the Biblical Scriptures. Using this as a springboard for assessing Western theories regarding the Qur’an, he makes a sophisticated yet passionate case for questioning the aims of Western scholarship in continuously undermining Islam’s holy book, and illustrates convincingly that such research, motivated by more than mere curiousity, has no scientific bearing on the Qur’an’s integrity.

This monumental effort, a scholarly work composed in an impassioned tone, provides a welcome foundation for sincere study at a time when assailing the Qur’an has become all too common.

A cornerstone addition to any personal library. A Truly monumental effort. This work presents a cogent and powerful argument for the Qur’an’s unique inviolability.