History of the Qur'an: Approaches and Explorations

The Qur'ān is the sacred religious
book of Muslims around the world. Yet its history, from its inception in
seventh-century Arabia to its transmission in the modern world, remains
understudied. The twelve chapters in this book address this lacuna by examining
multifaceted stages in the Qur'ān's history and transmission through a broad
range of methodological and theoretical approaches. The volume examines the
earliest material evidence of the Qur'ān through its manuscript tradition and
explores their content and form. This includes a focus on the Qur'ān's unique
orthography and insights into the Sanaa manuscripts. Additionally, this work provides
new insights by broaching upon critical moments in the Qur'ān's history, such
as the codification of Abu Bakr. A crucial component of the book deals with
approaches to the variant readings of the Qur'ān, understood as being
sanctioned through narrations on the aḥruf. It explores fresh
insights into how Muslim scholars theorised such variances and the way they
related them to the qira'āt, including how they approached the
variant codices of prominent companions. Furthermore, this work explores
understudied non-Qur'ānic transmissions of the Qur'ān alongside the historical
development of Qur'ān translations. This volume advances the field of Qur'ānic
studies and Qur'ānic history.