The Qur'an in Its Historical Context.

• Author: Witztum, Joseph
• Position: Book review

The Qur'an in Its Historical Context. Edited by GABRIEL SAID REYNOLDS. London: ROUTLEDGE, 2008. Pp. xv + 294. $160.

Reactions to Christoph Luxenberg's study (Die syro-aramaische Lesart des Koran [Berlin, 2000; Eng. tr. Berlin, 2007]) vary greatly. To some a seminal turning point in Qur'anic studies, to others a work based on "wayward philology and exegetical caprice" (see review by Simon Hopkins in JSAI 28 [2003]), it has certainly contributed to the revival of scholarly interest in the critical study of the Qur'an. One fruit of this renewed attention is the volume under review, the outcome of a conference held in 2005 at the University of Notre Dame.

The collection strikes a good balance between broad surveys and detailed studies and constitutes an important addition to Qur'anic scholarship. It makes a significant contribution to the study of the Qur'an in the context of late antiquity, especially with regard to (Syriac) Christianity, provides a scholarly overview of the state of the field, and is useful as a bibliographic tool.

Rather than attempt to discuss all thirteen articles, I will briefly describe their contents and comment only on a few, focusing mainly on matters pertaining to the impact of the Syriac language and Christian lore on the Qur'an. More attention will be given to three contributions (by Sidney Griffith, Kevin van Bladel, and Devin J. Stewart), which are among the finest and most interesting in the collection.

After a short foreword by Daniel A. Madigan, the introduction by the editor and organizer of the conference, Gabriel Said Reynolds, surveys the as yet unsuccessful attempts to establish a critical text of the Qur'an and describes the main revisionist theories regarding its origin. The evaluation of these theories is a key concern of many essays in the volume.

Fred M. Donner addresses recent scholarship in the course of his observations concerning five fundamental issues: the existence of an "Ur-Qur'an," its nature, language, transmission, and the codification and canonization of the Qur'an. Donner concludes by advocating the creation of two internet databases: one of early Qur'an manuscripts, the other of variant readings preserved in Islamic literature.

Robert Hoyland uses epigraphic data to argue convincingly, contra Luxenberg, that Syriac was not the main literary language in seventh-century Hijaz, that by this time Arabic had long been used for sacred and literary expression, and that Nabataean, rather than Syriac, was the source of the Arabic script. Hoyland also discusses the possible role of Arab tribes allied to Rome and of Christian missionaries in creating the Arabic script.

Gerhard Bowering provides an overview and analysis of recent scholarship on the composition and codification of the Qur'an, with special attention given to the revisionist theories of Gunter Luling, Luxenberg, and Joseph Azzi, who is less known in the West.

Claude Gilliot builds upon his earlier work on the collective authorship of the Qur'an and examines the evidence for this in the Islamic tradition. His contribution is thought-provoking and contains a wealth of references, although the historical reliability of the traditional accounts adduced by Gilliot is debatable. In addition, in one instance his interpretation of the sources seems highly speculative. He quotes the following account attributed to Zayd b. Thabit: "I was brought to the Messenger of God when he came to Medina. They said: 'Messenger of God, this is a boy of the banu al-Najjar, of what had been revealed unto you he knows seventeen suras.' So I recited to the Messenger of God, and he was pleased with it.' " On this Gilliot comments (p. 92): "Are these suras of the Qur'an? Would they not rather be passages of Jewish writings which Muhammad or others liked and which were used for the composition of the Qur'an?" Gilliot's attempt to substantiate this hypothesis remains unconvincing in my opinion. The latter part of his article is dedicated to the role of Syriac Christianity in shaping the Qur'an.

This attempt to...