"Qur'anic studies, as a field of academic research, appears today to be in a state of disarray. Those of us who study Islam's origins have to admit collectively that we simply do not know some very basic things about the Qur'an – things so basic that the knowledge of them is usually taken for granted by scholars dealing with other texts. They include such questions as: How did the Qur'an originate? Where did it come from, and when did it first appear? How was it first written? In what kind of language was – is – it written? What form did it first take? Who constituted its first audience? How was it transmitted from one generation to another, especially in its early years? When, how, and by whom was it codified? Those familiar with the Qur'an and the scholarship on it will know that to ask even one of these questions immediately plunges us into realms of grave uncertainty and has the potential to spark intense debate. To put it another way, on these basic issues there is little consensus even among the well-trained scholars who work on them."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Fred Donner (2008). Gabriel Said Reynolds (ed.). The Qur'an in Recent Scholarship. Vol. The Quran in its historical context. Routledge. p. 29.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/History_of_the_Quran
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
History of the Quran
7 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by History of the Quran →
Related Quotes
"Based on archaeology, script geography and areal linguistics in the Late Antique Roman-Byzantine Middle East (includi…"
"In fact, “almost all the religious terms in the Qur’an,” Mingana notes, “are derived from Syriac.” These include word…"
"“There is no hard evidence for the existence of the Koran in any form before the last decade of the seventh century, …"
"It was Umar, Abu Turab and Salman the Persian who composed that (“your P’ourkan” [or Furqan]), even though the rumour…"
"Hajjaj “gathered together every single copy” of the Qur’an he could find “and caused to be omitted from the text a gr…"
"Uthman said to the three Quraishi men, "In case you disagree with Zaid bin Thabit on any point in the Qur'an, then wr…"
"And who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against Allah? These will be brought before their Lord, and the witne…"
"And certainly We sent Moses with Our signs and a dear authority, To Pharaoh and his chiefs, but they followed the bid…"
"And We wronged them not but they wronged themselves. And their gods whom they called upon besides Allah availed them …"
"Is, then, He Who watches every soul as to what it earns? And yet they ascribe partners to Allah! Say: Name them. Woul…"