New Publication by Johanna Pink, “Muslim Qurʾānic Interpretation Today: Media, Genealogies and Interpretive Communities”

Johanna Pink’s latest book, Muslim Qur’ānic Interpretation Today: Media, Genealogies, and Interpretive Communities (Sheffield: Equinox Publishing Ltd, 2019) is now out! IQSA readers can claim 25% off using the code QURAN when ordering directly from Equinox.

PinkMuslim Qurʾānic interpretation today is beset by tensions: tensions between localising and globalising forces; tensions between hierarchical and egalitarian social ideals; tensions between the quest for new approaches and the claim for authority raised by defenders of exegetical traditions. It is this complex web of power structures, local as well as global, that this book seeks to elucidate.

This book provides a fresh perspective on present-day Qurʾānic interpretations by analysing the historical, social and political dimensions in which they take place, the ways in which they are performed and the media through which they are transmitted. Besides discussing the persistence of exegetical traditions and the emergence of new paradigms, it examines the structural conditions in which these processes occur. Languages, nation states, global human rights discourses and intra-Islamic divisions all shape the nature of interpretive endeavours and frequently fuel conflicts over the correct understanding of the Qurʾān.

The book contains more than twenty detailed case studies of recent Qurʾānic interpretations, based on translated texts that cover a variety of languages, regions, media, genres, approaches, authors and target groups. They are integrated into the chapters, bring their arguments to life and stimulate fundamental reflections on the authority of the text and the authority of its interpreters.

Brett Wilson, Associate Professor of History, Central European University, gave this review:

This is an ambitious book that asks trenchant questions about Qur’anic interpretation in the contemporary world. Given the massive production of such texts around the globe in the past two decades, it is a very welcome and much needed contribution to the field of Qur’anic studies. It is to be praised for its breadth in that it explores a broad array of interpretations in various geographies, languages, and media, providing – better than any other book – a map of the very terrain of recent Qur’anic exegesis as well as an incisive examination of the debates, traditions, and power-structures that shape it. Without question, this book will be an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and curious minds for years to come.

The full table of contents can also be accessed here courtesy of the University of Freiburg.

johannaAbout the Author: Johanna Pink is Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Freiburg and a member of the IQSA Board of Directors.

* Text and image accessed and reproduced by kind permission of Equinox Publishing: https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/muslim-quranic-interpretation/

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2019. All rights reserved.