I hope this message reaches you well, and that you found our time together in San Diego, both enlightening as well as enjoyable. Like many of you, I had the pleasure of meeting old friends and making new ones. I speak for myself, council and all IQSA officers when I say that we are quite pleased with how the conference went. Our sessions were well attended, and the papers were engaging and thought provoking. Our current membership numbers over 450 from all around the world, and we had the pleasure of having over one hundred of them represented during the Friday sessions, especially the keynote lecture and reception. 50 people attended our first business meeting, at which prof. Farid Esack was unanimously voted president elect for 2015.
We are, furthermore, heartened and impressed by the enthusiasm for IQSA–both within North American and internationally. Participants and audience members came from around the globe, including Indonesia, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Australia, Europe and North America. This all bodes well for IQSA, not least because this is just our second annual meeting. The task of IQSA’s executive office is now to keep up with this growth and accommodate our members for many future meetings.
I am also happy to share with you that our success in San Diego played a significant role within the larger SBL / AAR conference, for the second year in a row. More on this and several other matters of business soon.
Please do not forget to tell your friends, colleagues and peers about us. IQSA members come from an incredibly diverse range of academic backgrounds, including Qur’anic Studies, Islamic Studies, Biblical Studies, Middle East Studies, textual studies, inter-religious studies, hermeneutics, studies on manuscripts or material culture, the hard sciences, and so on. There are numerous ways to stay connected with IQSA throughout the year, namely by:
(b) If you have a minor project you would like to share over our blog
(any language), please contact vdegifis@wayne.edu
(As many as one thousand people may read your post in one
week)
Next, you may anticipate getting full access to the keynote paper by prof. Angelika Neuwirth and response by prof. Andrew Rippin. in December 2014. Soon after the New Year you should also receive news about Membership and Member Benefits for 2015. Current and past papers published by IQSA are available HERE (https://iqsaweb.org/publications/papers/) and program books are available HERE (https://iqsaweb.org/meetings/).
On behalf of us all, I wish to thank our 2014 acting president Andrew Rippin, 2015 president Reuven Firestone, and congratulate as well as thank our 2015 president elect Farid Esack. Also special thanks go to Nicolai Sinai, Gabriel Reynolds, John Kutsko, Irfana Hussain, Vanessa DeGifis, Ryann Craig, Hakaya Productions and our friends at both SBL and AAR. I very much look forward to our meetings next year in Yogyakarta Indonesia (Aug, 2015) and Atlanta, GA (Nov, 2015).
NOW ONLINE – Program Book for San Diego, Nov 21-24
Dear Friends,
We are now days away from the second Annual Meeting of the International Qur’anic Studies Association taking place in San Diego, November 21-24. We are looking forward to another exciting meeting of scholars an friends. For a complete showcase of our events, participants and sponsors we are proud to present the official AM 2014 PROGRAM BOOK (PDF). Viewers are encouraged to further circulate the program book. (Viewers may alternately access the program book by visiting IQSAWEB.ORG >> Meetings >> Program Book AM 2014)
Please do not forget our first Panel, Keynote Lecture and Reception all taking place on Friday, Nov 21 (one day before the official start of AAR or SBL). Our Keynote Lecture is on “Qur’anic Studies and Historical-Critical Philology. The Qur’an’s Staging, Penetrating, and Eclipsing Biblical tradition,” and will be delivered by prof. Angelika Neuwirth, with a Response by IQSA president, prof. Andrew Rippin at 4:00-5:15 pm in San Diego Convention Center (CC), Room 23 C (Upper level). All Friday events are FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Furthermore, I invite all IQSA members to fulfill their duty as members by attending our first ever Business Meeting, Sunday, Nov 23 at noon in the San Diego Convention Center (CC), Room 24 C (Upper Level). Finally, if you have not already please visitIQSAWEB.ORG in order to become a Member for 2014, subscribe to our Blog and join the private IQSA Discussion Group.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, Standing Committees and our partners we would like to express our deepest gratitude to all friends of IQSA, and we look forward to seeing you this Friday.
Space Available for the Mentorship Lunch – Reserve Yours Today!
Current grad students and new PhDs! There is still space available for the IQSA Mentorship Lunch in San Diego! Scheduled for Saturday 22 November, during the upcoming IQSA Annual Meeting, the Mentorship Lunch is a special opportunity to connect with leading scholars in Qur’anic studies and learn practical tips for finding your place in the field. Fred Donner, Ebrahim Moosa, Angelika Neuwirth, Gabriel Reynolds, and Andrew Rippin look forward to sharing with you their perspectives on issues that matter to emerging professionals, including:
networking skills
publishing strategies
marketing your work in a diverse job market
achieving a healthy work-life balance
charting your career path for long-term success
Act now to take advantage of this great opportunity! To sign up for the Mentorship Lunch, please email IQSA at contact@iqsaweb.org.
Mentorship Lunch at IQSA San Diego: A Special Opportunity to Connect with Leading Scholars
Current grad students and new PhDs! IQSA is delighted to offer you a special opportunity to connect with established scholars of the Qur’an and learn practical tips for finding your place in the field. This year’s IQSA Annual Meeting, which brings together students and scholars from around the world, includes a one-hour Mentorship Lunch scheduled for Saturday 22 November. If you are planning to attend the Annual Meeting, please consider signing up for this Lunch. It is an especially valuable opportunity to develop your knowledge and skills in the business side of Qur’anic studies – things that aren’t necessarily covered in grad school! You can learn more about:
networking skills
publishing strategies
marketing your work in a diverse job market
achieving a healthy work-life balance
charting your career path for long-term success
IQSA Board members Fred M. Donner, Ebrahim Moosa, Gabriel Reynolds, and Andrew Rippin will be happy to meet you and share their insights into what it means to be a professional in Qur’anic studies.
If you are interested in signing up for the Mentorship Lunch, please email IQSA at contact@iqsaweb.org.
International Qur’an Conference: “Recent Trends in Qur’anic Studies”
by Mun’im Sirry
IQSA and State Islamic University (UIN) Sunan Kalijaga in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, are co-hosting an international conference on “Recent Trends in Qur’anic Studies,” to be held in Yogyakarta on 4-7 August 2015.
This international Qur’an conference will be a forum where the Islamic tradition and rigorous academic study of the Qur’an will meet, and various approaches to the Qur’an will be critically discussed. In the spirit of learning from, and enriching, one another, we are working on a conference that will introduce our unique model of collaboration between IQSA and UIN Sunan Kalijaga to enhance the field of Qur’anic studies.
Over the last few decades, Qur’anic studies emerged as an exciting and vibrant field of research among scholars both in the West and in the Muslim-majority countries. This is evident not only in the flurry of books and articles that deal with the Qur’an and in the convening of various workshops and seminars on the subject, but also in the controversies that this field engenders. Diverse methodologies are currently applied to Qur’anic studies, and various issues are raised. Some of these methodologies and issues are new discoveries, while others revive older researches. As a result, many assumptions that for years have been taken for granted are now under rigorous scrutiny and often disputed to such an extent that, as Fred Donner has rightly noted, the field of Qur’anic studies seems today “to be in a state of disarray,” in the sense that there is little consensus among scholars. Questions such as the milieu within which the Qur’an emerged, the Qur’an’s relation to the Biblical tradition, its chronology, textual integration, and literary features are hotly debated today.
This international conference aims to explore major methodological and thematic issues in recent scholarly studies of the Qur’an in different parts of the world. We also wish to engage in scholarly conversations about the possibility of collaborative works to enhance the field of Qur’anic studies by bringing together scholars who may have little other chance to directly interact. There clearly needs to be closer collaboration among scholars of different perspectives and backgrounds. Rather than deepening conflicting approaches to the Qur’an, these scholars will explore the extent to which they may learn from one another in terms of methodological/hermeneutical approaches as they will also address current issues being debated in the field.
Among scholars in the field who will participate in the conference, to mention a few names (in alphabetical order), are: Fred Donner, Ali Mabrouk, Daniel Madigan, Jane McAuliffe, Gabriel Reynolds, Andrew Rippin, Abdullah Saeed, Nayla Tabbara, along with Indonesian scholars such as Amin Abdullah, Noorhaidi Hasan, Moch. Nur Ichwan, Syafaatun el-Mirzanah, Yusuf Rahman, Quraish Shihab, Sahiron Syamsuddin.
If you are interested in presenting your research on any of the following topics, please send your abstract (250 words) to Mun’im Sirry (msirry@nd.edu).
Possible topics:
Critical Approaches to the Qur’an
Qur’anic Milieu
Intertextuality: The Qur’an and the Biblical tradition
The Qur’an and Other Religions
Re-assessing the Exegetical Tradition of the Qur’an
Modern Trends in the Tafsir Tradition
The Indigenization of the Qur’an: Is there an Indonesian Tafsir
Please note that abstracts, papers and presentation must be in English.
Important Dates:
Deadline for submission of abstract: November 1, 2014
The International Qur’anic Studies Association is pleased to announce its inaugural Executive Board. We are honored to welcome a wonderful roster of Qur’anic Studies scholars to the Board, including:
Dissertation Summary: On Two Modern Approaches to Science in the Qur’an
By Majid Daneshgar*
Majid Daneshgar recently completed his PhD in Religion under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Rippin and Dr. Zulkifli Mohd Yusof. Daneshgar’s dissertation examines two modern approaches to science in the Qur’an. Tantawi Jawhari (1862-1940) and Maurice Bucaille (1920-1998) were two scholars who established novel, scientific exegetical methods that have spread throughout the Muslim world and the West.
Some academics have praised them while others have critiqued or even labeled them dreamers or charlatans because of their aspirations. A large number of people, however, (Muslim and others) have discussed these two scholars’ methodologies and the way they defined Qur’anic phrases from a scientific perspective. Tantawi interpreted some Qur’anic verses without explaining them in a scientific manner, whereas Bucaille particularly insisted on empirical approaches. It seems neither of them aimed to prove the inimitability of the Qur’an through their works, but they did have different aspirations.
Therefore, this study takes into account Tantawi and Bucaille’s views concerning science and explores their motives for invoking the realm of science. An additional reason for analyzing their methods in this thesis is to further explore the definition of science. The essential question is: Was science a tool they employed to help comprehend the Qur’an or a vehicle by which to convey their own perspectives?
Furthermore, the author tries to create a link between the Aristotelian definition of knowledge and nature, the Abbasid era concept of ‘ilm, Ghazali’s idea of ma‘rifah, and modern views towards science and education. This thesis also endeavors to display that the image depicted of the work of Tantawi and Bucaille is something other than what has previously been discussed, because there are many social and personal reasons behind their views towards science in the Qur’an.
Recently, individual parts of the thesis were published as articles: “Behind the Scenes: A Review of Western Figures’ Supportive Comments Regarding the Qur’an” in al-Bayan journal of Qur’an and Hadith, vol.11, no.2, Dec 2013; and “French Journals: A bridge for the Presence of Muslims in Europe in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries,” in Ayeneh-ye- Pazoohesh, vol.24, 2, 2013 (in Persian).
*Majid Daneshgar is the international editor and review editor of al-Bayan journal of Qur’an and Hadith, which is published by Brill, Netherlands. The journal publishes articles in English, Arabic and Malay in all domains of Qur’anic and hadith studies. For more information contact albayanjournal@um.edu.my.
Book review: Aims, Methods and Contexts of Qurʾanic Exegesis
By Gabriel Said Reynolds
Aims, Methods and Contexts of Qurʾanic Exegesis (2nd/8th-9th/15th C.), ed. Karen Bauer. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
A principal goal of the International Qurʾanic Studies Association (IQSA) is to encourage scholarship on the Qurʾanic text and its relationship to the historical, religious, and literary context of Late Antiquity. The interest of IQSA in fostering such scholarship is in part a response to the manner in which the academic study of the Qurʾan is often approached through the lens of tafsir. This approach has not done justice to the text of the Qurʾan. It also does not do justice to tafsir, a science that deserves to be studied for its own sake and not only as an accessory to the study of the Qurʾan. In this light the publication of a major volume dedicated to the study of tafsīr, entitled Aims, Methods and Contexts of Qurʾanic Exegesis (2nd/8th-9th/15th C.) and edited by Karen Bauer, is an auspicious development (as will be the forthcoming publication of Tafsir and Intellectual History, edited by Andreas Görke and Johanna Pink).
Aims, Methods and Contexts of Qurʾanic Exegesis, a work based on papers delivered at a 2009 conference at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, opens with a clear and compelling introduction by Bauer and is followed by thirteen chapters of almost universally high quality. Bauer divides the articles not by chronology but by theme, into three principal sections: “The Aims of Tafsir,” “Methods and Sources of Tafsir,” and “Contextualising Tafsir.” The work—which includes new editions of Arabic texts in the articles of Walid Saleh and Suleiman Mourad—concludes with a detailed index of Qurʾanic verses, a general index, and a global bibliography.
Here, instead of a comprehensive book review, I would like to draw attention to some highlights in Bauer’s volume. (I’ve also included a complete table of contents below). Among the most interesting contributions in Aims, Methods and Contexts of Qurʾanic Exegesis are those by Bauer herself, both the Introduction and the second chapter: “Justifying the Genre: A Study of Introductions to Classical Works of Tafsir.” In the Introduction Bauer convincingly argues that the science of tafsir is as much about the world of the mufassir as it is about the text of the Qurʾan:
At its essence, tafsir is each scholar’s attempt to relate his world to the world of the Qurʾan; it is his attempt to relate his intellectual, political and social contexts to the Qurʾan’s text. It is a process of meaning-creation, because what the scholars read into the text is not always explicitly there. (p. 8)
In some ways this argument sets the tone for the entire volume, as different scholars show how different mufassirun create meaning, and how their attempts to do so reflect their particular contexts and personalities. Following Walid Saleh’s detailed study and edition of the introduction to al-Wahidi’s Qurʾan commentary al-Basit, Suleiman Mourad presents an examination of the introduction to the Muʿtazili tafsir of al-Hakim al-Jishumi (“Towards a Reconstruction of the Muʿtazili Tradition of Qurʾanic Exegesis,” ch. 4). Mourad stresses the way in which al-Jishumi uses his tafsir as an arena (or, to use Mourad’s terminology, a “battlefield”) in which to refute the doctrines of the Muʿtazila’s opponents.
In his article (“Early Shiʿi Hermeneutics: Some Exegetical Techniques Attributed to the Shiʿi Imams”), Robert Gleave explores the way in which certain Shiʿite mufassirun attribute interpretations to the imams. Gleave categorizes these interpretations according to certain exegetical techniques in order to identify what is distinctive in this particular exegetical genre. Andrew Rippin (“The Construction of the Arabian Historical Context”) asks how much of what is generally assumed to be the Arabian historical background of the Qurʾan—even its Arabic language—is a construction of the mufassirun. To this end Rippin comments: “What we have is an interpretational context conveyed in a linguistic, social convention known as ‘Arabic,’ tied to a specifically imagined time and place that ends up being subject to generalisation across the text” (pp. 183-84)
The focus of Martin Nguyen (“Letter by Letter: Tracing the Textual Genealogy of a Sufi Tafsir”)is instead on one particular tafsir, the Laṭaʾif al-isharat of Abu l-Qasim al-Qushayri (d. 465/1072). Whereas Qushayri’s work is often labelled as a “mystical” tafsir, Nguyen shows that this label is simplistic, as the Laṭaʾif al-isharat also reflects the particular trends of Qurʾanic interpretation that were present in Qushayri’s context in Nishapur. While Nguyen’s article presents tafsir as a coherent science with distinct boundaries, Tariq Jaffer’s article (“Fakhr al-Din al-Razi’s System of Inquiry”) highlights the influence of philosophy and theology in Fakhr al-Din al-Razi’s monumental commentary. He thereby shows that in certain cases the boundaries of tafsir are fluid, and indeed that particular tafsirs can be something like compendia of different sciences.
Perhaps the most impressive contributions to Aims, Methods and Contexts of Qurʾanic Exegesis are the two which make up its final section. Claude Gilliot (“A Schoolmaster, Storyteller, Exegete and Warrior at Work in Khurasan: al-Dahhak b. Muzahim al-Hilali (d. 106/724)”) provides a detailed and meticulously documented examination of the exegetical material attributed to al-Dahhak, and the varied (and at times ambiguous or conflicting) traditions on his biography. Michael Pregill (“Methodologies for the Dating of Exegetical Works and Traditions”) examines a text often known (and indeed published) under the title of Tafsir Ibn ʿAbbas. Pregill shows, with reference to the scholarship of Andrew Rippin and others, that the attribution to Ibn ʿAbbas is without basis, as is Wansbrough’s attribution of this text to al-Kalbi. Instead, Pregill contends, this work should be identified with a tafsir entitled al-Wadih, compiled by ʿAbdallah b. al-Mubarak al-Dinawari (d. 308/920). In addition, Pregill convincingly argues through a series of case studies that this text has a distinctive relationship with early works such as Tafsir Muqatil, even if it shares the formal traits of later madrasa style tafsirs. Thus it is a text that “defies easy categorization” (p. 432).
The same might be said for the work in which Pregill’s article is found. The articles in Aims, Methods and Contexts of Qurʾanic Exegesis cover a diverse range of subjects, and are of various sorts, from textual editions, to theoretical reflections, to focused studies on particular works. Together, however, they form an impressive body of scholarship on tafsir. Indeed this volume might serve as a foundation for the development of a distinctive academic field of tafsir studies.
Aims, Methods and contexts of Qur’anic exegesis (2nd/8th-9th/15th C)
Table of Contents
Notes on contributors, XI-XIV.
Bauer (Karen), Introduction, 1-16.
Section I; The aims of tafsir 1. Hamza (Feras), Tafsir and unlocking the historical Qur’an: Back to basics?
19-37
2. Bauer (Karen), Justifying the genre: A study of introductions to Classical works of tafsir, 39-65
3. Saleh (Walid A.),The introduction of Wahidi’s al-Basit: An edition, translation and commentary, 67-100
4. Mourad (Suleiman), Towards a reconstruction of the Mu’tazili tradition of Qur’anic exegesis: Reading the introduction of the Tahdhib of al-Hakim al-Jishumi (d. 494/1101)and its application, 101-137.
Section II.Methods and sources of tafsir. 5. Gleave (Robert), Early Shi’i hermeneutics:Some exegetical techniques attributed to the Shi’i Imams, 141-172.
6. Rippin (Andrew), The construction of the Arabian historical context in Muslim interpretation of the Qur’an 173-198
7. Tottoli (Roberto), Methods and contexts in the use of hadiths and traditions in classical tafsir literature: The exegesis of Q. 21:85and Q. 17:1, 199-215
8. Ngyuen (Martin), Letter by letter: Tracing the textual genealogy of a sufi tafsir, 217-240
9. Jaffer (Tariq), Fakhr al-Din al-Razi’s system of inquiry: Doubt and the transmission of knowledge, 241-261
10. Zamah (Ludmila), Master of the obvious: understanding zahir interpretations in Qur’anic exegesis, 263-276.
11. Burge (Stephen), Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, the Mu’awwidhatan and the Modes of Exegesis, 277-310.
Section III. Contextualising tafsir
12. Gilliot (Claude), A schoolmaster, storyteller, exegete and warrior at work in Khurasan: al-Dahhak b. Muzahim al-Hilali (d. 106/724), 311-392.
13. Pregill (Michael E.), Methodologies for the dating of exegetical works and traditions: Can the lost tafsir of al-Kalbi be recovered from Tafsir Ibn Abbas (also known as al-Wadih)?, 393-453
This year’s topic is “Concepts and Terms in the Qur’an.” The meeting thus seeks to be an interdisciplinary conference that gathers scholars from across the globe to present and discuss the most recent developments in the study of Qur’anic concepts and terms.
New Book: The Qur’an and the Aramaic Gospel Traditions
A new book by Emran El-Badawi on The Qur’an and the Aramaic Gospel Traditions has been published this month. This book is the thirteenth of the Routledge Studies in the Qur’an series, edited by Andrew Rippin.
(Routledge.com)
Description*
This book is a study of related passages found in the Arabic Qur’an and the Aramaic Gospels, i.e. the Gospels preserved in the Syriac and Christian Palestinian Aramaic dialects. It builds upon the work of traditional Muslim scholars, including al-Biqa‘i (d. ca. 808/1460) and al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505), who wrote books examining connections between the Qur’an on the one hand, and Biblical passages and Aramaic terminology on the other, as well as modern western scholars, including Sidney Griffith who argue that pre-Islamic Arabs accessed the Bible in Aramaic.
The Qur’an and the Aramaic Gospel Traditions examines the history of religious movements in the Middle East from 180-632 CE, explaining Islam as a response to the disunity of the Aramaic speaking churches. It then compares the Arabic text of the Qur’an and the Aramaic text of the Gospels under four main themes: the prophets; the clergy; the divine; and the apocalypse. Among the findings of this book are that the articulator as well as audience of the Qur’an were monotheistic in origin, probably bilingual, culturally sophisticated and accustomed to the theological debates that raged between the Aramaic speaking churches.
Arguing that the Qur’an’s teachings and ethics echo Jewish-Christian conservatism, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Religion, History, and Literature.
Table of Contents
Sources and Method
Prophetic Tradition in the Late Antique Near East
Prophets and their Righteous Entourage
The Evils of the Clergy
The Divine Realm
Divine Judgement and the Apocalypse
Data Analysis and Conclusion
Author Bio
Emran El-Badawi is Director and Assistant Professor of Arab Studies at the University of Houston. His articles include “From ‘clergy’ to ‘celibacy’: The development of rahbaniyyah between Qur’an, Hadith and Church Canon” and “A humanistic reception of the Qur’an.” His work has been featured on the New York Times, Houston Chronicle and Christian Science Monitor.
Subjects
Islam
Scriptures of Islam
Biblical Studies
For complete product information on El-Badawi’s book please go here.
First International Symposium on Rethinking the Qur’an
By Andrew Rippin
ANKARA—On May 3-5, 2013, the Research Institute for Philosophical Foundations of Disciplines (İlim Dallarının Düşünce Temellerini Araştırma Enstitüsü) in Ankara sponsored the First International Symposium on Rethinking the Qur’an. With papers presented by fifty-one participants from about twenty countries worldwide, and with attendance topping 200 people—more than 50% of whom were women—this was an event of some significance.
The concern of the local community with the idea of “rethinking” the Qur’an was evident, both in the papers delivered and in the composition of the audience. Many expressed opinions about the best method by which the Qur’an might be understood and about why that process of understanding was so difficult. As numerous speakers said, while no doubt is harbored that the Qur’an is a revelation from God, the problem of the need for a method to understand the text remains. The discussion was open and often surprising (to an “outsider” such as myself), and the tone remained—for the most part—earnest yet respectful. Such conversations were facilitated and kept available to all through simultaneous translation of English and Turkish (as well as Arabic and Persian in some panels).
The question of whether academic scholarship has anything to contribute to the task of “rethinking the Qur’an” was brought to the surface through the participation of several scholars who adopted a theoretical angle. (Literary, historical, and comparative religion approaches were especially evident.) This sort of conversation between perspectives on the study of the Qur’an has, at the very least, the merit of breaking down the perceived barriers between academic work and devotional concerns.
There were some papers that particularly drew the attention of the audience and others that reflected theoretical sophistication of considerable interest. Several papers from Iranian participants, given in English, were focused on linguistic structures and informed by general theory, for example. One presentation from a Mauritanian/Moroccan scholar on qiwama in the context of Q. 4.34—as can likely be imagined by readers of this blog—aroused impassioned responses and evoked many reinterpretations of the passage on the part of the audience, despite the speaker’s attempt to emphasize the need to follow the methods of al-Jabiri, Arkoun and Fazlur Rahman.
There is no doubt that a theological agenda was close to the surface in many of the papers and discussions, and this was totally explicit in the two concluding talks of the symposium. One challenge that clearly emerged as critical was that of resolving the hermeneutical problems of multiple meanings in the text, without the believer’s reverence for the text overcoming the scholar’s constructive analysis (such that the result is simply a statement of belief). And, as was argued, another common problem among religious believers is that of engaging the text without allowing the fear of the outcome of one’s study to overpower the enunciation of one’s ideas (thus simply leading to acceptance of what has “always” been thought.) Such thoughts are especially interesting to those of us who reflect upon trends in modern Islamic thinking; but they also illustrate the gap that remains between scholarship within the Euro-American tradition of Qur’anic studies and expected motivations when speaking to an audience in a country such as Turkey.
The difference here is, of course, familiar: it is the same tension that is experienced in religious studies in general, whether thought of as the insider-outsider dilemma or as the problem of defining religious studies as compared to theology. But what this gathering illustrated to me, at least, is the necessity for the interaction between the different perspectives—both for communication and for chipping away at the preconceptions held on both sides of the discussion. For that, this symposium was a tremendous success.
It is anticipated that a second symposium, focusing on rethinking concepts in the Qur’an, will be held next year.
Planning begins for Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān: Supplement
By Jane McAuliffe
When the discussions surrounding the Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān commenced in 1993 the scholarly world was a different place from the one we find ourselves in today. It hardly needs to be stated that public attention to the Islamic world has increased considerably over the past two decades, and publishing houses have responded with a flood of popular and academic tomes. The Qurʾān and Qurʾānic studies have enjoyed (and at times suffered from) a central role in this changing context. The timing of the publication of EQ over the period of 2001 to 2006 was fortuitous and welcomed by readers around the world. In the years since its publication its value has been revealed in many ways, as witnessed by its consistent citation in scholarly and general books. Still, the intervening time from the original planning until today shows that there is much more that could be accomplished. A new generation of scholars devoted to the Qurʾān and its interpretation has emerged. The broader field of Islamic Studies has generated topics of both academic and popular interest for which the Qurʾān and its scholarship is an important source. And new forms of publication, particularly electronic and online, allow completed work, such as a multi-volume encyclopedia, to be reimagined as a more flexible and continually refreshed reference source, one that can keep pace with a field of study as it changes and push its boundaries.
Encyclopedia of the Qur’an (brill.com)
The Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, the first such work in western languages, was designed to define the field of Qur’ānic studies and to capture the state of scholarship as it stood at the time of its publication. This it did quite successfully. The structure of the Encyclopaedia, as outlined in the Preface, which combined entries of varying length with longer, synoptic essays, was intended to summarize past academic work and to set an agenda for the future. The very success of the Encyclopaedia in advancing the field has resulted, perhaps inevitably, in the suggestion that a way be found to expand, improve, and update it. The revolution of electronic publication and online access now permits the realization of that suggestion.
Discussions have thus been initiated between Brill and an editorial team under the direction of Jane McAuliffe to issue regular supplements to the Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. The goal is not to replace published entries—the original edition will remain intact—but to expand the existing base of articles with freshly commissioned ones on the same, related and new topics. These will serve to complement, supplement, elaborate on, and provide additional perspectives on the current print and online edition. Future supplements will provide entries and longer essays under new headings, reflecting work currently being undertaken and recently published in the scholarly arena. The editors will also commission additional entries dealing with the exegetical tradition, filling in information about authors and works that are referenced throughout the published Encyclopaedia but not treated independently or expansively within its pages.
With this expansion of the online edition, the basic editorial approach of EQ will remain the same. Entries will be found primarily under English keywords. The perspective of the work will continue to be thoroughly academic and rigorous, incorporating a plurality of perspectives and presuppositions, as the Preface to the original Encyclopaedia expressed it. The editorial team continues to uphold the notion that “[s]cholarly perspective can no longer be neatly pinned to religious identification and good scholarship is flourishing in this richly plural environment” and will strive to ensure that it is in this spirit that the Encyclopaedia continues to expand.
Now that this opportunity to create a supplement is available to those of us who work in this field, the editorial team would welcome suggestions of topics that users of the Encyclopaedia feel should be included or expanded upon. While proposing a topic does not guarantee its inclusion, surfacing as many good suggestions as possible will certainly launch this project in a productive direction. Following the contemporary process of “crowdsourcing,” the collective input of the scholarly community and other interested individuals will ensure that the coverage of the Encyclopaedia continues to evolve with the field of Qur’ānic Studies itself and to be as comprehensive as possible.
Please send all suggestions and correspondence to any of the individual email addresses below or to: eqsupplement@gmail.com
Executive Board. We are honored to welcome a wonderful roster of Qur’anic Studies scholars to the Board, including:
