The International Qur’anic Studies Association (IQSA), a nonprofit organization, currently has a part-time job opening for an Executive Assistant which needs to be filled at once. The position requires about 10 hours per week and pay is $15 per hour. He/she will report directly to the Executive Director, but also work over e-mail/phone with colleagues located remotely. The work can be done from any geographic location in the Unites States, with preference given to candidates in Houston or Atlanta. The candidate will preferably be a recent graduate or graduate student in the fields of humanities, liberal arts or social sciences with editorial experience and some knowledge of non-profits. Candidate must show attention to detail, have a can-do attitude and a professional communication style. Foreign language experience is strongly desired.
The required duties are listed below and can all be performed remotely/from home.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Manage the weekly blog
Maintain and update WordPress website and membership website
Update organization’s social media (Facebook and Twitter pages)
Setup conference calls using online system
Manage email inquiries sent to organization’s email address
Moderate online discussion group daily
Manage master contact list
Administer and manage membership software
Draft and send emails to all the organization’s members and contacts
Assist in preparations for organization’s annual and international meetings
Edit and format the annual meeting program book using the style guide
Contact Publishers and sell advertisement space
Coordinate communications between Council, Executive Director, and committees
Coordinate and manage payments, reimbursements, and expense sheets
Organize and archive documents
Other organizational, managerial, and editorial tasks as needed
Research best practices to assist in administration’s communication and planning
Seek out relevant news, research and conferences in Qur’anic Studies
QUALIFICATIONS:
Bachelors degree in Humanities, Social Science or related field.
Masters degree or graduate study preferred
Working knowledge of foreign languages and text (Arabic, Persian, Syriac, Hebrew, French or German) is a major plus!
Interested candidates should send a CV and 1 page cover letter to Dr. Emran El-Badawi (emran01@gmail.com).
Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association مجلة الجمعية الدولية للدراسات القرآنية (Vol 1–2016)
REMINDERS + NOW ONLINE – Program Book for San Antonio, Nov 18-21
Dear Friends,
We are now days away from the fourth Annual Meeting of the International Qur’anic Studies Association taking place in San Antonio, November 18-21. We are looking forward to another exciting meeting of scholars and friends. For a complete showcase of our events, participants and sponsors we are proud to present the official AM 2016 PROGRAM BOOK (PDF). Viewers are encouraged to further circulate the program book. (Program Book link: https://iqsaweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/iqsa-programbook-2016.pdf)
Reminders — Please make sure to attend the following events or perform the needed duties outlined here:
If you want to gain access to all IQSA session in San Antonio as well as our exclusive member benefits please RENEW your 2016 IQSA MEMBERSHIP immediately here (http://members.iqsaweb.org/Sys/Login). It is not too late!
The FRIDAY sessions are FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC. So do not forget to attend the AFTERNOON PANEL, KEYNOTE ADDRESS “‘These are my Daughters’: Lot and His Offer—A Lover/ Scholar Reflects on one of the Qurʾan’s More Awkward Moments”, RECEPTION & FILM SCREENING of “Jesus and Islam / Jésus et l’islam” all on Friday Nov 18. See program for details.
On Saturday Nov 19 Graduate students should attend the Doctoral Dissertation “Lightning Talks” 11:45am-12:45am. See program for details. Only a handful of spots remain. RSVP now contact@iqsaweb.org
On Sunday Nov 20 I call upon all IQSA members to fulfill their duty by attending our Business Meetingat 11:30am-12:15pm. See program for details.
Finally, it will come as no surprise to any of us that the world’s political climate continues to change. Our work is now more important than ever. Please support IQSA and DONATE (http://members.iqsaweb.org/donate). Meanwhile do not forget to enjoy this VIDEO (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg-W3Asj3R8) and share accordingly — thank you.
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.
Call for Papers International Meeting 2017 “Qur’anic Studies: Methods, Contexts and Interpretations”
Académie Tunisienne des Sciences, des Lettres et des Arts Département des Sciences islamiques and International Quranic Studies Association (IQSA) are co-hosting the International Qur’an Conference on “Qur’anic Studies: Methods, Contexts, and Interpretations” at the Beit al-Hikma in Carthage, Tunisia on July 4-6, 2017.
Qurʾanic studies (`Ulum al-Qur’an), which developed between the 2nd/8th and 9th/15th centuries represents one of the cornerstones of the Islamic sciences. `Ulum al-Qurʾan can be defined as the science that analyses the themes, forms and purposes of the Qurʾanic text. This conference aims to examine the principles, methods and the nature of the knowledge stemming from Qurʾanic sciences. Thus, it is the epistemological status of Qurʾanic studies that will be discussed. To this end, we will be interested, for example, by the various interpretations of the famous verse 16:89: wa-nazzalnā ʿalayka l-kitāba tibyānan li-kulli šayˈin (« We have sent down the Book to you as a clarification of all things ») or the questions of the emergence, the categories and concepts or the evolutions of Qurʾanic sciences (medieval, modern and contemporary).
Alongside this epistemological reflection, the symposium will focus on methodologies of qurʾanic analysis from traditional Qurʾanic sciences or from the latest developments in qurʾanic studies. We will analyse their assumptions, their applications and their consequences for our current understanding of the text. Particular attention will be paid to the recent developments in Qurʾanic studies in Europe and North America. The context of the emergence of the Qurʾan and the formation of the canonical text will be discussed in light of new sources: Early Qurʾanic manuscripts, unpublished or little known arabic sources, or Arabian graffiti of the 7th century. The intertextual relationship between the Qurʾan and earlier scriptural traditions in the broader context of late antiquity will also be highlighted. Here we would like to emphasize the work of rewriting and re-appropriation of biblical and parabiblical texts by the Qurʾan and Islamic exegesis. Finally, using new tools of contemporary linguistics and methods from Biblical studies, we will will raise the question of the specificities of the text in terms of argumentation, polemics and composition.
A third complementary approach to epistemological and methodological reflections will focus on Qurʾanic themes and interpretive issues they raise. An overarching theme of quranic « polemics » in the Qurʾan will be chosen. Through classical and modern exegetical literature, we will consider the rhetorical forms borrowed, the historical development of interpretation, as well as conflicts in interpretation and their implications. We will pay particular attention to the critical contributions that attempt to contextualize polemic in terms of the narrow context of tribal Arabia or more generally Late Antiquity.
The meeting will therefore focus on the following three areas:
Epistemology: The Place of the Qurʾanic Studies in Islamic sciences
Methods and Tools (Presuppositions, Applications and Purposes)
Classical
Contemporary
Themes and Interpretations: Qurʾanic polemics
Classical
Contemporary
The colloquium will be held on July 4-6, 2017. Venue: The Academy “Beït al-Hikma” at Carthage.
We have the honor and the pleasure to solicit our colleagues to collaborate and present papers related to these plan. They are kindly invited to submit an abstract (about 500 words) including name of the proponent, title, and description of the proposal, before December 31, 2016, to the following e-mail address: mehdi.azaiez@kuleuven.be. They will be informed of the acceptation of their proposals before March 31, 2017.
Colloque International Les études coraniques :méthodes, contextes et interprétations Beit al-Hikma, Carthage, 4-6 juillet 2017
Argument :
Les études coraniques (ʿulūm al-Qur’ān) développées entre le 2ème/8ème et le 9ème/15ème siècles représentent un des pivots des sciences islamiques. Elles peuvent se définir comme les sciences qui interrogent les thèmes, les formes et les finalités du texte coranique. Ce colloque vise à interroger les principes et fondements, les méthodes mais aussi la nature de la connaissance issue des sciences coraniques. C’est donc le statut épistémologique des études coraniques qui sera examiné. A cet effet, on pourra s’intéresser, par exemple, aux interprétations du célèbre verset 16:89 : wa-nazzalnā ʿalayka l-kitāba tibyānan li-kulli šay’in (« Et Nous avons fait descendre sur toi le Livre, comme un exposé explicite de toute chose ») ou encore traiter des questions de l’émergence, des catégories et concepts ou encore des évolutions des sciences coraniques (médiévale, moderne et contemporaine).
Parallèlement à cette réflexion épistémologique, ce colloque se portera sur les méthodologies d’analyse du Coran issues des sciences coraniques traditionnelles ou des derniers développements de la recherche coranologique. On s’intéressera à leurs présupposés, leurs applications et leurs conséquences pour notre compréhension actuelle du texte. On s’informera particulièrement des récents développements des études coraniques en Europe et en Amérique du Nord. C’est d’abord le contexte d’émergence du Coran qu’il s’agira d’étudier ainsi que la formation du texte canonique à l’appui de sources (et de méthodes) inédites : manuscrits coraniques du 7ème siècle, sources inédites ou peu connues, ou graffitis de l’Arabie du 7ème siècle. C’est ensuite les relations intertextuelles entre le Coran et les traditions scripturaires antérieures dans le contexte large de l’Antiquité tardive qu’il s’agira d’examiner. On questionnera ici le travail de réécriture et de réappropriation de textes bibliques, et parabibliques par le Coran et l’exégèse islamique. Enfin, à partir de nouveaux outils de la linguistiquecontemporaine et de méthodes issues des études bibliques on interrogera les spécificités de ce texte en matière d’argumentation, de polémique et de composition.
Une troisième approche complémentaire aux réflexions épistémologiques et méthodologiques s’intéressera aux thématiques coraniques et aux enjeux interprétatifs qu’elles soulèvent. On choisira ici un thème transversal autour de la « polémique » dans le Coran. A travers la littérature exégétique classique et moderne, on s’interrogera sur les formes rhétoriques empruntées, sur les significations et les conséquences liées aux interprétations successives et parfois contradictoires autour de ces deux thèmes. On portera une attention particulière aux contributions critiques qui tentent de contextualiser cette violence à l’aune du contexte restreint de l’Arabie tribale ou plus largement de l’Antiquité Tardive.
Cette rencontre s’articulera donc autour des trois axes suivants :
Epistémologie : le statut des études coraniques dans les sciences islamiques
Méthodes : les outils d’analyse (présupposés, applications et finalités)
Classiques
Contemporains
Thèmes et Interprétations : autour de la polémique coranique
Classiques
Contemporains
Le colloque se tiendra les 4 et 6 juillet 2017 à l’Académie « Beït al-Hikma » à Carthage.
Les propositions d’article, en arabe, anglais ou en français doivent être transmis, avant le 31 décembre 2016 à mehdi.azaiez@kuleuven.be.
D’une longueur d’une page, les propositions devront inclure :
– le titre de l’article,
– un argumentaire (maxi 500 mots),
– toutes les données nécessaires à l’identification de l’auteur : nom, affiliation institutionnelle, adresse professionnelle, téléphone et e-mail.
Les propositions sélectionnées seront connues avant le 31 mars 2017.
ملتقى دولي
الدراسات القرآنية: المناهج، السياقات والتأويلات
بيت الحكمة، قرطاج 4-6 جويلية 2017
تمثّل الدراسات القرآنية (علوم القرآن)، والتي طُوِّرت بين القرنين 2 و8 هجري (9 و15 م)، إحدى الركائز الأساسية للعلوم الإسلامية. ويمكن تعريفها بأنها العلوم التي تُسائل موضوعات وأشكالَ وأيضا أغراضَ النص القرآني. يهدف هذا المؤتمر إلى مناقشة مبادئ وأُسس ومناهج وكذلك طبيعة المعرفة النابعة من علوم القرآن. وبالتالي فإن الوضع المعرفي للدراسات الإسلامية هو الذي سيتم تحليله. وفي هذا الصّدد، نستطيع، على سبيل المثال، تسليط الضوء على مختلف التفسيرات للآية الشهيرة من سورة النحل: “وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِّكُلِّ شَيْءٍ” (89 :16)، أو أيضا تناول الأسئلة المتعلقة بظهور المقولات والمفاهيم بالإضافة إلى التطورات التي عرفتها العلوم القرآنية (في العصور الوسطى والحديثة والمعاصرة).
وإلى جانب هذه المقاربة المعرفيّة سيركِّز هذا المؤتمر على مناهج تحليل القرآن الكريم سواء كانت منبَثِقة عن العلوم القرآنيّة التقليدية أو عن أحدث التطورات التي تشهدها البحوث والدراسات القرآنية. ومن هنا سيقع التطرق إلى الافتراضات التي بُنيت عليها هذه المناهج، وإلى تطبيقاتها وتداعياتها على فهمنا الحالي للنّص. كما سيتم تسليط اهتمام خاص على التطورات الأخيرة للدراسات القرآنية في أوروبا وأمريكا الشمالية. قبل كلّ شيئ سيتعلّق الأمر بمناقشة السياق الذي ظهر فيه القرآن وأدّى إلى تَشكُّل النصّ القانوني (المقدّس) بالاعتماد على مصادر (ومناهج) مُبتَكرة: مخطوطات قرآنية من القرن 7 ميلادي، مصادر لم تكن معروفة أو معروفة بشكل محدود، أو نقوش من الجزيرة العربيّة تعود إلى القرن 7 ميلادي. ثمّ بعد هذا سيتمّ تسليط الضوء على علاقات التّناص بين القرآن والتقاليد الكتابيّة الدينيّة السابقة، وذلك في سياق أوسع يشمل أواخر العصور القديمة. وسوف نبحث هنا عمليّة إعادة كتابة النصوص البيبليّة (الكتاب المقدّس) وشبه البيبليّة والتّطابق معها التي اعتمدها القرآن الكريم والتفسير الإسلامي. وأخيرا، انطلاقا من الأدوات الجديدة لعلوم اللّسانيّات المعاصرة ومناهج مُنبَثقة عن الدراسات البيبليّة، سيقع طرح الأسئلة حول خصوصيات هذا النص فيما يتعلّق بالحِجاج، والجدل والتأليف.
هناك مقاربة ثالثة مُكمِّلة للمقاربات المعرفيّة والمنهجيّة ستهتمّ بدورها بالموضوعات القرآنية والرّهانات التفسيريّة التي تثيرها. وسيقع هنا اختيار موضوع محوري يدور حول الجدل في القرآن. كما سيقع، من خلال الأدب التفسيري الكلاسيكي والحديث، التِماس الأشكال البلاغيّة المتوخاة والدّلالات وكذلك النتائج المترتّبة على التفسيرات المتتالية والمتناقضة أحيانا حول هذين الموضوعين. كما أنّه سيقع إعطاء اهتمام خاصّ للمساهمات النقديّة التي تحاول تناول هذا العنف في ضوء السّياق القَبَلي الضيِّق داخل الجزيرة العربيّة أو في سياق العصور القديمة المتأخّرة بشكل أوسع.
سيتمحور هذا الملتقى حول المحاور الثلاثة التالية:
1- نظريّة المعرفة: مكانة الدراسات القرآنيّة في العلوم الإسلاميّة
Les trois piliers de l’Islam: Une lecture anthropologique du Coran
In the latest installment of the Review of Qur’anic Research, Gabriel Said Reynolds reviews Jacqueline Chabbi’s Les trois piliers de l’Islam: Une lecture anthropologique du Coran. In this volume, Chabbi makes the case that Islam as we know it from medieval sources is not the same as Islam as it was in its original Arabian context. According to Chabbi, academic scholars and pious Muslims alike too often fail to recognize elements of Islam which were introduced in later centuries, and too often assume that medieval ideas about the Qurʾan reflect what the Qurʾan meant to its original, Arabian audience. Les trois piliers de l’Islam is her effort to set things straight, to recover Islam’s original message.
Full access to the Review of Qur’anic Research (RQR) is available in the members-only area of our IQSA website. Not an IQSA member? Join today to enjoy RQR and additional member benefits!
Public Lecture Series: The Qurʾān between Judaism and Christianity
A Public Engagement Initiative funded by the British Academy
Hosted at the University of Nottingham, co-Sponsored by the Karimia Institute
What can the Qurʾān, the Holy Scripture of Islam, teach us about Judaism and Christianity? How does knowledge about Judaism and Christianity help us better to understand the Qurʾān? This public lecture series seeks to make cutting edge research in Islamic Studies accessible to the broader public. The speakers integrate literary and historical approaches in order to illustrate the intricate relationship between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. A better understanding of the past may in turn help us to reconsider the present in a more nuanced way, and to formulate answers to the challenges faced by the Muslim communities in the Western World and beyond. The talks will be followed by a response and a discussion. Attendance is free and open to the public, but registration is required. For the conference website, please click here, for registration, please see below.
September 17, 2016, 1 – 6 pm, A1 Highfield House, University Park
1:00 pm -1:10 pm: Welcome, Dr. Holger Zellentin, The University of Nottingham
How to Study the Qurʾān – ‘Traditional’ and ‘Academic’ Approaches
1:10 pm – 2:00 pm: Prof. Islam Dayeh, Free University, Berlin
2:00 pm – 2:50 pm: Prof. Mehdi Azaiez, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
2:50 pm – 3:20 pm: Response by Dr. Marianna Klar, School of Oriental and African Studies
3:20 pm – 3:50 pm: Coffee Break
The Qurʾān and the Bible
3:50 pm – 4:40 pm: Prof. Angelika Neuwirth, Free University, Berlin
4:40 pm – 5:30 pm: Prof. Gabriel Said Reynolds, Notre Dame University
5:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Response by Dr. Omar Ali-de-Unzaga, Ismaili Institute, London
In the latest installment of Review of Qur’anic Research 2 no. 6, W. S. Chahanovich reviews Les origines du Coran, le Coran des origins, a volume edited by Francois Déroche, Christian Robin, and Michel Zink. Les origines is a testimony to the robust tradition of European qur’anic scholarship and provides the reader with focused contributions touching on several topics, including qur’anic philology, paleography, epigraphy, and codicology. Comprised of fourteen articles – nine French, one German, three English –Les origines is the result of a conference held in 2011 in France that honored the 150th anniversary of the publication of the first edition of Theodor Nöldeke’s groundbreaking work Die Geschichte des Qorâns (1860).
Full access to the Review of Qur’anic Research (RQR) is available in the members-only area of our IQSA website. Not an IQSA member? Join today to enjoy RQR and additional member benefits!
Qur’anic Studies, a Political Philology?
Cover of Koranforschung – eine politische philologie? (Walter de Gruyter, 2014)
In the latest installment of the Review of Qur’anic Research 2 no. 5, Mareike Koertner reviews Angelika Neuwirth’s Koranforschung – eine politische Philologie? (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2014). In this book Neuwirth presents a concise work of her larger theories of contextualizing the qur’anic text within the intellectual framework of Late Antiquity. She suggests that the study of the reception of biblical materials in the Qurʾan must be analyzed by considering the cultural and religious context in which the Qurʾan emerged and evolved. The qur’anic text heavily interacted with its audiences and is a result of a process of cultural re-negotiation that included elements from the environment in Mecca, the living heirs of the biblical traditions who resided in Medina, and, Muhammad and his community. In answering her question of if the qur’anic studies is a political philology, Neuwirth explains the various meanings of “political.”
Full access to the Review of Qur’anic Research (RQR)is available in the members-only area of our IQSA website. Not an IQSA member? Join today to enjoy RQR and additional member benefits!
Read, Write, and Share Commentaries on Q Yūsuf 12: 1-111)
The Qurʾan Seminar invites you to add your own commentaries on a new selected passage of the Qur’an: Q. 12: 1-111. The Qurʾan Seminar, organized by IQSA, is dedicated to collaborative study of selected passages that are significant for understanding major themes and structures of the Qur’anic text. Contributors are encouraged to address the Qur’an directly and to not rely on classical exegesis as a lens through which to view the text. Of particular interest to the discussion are the following questions:
The structure of the Qur’an (its logical, rhetorical, and literary qualities, or naẓm)
The Qur’an’s intertextual relationships (with both Biblical and other literary traditions)
The Qur’an’s historical context in Late Antiquity
Access to Qur’an Seminar is open to IQSA members only. To become a member, click HERE. Once you are a member, you can access the Qur’an Seminar website:
The Qur’an Seminar website has two principal elements. First, the website includes a database of passages of the Qur’an with commentaries from a range of scholars. This database is meant to be a resource for students and specialists of the Qur’an alike. The commentaries may be quoted and referenced by citing the corresponding URL.
Second, the website includes an active forum in which additional Qur’anic passages are discussed. At regular intervals the material on the forum will be saved and moved to the database, and new passages will be presented for discussion on the forum. As a rule, the passages selected for discussion are meant to be long enough to raise a variety of questions for discussion, but short enough to lend that discussion coherence.
We hope you will enjoy the content and consider contributing!
Communities of the Qur’an–A Conference & Future Publication
By Emran El-Badawi
Contrary to popular belief there is not merely one reception of the Qur’an. In other words, there is no single method of reading, understanding and interpreting Islamic scripture, but rather many. Islamic civilization today has over 1 billion adherents, a rich medieval scholarly-cultural tradition spanning over 1 millennium, and a growing number of new (Muslim and non-Muslim) confessional as well as reformist movements reading the text for a modern world. Demonstrating the complex layers of this diversity was the subject of an conference I convened on Communities of the Qur’an: Modern and Classical Interpretations of Islamic Scripture.
Communities of the Qur’an was dedicated to intellectual inquiry as well as religious dialogue. At its heart this project asks the question, what is the dialectical relationship between the Qur’an and its “communities of interpretation?” How is the relationship between community and scripture mediated? Can a better understanding of each community’s reception, hermeneutics and cultural assumptions bring about a better understanding of the Qur’an for the 21st century? This project also seeks to revive the “ethics of disagreement” found in Classical Islam. The Qur’an interpreters, jurists and theologians of medieval Baghdad, Cairo and Cordoba serve as examples of peaceful coexistence and tolerance in the face of vehement disagreement. On numerous occasions the historical record shows that Muslims from different legal schools or denominations, as well as Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians and others, agreed to disagree.
There is little disagreement about the authenticity of the Qur’an text we possess today.
However, given Islam’s long history, several confessional, scholastic and reformist
communities developed in the shadow of scripture, and arrived at sometimes diverging interpretations of its key passages. These communities include Shia, Sunni, Ahmadi, Feminist and other interpretive traditions. When the text commands, “ask the people of remembrance if you know not” (Q 16:43; 21:7), is it referring to the guided Imams of the prophet Muhammad’s house, to Jews and Christians or another group? Similarly, are there modern re-interpretations of Q 4:34 which states, “men are greater than women” on account of their wealth? Does the text’s identification of its own narratives as the “Sunnah of God” (Q 33:38, 62; 40:23) and His “Hadith” (Q 45:6; 56:81; 77:50) facilitate or forbid the development of a new prophetic Hadith and Sunnah? These are some of the questions and key passages around which have gathered the Communities of the Qur’an.
The challenges of today’s political climate seem greater than that of our predecessors. The religious, social and cultural diversity of the global Muslim community and the richness of its people’s traditions are under threat by extremist fundamentalism. It is Muslims themselves who have paid the greatest price for the intolerance, violence and ‘sectarianism’ undertaken in the name of religion. Furthermore, the discourse surrounding global terrorism and Islamophobia, which has spread in the wake of the September 11th attacks, 2001 and the Arab uprisings of 2011, has only polarized members on both sides of the debate. As a result, the Qur’an, Islam’s sacred scripture and an integral part of world literature, has become the subject of misuse and misunderstanding. More than ever before, leaders from within and without the global Muslim ummah have the opportunity to protect the diversity of Islamic civilization and promote religious tolerance as well as peaceful coexistence broadly speaking.
The conference was hosted by The Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance. It hosted presentations by eight international speakers (in order of presentations: Dr. Ingrid Mattson, Dr. Sajjad Rizvi, Dr. Ali Asani, Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour, Dr. Amina Wadud, Councelor Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Dr. Todd Lawson, Dr. Aminah Beverly McCloud), three panel chairs (Dr. Hina Azam, Dr. David Cook and Dr. Emran El-Badawi), welcoming remarks by Boniuk director and Rice University Professor, Dr. Paula Sanders, and parting words by philanthropist, Dr. Milton Boniuk. The conference took place March 10-11, 2016, and will eventually turn into a book. Visitors can access VIDEO to all eight presentations at the official conference website HERE.
Read, Write, and Share Commentaries on Q Hûd 11:25-99
The Qurʾan Seminar invites you to add your own commentaries on a new selected passage of the Qur’an: Q. 11: 25-99. The Qurʾan Seminar, organized by IQSA, is dedicated to collaborative study of selected passages that are significant for understanding major themes and structures of the Qur’anic text. Contributors are encouraged to address the Qur’an directly and to not rely on classical exegesis as a lens through which to view the text. Of particular interest to the discussion are the following questions:
The structure of the Qur’an (its logical, rhetorical, and literary qualities, or naẓm)
The Qur’an’s intertextual relationships (with both Biblical and other literary traditions)
The Qur’an’s historical context in Late Antiquity
Access to Qur’an Seminar is open to IQSA members only. To become a member, click HERE. Once you are a member, you can access the Qur’an Seminar website:
The Qur’an Seminar website has two principal elements. First, the website includes a database of passages of the Qur’an with commentaries from a range of scholars. This database is meant to be a resource for students and specialists of the Qur’an alike. The commentaries may be quoted and referenced by citing the corresponding URL.
Second, the website includes an active forum in which additional Qur’anic passages are discussed. At regular intervals the material on the forum will be saved and moved to the database, and new passages will be presented for discussion on the forum. As a rule, the passages selected for discussion are meant to be long enough to raise a variety of questions for discussion, but short enough to lend that discussion coherence.
We hope you will enjoy the content and consider contributing!
Divine Encounter with the Qur’an
Cover of Qur’ans: Books of Divine Encounter (Bodleian Library Publishing, 2015)
In the latest installment of the Review of Qur’anic Research 2, no. 4, Yasin Dutton reviews Keith E. Small’s Qurʾāns: Books of Divine Encounter (Oxford: Bodleian Library, Oxford University Press, 2015). In this book, Keith Small presents the Qurʾan collection at the Bodleian Library, Ashmolean Museum, and the David Collection in Copenhagen. The book presents a visual display of the manuscripts in a mainly chronological arrangement. It highlights the theme of the Qurʾan being the point of contact with the Divine. The first two chapters present the earliest manuscripts in the collection. The next two chapters presents the art of manuscript illumination. The final three chapters emphasizes the European encounter with the Qurʾan, global dissemination, and talismanic copies of the Qurʾan.
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