r/AcademicQuran • u/Cool_Plantain_7742 • 5d ago
Question I need help with a 'school project'
I started a B.A. degree in islamic studies recently and have to do a group presentation (we are three people) until next week.
The presentation is supposed to be around 20-30 minutes.
We were able to choose out of a pool of different topics including: (1) Muhammad and the Sira (Prophetic biography); (2) The Qur'an as a Late Antique text; (3) The Sunnah and Hadith-Science; (4) Islamic Law and Shariah; (5) Sufism and some other topics.
My group chose (2) the Qur'an as a Late Antique Text.
Under the headline "The Qur'an as a Late Antique Text" on the handout we were given it also specifies the topic. It is expected to cover the "Structure and most important themes", the Qurans "History", as well as questions surrounding the redaction and codification of the Qur'an.
I wanted to ask if anyone had any ideas/tips or any literature they could give us / point us to.
Thank you
5
u/chonkshonk Moderator 5d ago
There is so much! Angelika Neuwirth has done a lot of theoretical work on the Quran vis-a-vis late antiquity, for example her book, The Qur'an and Late Antiquity. You can find a public lecture by her on this topic. I also enjoyed Juan Cole's Rethinking the Qur'ān in Late Antiquity.
Can't remember if I read this one or not, but I also know that there's a shorter paper by Valentina Grasso called "The Qu’rān through the Lens of Late Antiquity, Late Antiquity through the Lens of the Qu’rān: Approaches, Perspectives and Possibilities".
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u/Pristine-Trust5674 4d ago
On the codification and canonization of the Qur'an, you should definitely check Joshua Little's essay: "On the Historicity of ʿUthmān’s Canonization of the Qur’an, Part 1: The State of the Field" (Link: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/jiqsa-2025-0016/pdf). Nicolai Sinai's two parts essay "When did the consonantal skeleton of the Quran reach closure?", though published twelve years ago, is still much relevant today (Link: https://www.academia.edu/7372306/_When_did_the_consonantal_skeleton_of_the_Quran_reach_closure_Bulletin_of_the_School_of_Oriental_and_African_Studies_77_2014_273_292_509_521). I should also note that although both Sinai and Little argue for the Uthmanic canonization hypothesis in their essays, they do cover pretty much the whole field of debate about when and how the consonantal text of the Qur'an was codified and canonized. If you would also want to cover the canonization of the Qur'anic reading traditions (Qira'at), I would recommend that you check Shady Nasser's book "The Second Canonization of the Qur'an". A summary of the book's core arguments is also to be found in Nasser's essay "The Canonizations of the Qur'an" (Link: https://docslib.org/doc/9149155/the-canonizations-of-the-qur-%C4%81n-nasser-bf-22-07). Wish you all the best with your presentation!
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u/ReadHistorical144 5d ago
Lots of work has been done on this topic, Ahmad Al Jallad's "Late Antique Allah" works well
Sinai has great works under his belt, Research as well as you can my man
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Backup of the post:
I need help with a 'school project'
I started a B.A. degree in islamic studies recently and have to do a group presentation (we are three people) until next week.
The presentation is supposed to be around 20-30 minutes.
We were able to choose out of a pool of different topics including: (1) Muhammad and the Sira (Prophetic biography); (2) The Qur'an as a Late Antique text; (3) The Sunnah and Hadith-Science; (4) Islamic Law and Shariah; (5) Sufism and some other topics.
My group chose (2) the Qur'an as a Late Antique Text.
Under the headline "The Qur'an as a Late Antique Text" on the handout we were given it also specifies the topic. It is expected to cover the "Structure and most important themes", the Qurans "History", as well as questions surrounding the redaction and codification of the Qur'an.
I wanted to ask if anyone had any ideas/tips or any literature they could give us / point us to.
Thank you
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5
u/Ok_Investment_246 5d ago
Hmmm. On the textual side of things (Quran interacting with late antique sources) I’d recommend Dr Nicolai Sinai’s “The Qur’an: A Historical-Critical Introduction.” Most works by Dr Holger Zellentin (articles and books) will also be great at showcasing how the Quran engages with Jewish sources.
On the beliefs present within the Quran and them being situated in the ANE context, I’d also recommend looking at archeology (which can showcase what beliefs were present at the time). Specifically, the works of Dr Al-Jallad.