The Qur'an: A Historical-Critical Introduction (The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys)

This is a great book for an unbiased, scholarly investigation into the Quran. Finally we have a resource for studying the Quran from a historical-critical point of view and not from a muslim apologist or anti-muslim crusader. This book is for those seeking detailed, unvarnished textual analysis of the Quran. I hope this will be the beginning of more books from this author and others who want to help get to the bottom of how, when and where the Quran was really written.

I have read a number of introductions to the Qur’an in the past, each one dealing with various aspects of the Muslim holy book, whether it is Mateen Elass’ “Understanding the Koran” (which focuses on Qur’anic parallels with Biblical stories and areas where Qur’anic teaching intersects with biblical teaching), or Michael Cook’s The Koran: A Short Introduction (which focuses on the textual history of the Qur’an as a text, and its reception within the Muslim community). So what makes Nicolai Sinai’s book different from all of these other book on the Qur’an?Perhaps the main difference has to do with emphasis: Sinai approaches the Qur’an from the perspective of one who engages in historical criticism of religious texts. He adopts many of the standard methods of the historical-critical method and displays how a historical critic may approach the Qur’an and what conclusions one may arrive at. The results can sometimes be surprising for those who are used to a more traditional or confessional approach to studying the Qur’an, although it may be less surprising if one is familiar with the history and methods of the historical-critical enterprise.Sinai’s book is divided into three parts. “Part One: Background,” comprises chapters 1-3, “Part Two: Method” comprises chapters 4-6, and “Part Three: A Diachronic Survey of the Qur’anic Proclamations“ comprises chapters 7-8. These chapters will be summarized in turn.Chapter 1, “Some Basic Features of the Qur’an,” gives basic facts about the Qur’an, such as how many surahs, ayat and words it contains, what sort of literary features one would expect while reading it, the formulaic nature of many Qur’anic passages (where Sinai draws from Bannister’s work in Oral-Formulaic Study of the Qur’an), and a basic history of the text of the Qur’an. Sinai points to how textual variants emerged from differences in diacritics found in variant readings of the ‘Uthmanic rasm, and how more significant variants than these existed in non-‘Uthmanic codices such as those of Ibn Mas’ud.Chapter 2, “Muhammad and the Qur’an,” discusses the traditional account of the Qur’an’s emergence, and what possible flaws that traditional account may have. Sinai suggests that stories such as Muhammad’s initial reception of revelation at the cave of Hira may have been based on biblical topoi and was created with the apologetic intention of casting Muhammad as a new Moses. Sinai also surveys the earliest non-Muslim accounts of Muhammad, and finds some interesting divergences with the traditional account (such as accounts where Muhammad is leading the Arab armies against the Byzantines in 634, even though he is supposed to have already died by then).Chapter 3, “The Qur’anic Milieu” looks at the socio-religious background of pre-Islamic Arabia, to investigate what sort of socio-religious environment the Qur’an was composed in. Sinai (following Patricia Crone) notes that many of the agricultural references found in the Qur’an do not fit the desert environment of Mecca, but fit better with the ecosystem of the Fertile Crescent. He even notes that 37.137-138 implies a locale close to the region of the Dead Sea. Sinai also notes that the Qur’an (including the Meccan parts) implies that its audience has a knowledge of Jewish and Christian lore that would be highly unusual in a Meccan environment. Sinai suggests that this means that there was a stronger Jewish and Christian presence in the Hijaz than is traditionally held, although the hypothesis that the Qur’an’s true origins lie elsewhere than the Hijaz is not ruled out.Chapter 4, “Literary Coherence and Secondary Revision,” describes how the different surahs were thematically arranged together. Sinai notes that most surahs seem to flit back and forth between topics in a haphazard manner. Despite this, however, some surahs do seem to have been edited in such a way that they display a logical progression in the topics they treat. He uses Surat Maryam (19) and Surat as-Saffat (37) as examples, showing how the various prophetic narratives are arranged in such a way that they buttress the Quran’s polemics against the Pagan associators. Most controversially, Sinai brings up the possibility that some Qur’anic verses were written after Muhammad’s death. He cites a number of possible candidates, then lists 3:7 as the most likely to be post-Muhammad in provenance.Chapter 5, “Inner-Qur’anic Chronology,” explores the topic of chronological order of surahs. Sinai makes the argument that a general trend can be discerned wherein (apart from some outliers) verse-units become progressively longer, such that Meccan surahs are comprised of short verses, while Medinan surahs are comprised of longer ones. Apart from this, other features such as the appearance of certain formulaic patterns and a trend towards decreasing poetic quality (and increase prosaicness) can be used to determine the chronological order of any given surah.Chapter 6, “Intertextuality,” looks at the Jewish and Christian writings from which many Qur’anic stories originate. Sinai looks at a number of narratives in the Qur’an, and notes how many of the details found in them parallel similar stories found in rabbinic sources such as the Aggadic midrashim, as well as Christian pseudepigrapha such as the Cave of Treasures and the Life of Adam and Eve. Besides this, Sinai also looks at Qur’anic intra-textuality, where later surahs refer back at earlier ones and the presume that the audience has access to them.Chapter 7, “The Meccan Surahs,” is a thematic survey of the surahs revealed in the Meccan period. Sinai notes that the Meccan surahs display a strong emphasis on eschatology, where lack of urgency in preparing for Judgment Day is equated with outright denial of it. He notes that this has its roots in Christian preaching about Judgment Day, such as is found in the sermons of St. Ephrem the Syrian. Also, taking cues from Walid Saleh, he notes the increasing pessimism of the Qur’anic author in hoping that the Meccans would accept Islam, gradually culminating in the exodus from Mecca to Medina.Chapter 8, “The Medinan Surahs,” is a thematic survey of the surahs revealed in the Medinan period. Emphasized here are the increasing tendency towards militancy (where God’s direct judgment is replaced with God’s use of the Muslims as agents of judgment), and an increasing distance from the Jews and Christians. Sinai suggests that the legal prescriptions found in the Medinan surahs are both an imitation of Jewish traditions as well as an eschewal of them (such as the rejection of the Sabbath, and the “Jerusalemizing” of Mecca). Of special interest is the increasing role accorded to Muhammad, which Sinai suggests is patterned after the role of the Christian bishop.Looking at the various themes covered by Sinai’s Introduction, one can see that he channels many of the classic studies of the Qur’an by such pioneers as Abraham Geiger, Theodor Nöldeke, Andrew Rippin, Jon Wansbrough and Fred Donner. At the same time, he draws on newer studies and research, and brings the reader up to speed on the current state of Qur’anic studies. The footnotes and bibliography are excellent sources for knowing where to go for further information, as well as what the most up to date sources are for any given topic.That being said, many of the conclusions that Sinai arrives at are largely dependent on whether one accepts the Historical-Critical method or not. If one begins with the presupposition that the Qur’an can be studied like any other historical work, then many of Sinai’s conclusions are quite plausible, or even inevitable. If one is skeptical of the Historical-Critical method, however, then the plausibility of many of those conclusions becomes less believable. Nevertheless, various facts that are highlighted in this book do deserve serious reflection, and if one doesn’t accept the author’s conclusions, then it is perhaps necessary to find better models to explain them.Overall, this book is highly recommended for anyone who is involved in some way or another in Qur’anic studies as an introduction to the critical questions surrounding the Qur’an. Being an introduction however, one should not end with this book, but use it as a springboard for more in-depth study.

This is a disappointing book that could have served as an excellent introduction to the Historical-Critical analysis of the Qur'an. Over the last few years, analysis of the Qur'an has revealed several interesting ideas including those of Gabriel Said Reynolds The Emergence of Islam, Carlos Segovia The Quranic Noah, Stephen Shoemaker Death of a Prophet, Daniel Beck The Evolution of the Early Qur'an, and Fred Donner Muhammad and the Origins of Islam. These texts suggest that the Quran was written and compiled between the 550s and 710s, based heavily on Aramaic and Syriac Christian writings, in a Christian not a pagan location, in Palestine rather than in Mecca and Medina, and by a community that only became Islamic in the 690s. Sinai downplays all these important arguments by any method possibly and so 're-invents the wheel' in arguing for a traditional account without using historical-critical methods.

I purchased this the moment I became aware of it, but had no time to take a close look until the past month as I was completing my own book. I know Dr. Sinai as an acquaintance, see him at conferences, have heard him give papers, and have cited him in my own work. He is a careful and respected scholar, now at Oxford's Oriental Institute. The current book is an excellent survey of the various current critical approaches on the Quran, and I am inclined to agree with Fred Donner's opinion (from the back cover) that it is "the best book I have seen to lead critically minded readers into the myriad issues and complexities of the Qur'an text." Does it say everything that could possibly be said? Of course not, nor does its author intend it to do so; it contains a good bibliography for those who want to know more. The book is informed by Dr. Sinai's own wide familiarity with this literature and his own critical thinking on the subject. His writing is clear and precise, and this book goes far beyond generalities to make many specific references to the quranic text, to historical sources, to specific linguistic and literary features of the book, and so forth. Furthermore, it is current.I may update this review later with more details, but I wanted to get these thoughts down and public because there is no reason anyone interested in historical-critical scholarship on the Qur'an should not have this book in their library.