A comprehensive guide to a proper study of the Qur'an using Islamic Epistemology and the methodologies of scholars who are renowned for the integrity of their scholarship, such as the honored Dr. Muhammad Fadhlur Rahman Ansari.

An accessible and accurate translation of the Quran that offers a rigorous analysis of its theological, metaphysical, historical, and geographical teachings and backgrounds, and includes extensive study notes, special introductions by experts in the field, and is edited by a top modern Islamic scholar, respected in both the West and the Islamic world. Drawn from a wide range of traditional Islamic commentaries, including Sunni and Shia sources, and from legal, theological, and mystical texts, The Study Quran conveys the enduring spiritual power of the Quran and offers a thorough scholarly understanding of this holy text. Beautifully packaged with a rich, attractive two-color layout, this magnificent volume includes essays by 15 contributors, maps, useful notes and annotations in an easy-to-read two-column format, a timeline of historical events, and helpful indices. With The Study Quran, both scholars and lay readers can explore the deeper spiritual meaning of the Quran, examine the grammar of difficult sections, and explore legal and ritual teachings, ethics, theology, sacred history, and the importance of various passages in Muslim life. With an introduction by its general editor, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, here is a nearly 2,000-page, continuous discussion of the entire Quran that provides a comprehensive picture of how this sacred work has been read by Muslims for over 1,400 years.

This valuable work on the methodology of exegesis by Dr. Recep Dogan will serve as an important source of future works in the field. With his expertise in the history and exegesis of the Qur'an, as well as his familiarity and comprehensive understanding of Islamic disciplines, Dr. Dogan has managed to combine both classical and modern acquis. Presenting a variety of different approaches, Dr. Dogan also offers a broad range of Western approaches in reading the Qur'an.

This book on the topic of 'The Qur'ān and the Moon-- Methodology for Monthly Recitation of the Qur'ān', is a companion volume to my previous book entitled 'Methodology for Study of the Qur'ān'; but which will now be renamed: 'The Qur'ān and the Stars--Methodology for Study of the Qur'ān'. I was in London on the evening of 29th day of Shabān 1440(H) when it became known that the moon of Ramadān was not seen anywhere in UK, and yet schoolboys in the Muslim community declared that Ramadān had commenced in UK. The 'sheep' and the 'cattle' then followed them blindly! The same mistake was repeated in 1441(H) when they again commenced fasting one day early on the basis of a plea that they had arrived at the 30th day of Shabān. The 'sheep' and the 'cattle' again followed them blindly! They acted on the basis of an announcement that the moon was sighted in Dajjāl's kingdom of Saudi Arabia, or that the month had commenced in Saudi Arabia, and in doing so they made both a silly as well as a dangerous mistake in departing from the system of time ordained by Allah Most High. This book explains that mistake. Those who took that wrong decision, as well as those who accepted and followed that decision, will be questioned on Judgement Day for what they did. Since they started Ramadān (or Shabān before Ramadān) on the wrong day, the implication is that they lost the greatest night of the whole year--namely Lailatul Qadr; and even more damage was done when they consequently lost the capacity to connect from lunar time to cosmic time and thence to Absolute time. Only lunar time can take us to a timeless world; we can climb even up a mountain to sit in a cave, in an effort to travel to other worlds of space and time, -- but if we do not live in lunar time we will travel to nowhere! They are probably unaware that only lunar time can take us to a timeless world, and that whoever has never tasted timelessness can eventually become a prisoner of the Dunyah. The Imām of Purley Masjid in Croydon, London, made a tearful request that I address the subject of moon-sighting for the commencement of the lunar month in Islam so that Muslims might be better-guided on that subject. This book emerged in consequence of my attempt to respond to that request, and I am confident that our explanation of the subject of Dajjāl and the System of Time in Islam would now deter such Muslims who have the capacity to 'think', from ever again following those who, even though they are in London, recklessly rush to embrace a Saudi or a Moroccan moon. I am grateful for the numerous offers of help I received from so many to meet the cost of printing this book in several languages, so that, in addition to being sold on my online bookstore, www.imranhosein.com, large numbers of copies could be distributed free of charge in UK and elsewhere. May Allah Most Kind, bless them all. Amīn! Those who read this book and would like to participate in the effort to print large numbers of copies for free distribution around the world, should kindly contact me by email. ( [email protected] ). If you would also like me to come in person to teach this subject to your community, do please send me an email and, if Allah so Wills, I will come to you.

Originally published in 1977 by one of the most innovative thinkers in the field of Islamic Studies, "Quranic Studies" presents an in-depth textual exegesis of the Quran, based on form analysis.

The Qur’an and Sunnah are the two primary sources of Muslim faith, life, law and morality. The Qur’an is for Muslims the foundation of their faith and the Sunnah is the framework of their morality. Together they constitute the two sources of the law (Shari’ah) of God, a guide to prosperity and happiness in this life and to the bliss of the hereafter. Although the Qur’an and Sunnah are materially and formally two independent sources, they are inextricably bound in a dynamic relationship. The rulings and precepts (ahkam) of the Qur’an constitute the law (shar’) of God. They are supplemented by the precepts of the authentic Sunnah, which possess authority second only to the precepts of the Qur’an. The Qur’an commands Muslims, “Whatever the Messenger gives you, that you must take, and whatever he forbids you, you must desist therefrom....” (59:7).

The Qur’an makes extensive use of older religious material, stories, and traditions that predate the origins of Islam, and there has long been a fierce debate about how this material found its way into the Qur’an. This unique book argues that this debate has largely been characterized by a failure to fully appreciate the Qur’an as a predominately oral product. Using innovative computerized linguistic analysis, this study demonstrates that the Qur’an displays many of the signs of oral composition that have been found in other traditional literature. When one then combines these computerized results with other clues to the Qur’an’s origins (such as the demonstrably oral culture that both predated and preceded the Qur’an, as well as the “folk memory” in the Islamic tradition that Muhammad was an oral performer) these multiple lines of evidence converge and point to the conclusion that large portions of the Qur’an need to be understood as being constructed live, in oral performance. Combining historical, linguistic, and statistical analysis, much of it made possible for the first time due to new computerized tools developed specifically for this book, Bannister argues that the implications of orality have long been overlooked in studies of the Qur’an. By relocating the Islamic scripture firmly back into an oral context, one gains both a fresh appreciation of the Qur’an on its own terms, as well as a fresh understanding of how Muhammad used early religious traditions, retelling old tales afresh for a new audience.