The Qur'an is probably the most self-referential text in the history of world religions. It often describes its own textuality, it reflects on Arabic as its linguistic medium, it distances itself from other genres of mantic speech such as poetry or soothsaying, it justifies itself vis-a-vis other revelations, and finally it contains important elements of exegesis. Muslim scripture is a message and at the same time often a message about the message. The self-reflexive mood of the Qur'an has only recently become a focus of Qur'anic studies. This collection of papers by a number of experts in the field outlines the role of selfreferentiality for the inner history of Qur'anic recitation, for the canonization of the Qur'anic text and for a better understanding of Qur'anic revelation in its historical embedding.

What does the Qur'an mean, then, when it so often calls itself Kitab, a term usually taken both by Muslims and by Western scholars to mean "book"?".

By addressing various aspects of the Qur'?n's linguistic and historical context and offering close readings of selected passages in the light of Jewish, Christian, and ancient Arabic literature, the volume seeks to stimulate a new interaction between literary and historical scholarship.

Nine essays by scholars who research the intersections of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic literary traditions explore various aspects of the textual and behavioral connections among these three major Near Eastern religious communities. Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org)

Unlike most theories of the human self that are generally based on conjecture, this book describes a new scientific theory of the human self and its states of consciousness. This theory is formulated using the revealed knowledge found in the Holy Scriptures along with the principles of physics. In a quest for the ultimate truth, the book attempts to understand the relationship between man and his Creator. Dr. Naqvi describes the universal principle of complementarity of creation that shows that the world of matter is not mutually exclusive to the spirit world, but both are complementary to each other. The three major holy scriptures of monotheistic faith describe the human spirit as a breath from the spirit of God. It is termed divine spark in man. The book explains that the divine spark is a seed of divine attributes of truth, goodness, compassion, and justice. A major outcome of this notion is that all humans are equal members of the family of God, irrespective of race, color, or creed and deserving mutual respect and compassion. Questions are answered about the origin of human spirit, purpose of human creation, spirit-matter interaction, and the basis of ethics. Findings of prominent neurosurgeons show that the spirit (soul) is an autonomous entity that can exist without a physical vehicle, which takes the inquisitive reader into a mind-blowing conclusion. This book is a response to the growing need among academics and thinking masses for scientific explanations of spirituality, psychology, philosophy, mysticism, religion, and paranormal phenomena. Over the past twenty-five years, the author has presented the theory in various universities in psychology and theology departments globally. This book may serve as course material for university-level psychology, philosophy, and theology departments. In brief, the unique theory presented in this book can be described as the science of spirituality.

This study illustrates why the language of the Qur'an is miraculous, unique, and evidence of divine authority. The author compares the language of the Qur'an with the language of pre-Islamic poetry, the Prophet's words (hadith), and the language of the Arabs both past and present, to demonstrate that although the Qur'an was revealed in Arabic it was at the same time an Arabic which was entirely new. Original and early Muslim audiences viewed this as miraculous and responded to the Qur'an's words, sounds, rhythms, etc. in a manner consistent with a deeper appreciation of its beauty and majesty which modern ears, trained by familiarity, and despite being surrounded by all manner of dictionaries and studies, are at a loss to capture. The author attempts to remove this veil and present the Qur'an to readers as if hearing it for the first time, to bring to life some of this wonder. In doing so he guides readers to appreciate the beauty of the Qur'an, to become more immersed in it, and to have a clearer understanding of its structure and flow. Devoting special attention to Surah Al Muddaththir, to underpin his analysis, Saeh thus brings the Revelation to life, to demonstrate that each surah has distinct features and characteristics that make it stand out uniquely within the design and sweep of the whole.

In this book, Angelika Neuwirth provides a new approach to understanding the founding text of Islam. Typical exegesis of the Qur'an treats the text teleologically, as a fait accompli finished text, or as a replica or summary of the Bible in Arabic. Instead Neuwirth approaches the Qur'an as the product of a specific community in the Late Antique Arabian peninsula, one which was exposed to the wider worlds of the Byzantine and Sasanian empires, and to the rich intellectual traditions of rabbinic Judaism, early Christianity, and Gnosticism. A central goal of the book is to eliminate the notion of the Qur'an as being a-historical. She argues that it is, in fact, highly aware of its place in late antiquity and is capable of yielding valuable historical information. By emphasizing the liturgical function of the Qur'an, Neuwirth allows readers to see the text as an evolving oral tradition within the community before it became collected and codified as a book. This analysis sheds much needed light on the development of the Qur'an's historical, theological, and political outlook. The book's final chapters analyze the relationship of the Qur'an to the Bible, to Arabic poetic traditions, and, more generally, to late antique culture and rhetorical forms. By providing a new introduction to the Qur'an, one that uniquely challenges current ideas about its emergence and development, The Qur'an and Late Antiquity bridges the gap between Eastern and Western approaches to this sacred text.