This first complete translation of Theodor Nöldeke’s The History of the Qurʾān offers a foundational work of modern Qurʾānic studies to the English-speaking public. Nöldeke’s original publication, as revised and expanded over nearly three quarters of a century by his scholarly successors, Friedrich Schwally, Gotthelf Bergsträsser and Otto Pretzl, remains an indispensable resource for any scholarly work on the text of the Qurʾān. Nöldeke’s segmentation of the surahs into three Meccan periods and a Medinan one has shaped all subsequent discussions of the chronology of the Qurʾān. The revisions and expansions of Nöldeke’s initial discussions of the orthography and variant readings of the text have found a new audience among those contemporary scholars who seek to create a more sophisticated understanding of the Qurʾān’s textual development.

A revelatory account of early Islam’s great diversity by the world’s leading scholar of early Qur’anic manuscripts “There is no one better placed than François Déroche to write the history—and tell the story—of how the Quran went from words uttered by Muhammad to inviolable canonical scripture. This is a meticulous, lucid, and fascinating book.”—Shawkat Toorawa, Yale University According to Muslim dogma, the recited and written text of the Qur’an as we know it today scrupulously reflects the divine word as it was originally sent down to Muhammad. An examination of early Islamic sources, including accounts of prophetic sayings, all of them compared with the oldest Qur’anic manuscripts, reveal that plurality was in fact the outstanding characteristic of the genesis and transmission of the Qur’an, both textually and orally. By piecing together information about alternative wordings eliminated from the canonical version that gradually came to be imposed during the first centuries of Islam, François Déroche shows that the Qur’an long remained open to textual diversity. Not only did the faithful initially adopt a flexible attitude toward the Qur’anic text, an attitude strikingly at odds with the absolute literalism later enforced by Muslim orthodoxy, but Muhammad himself turns out to have been more concerned with the meaning than the letter of the divine message.

This unique work takes a method of textual analysis commonly used in studies of ancient Western and Eastern manuscripts and applies it to twenty-one early Qur'an manuscripts. Keith Small analyzes a defined portion of text from the Qur'an with two aims in view: to recover the earliest form of text for this portion, and to trace the historical development of this portion to the current form of the text of the Qur'an. Small concludes that though a significantly early edited form of the consonantal text of the Qur'an can be recovered, its original forms of text cannot be obtained. He also documents the further editing that was required to record the Arabic text of the Qur'an in a complete phonetic script, as well as providing an explanation for much of the development of various recitation systems of the Qur'an. This controversial, thought-provoking book provides a rigorous examination into the history of the Qur'an and will be of great interest to Quranic Studies scholars.

Scholars of Islam are familiar with the Koran's many errors and contradictions, but these have rarely been revealed to a wider public. THE ORIGINS OF THE KORAN is an attempt to remedy this deficiency by bringing together classic critical essays which raise key issues surrounding Islam's holy book. Indispensable to scholars and all those interested in the textual underpinning of one of the fastest growing religions in the world.

This expansive book provides unique insights into the holy text’s immaculate preservation, as well as exploring many of the accusations leveled against it. The reception of divine revelations, Prophet Muhammad's role in disseminating and compiling these verses, and the setting of the text’s final external shape are scientifically examined alongside such topics as the origins of Arabic, the so-called Mushaf of Ibn Masud, and the strict methodology employed in assembling textual fragments. By way of comparison, the author investigates the histories of the Old and New Testaments, relying entirely on Judeo-Christian sources, and uncovers a startling range of alterations in the biblical Scriptures. Using this as a springboard, he illustrates convincingly that Western research into Islam’s Holy Book is motivated by more than mere curiosity, and has no scientific bearing on the Quran's integrity. This monumental effort, a scholarly work composed in an impassioned tone, provides a welcome foundation for sincere study at a time when assailing the Quran has become all too common.