The Qur’ān: A Form-Critical History

The corpus coranicum eludes familiar categories and resists strict labels. No doubt the threads woven into the fabric are exceptionally textured, varied, and complex. Accordingly, the introductory chapter of this book demonstrates the application of form criticism to the text. Chapter two then presents a form-critical study of the prayer genre. It identifies three productive formulae and addresses distinct social settings and forms associated with them. The third chapter begins by defining the liturgy genre vis-à-vis prayer in the Qurʾān. Drawing a line between the hymn and litany forms, this chapter treats each in turn. Chapter four considers the genre classified as wisdom literature. It identifies sapiential formulae and sheds light on wisdom contexts. The fifth chapter examines the narrative genre writ large. It also surveys narrative blocks of the long saga. The subsequent chapter on the proclamation genre inspects a set of vocative formulae, which occurs in the messenger situation. The concluding chapter looks at the corpus through synchronic and diachronic lenses. In the end, Qurʾānic genres encapsulate the form-critical elements of formulae, forms, and settings, as well as an historical dimension.* 

quran 

Author: Karim Samji, Gettysburg College, PA, USA
Series: Studies in the History and Culture of the Middle East 32
ISBN13: 978-11-058988-4
Publication Date: March 2018 

 

*content courtesy of De Gruyter 

NEW IQSA Membership Option – Automatic Renewal

The International Qur’anic Studies Association depends on its members’ continued commitment to fulfill its mission by actively participating and taking advantage of member benefits like Annual Meetings, professional networking, and more! In response to popular demand and feedback for ways to ease the processing of yearly registration, IQSA is delighted to introduce its new and improved Automatic Renewal option for Annual Membership!

Skip the hassle of manually logging in and renewing your IQSA membership every year by choosing to enable Recurring Payments for Automatic Membership Renewal! This feature processes annual subscriptions for individuals every calendar year from the member’s join date. Members must select an online payment method (PayPal or Credit Card) to enable this option, and all stored payment information is secured by Wild Apricot’s adherence to requirement 12.9 of PCI DSS v3.2 (click here for details).

Q: What if I need to change my membership level or other registration information?
Members can log in to their membership profile at https://members.iqsaweb.org to update any user information or change levels. Prices for Automatic Membership Renewal will be adjusted for recurring payments accordingly (see below).

Membership Prices (Annual)
Student/International | $25 
Mid-range Faculty/General | $50 *all non-student scholars, professionals, and mid-range faculty
Full Professor | $75 
Lifetime | $2,000 *one time-only installment
Institutional | $400

Q: What if I decide to cancel my Automatic Membership Renewal?
No Problem! Recurring Payments via Automatic Membership Renewal can be cancelled by logging in to a member’s user profile and selecting “Stop Recurring Payments” on both the Profile and Invoices and Payments tabs.

So don’t wait! Save the trouble of remembering to renew your IQSA Annual Membership by logging in to https://members.iqsaweb.org and enabling Automatic Membership Renewal today! This option guarantees continued access to member benefits including, but not limited to…

Discounted Annual Meeting Registration
Access to the membership directory

Review of Qur’anic Research
Professional development opportunities for graduate students and junior scholars, including volunteer, job postings, and employment networking
Bilingual English-Arabic Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA)
Eligibility for Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize ($250 USD and potential publication in JIQSA)

Questions? Email contact@iqsaweb.org to get all the details on never letting your IQSA membership lapse again!

 

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2018. All rights reserved.

Review of Qur’anic Research, Vol. 4 no. 5 (2018)

In the latest installment of the Review of Qur’anic Research (Vol. 4, no.5), Zohar Hadromi-Allouche (University of Aberdeen) reviews Shahab Ahmed’s Before Orthodoxy: The Satanic Verses in Early Islam (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017).

b4

In her review, Hadromi-Allouche writes… “Through discussions of fifty early reports about the satanic verses, the current volume strives to emphasize the broad acceptance in early Islam of this story. It presents the foundational historical data concerning the story and discusses how Muslims treated this story during these first two hundred years of Islam. The later conceptual change towards this story is not discussed, as Ahmed meant to treat it in later volumes. Since this story represents the ways in which the early Muslim community perceived Muḥammad’s prophethood and divine revelation, the author regards it as a good example of how orthodoxy is created and a truth claim becomes exclusive…

 

Want to read more? For full access to the Review of Qur’anic Research (RQR), members can log in HERE. Not an IQSA member? Join today to enjoy RQR and additional member benefits!

 

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2018. All rights reserved.

 

Survey: IQSA Annual Meeting User Experience

As the 2018 IQSA Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado (November 16-19) approaches, the International Qur’anic Studies Association seeks feedback from its members and affiliates on last year’s Annual Meeting in Boston, MA. Glance back at the 2017 Program Book, reflect on your experience last November, and take THIS SURVEY!

survey

Your feedback is very important to IQSA and its success as one of the only learned societies dedicated to the critical study of the Qur’an. We look forward to seeing you in November!

 

 

 

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2018. All rights reserved.

REDUCED Prices – Advertise with IQSA!

IQSA is the first and only learned society of its kind devoted to the critical investigation of the Qur’an, encompassing a broad community of scholars, students, publishers, and members of the public. In order to foster this mission, IQSA has reduced its advertising prices to broaden the reach of relevant publications and organizations. IQSA encourages advertising partnerships and opportunities in the following capacities:

  1. Advertise in the Annual Meeting Program Book ($400-$600 USD) – Every year the International Qur’anic Studies Association holds an Annual Meeting in conjunction with the Society of Biblical Literature/American Academy of Religion, attracting a wide audience in the scholarly community from across the nation. The accompanying Program Book published by IQSA is read by hundreds at the Annual Meeting and thousands around the world, providing a critical platform for relevant businesses market their publications and services. Email contact@iqsaweb.org to reserve an advertising space today!
  2. Advertise in Print ($400-$600 USD) – IQSA provides advertising space in three of its flagship publications: the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA), the monthly Review of Qur’anic Research, and the forthcoming monograph series IQSA Studies in the Qur’an (ISIQ). Email contact@iqsaweb.org for details.
  3. Advertise Online ($500 USD) – While IQSA does not currently hold a physical headquarters, its website serves as the central meeting point and face of the organization visited by hundreds of members and non-members every day. Email contact@iqsaweb.org to inquire about advertising with us online via www.iqsaweb.org.
  4. Send an Email to IQSA Members ($250 USD) – IQSA will send emails on behalf of publishers and other advertisers of interest to our members. The publisher/advertiser is responsible for composing the email. Please contact the Executive Office at contact@iqsaweb.org for more information.

 

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2018. All rights reserved.

New IQSA Blog Coordinator: Meet Rachel!

The International Qur’anic Studies Association is pleased to welcome a fresh face to its Executive Office! This year, Rachel Dryden (University of Cambridge) joins the team as IQSA’s new Blog Coordinator. Rachel’s active commitment to IQSA’s mission and subject expertise make her a valuable addition to the IQSA community.

Rachel

Following an undergraduate degree in modern European languages (Durham, 2006), Rachel decided to learn a non-European language and chose Arabic, leading to a master’s in Near and Middle Eastern Studies at SOAS (2009). She was then awarded a DAAD (German State) scholarship to undertake a master’s in Jewish Studies at the Institute for Jewish Studies, at the University of Heidelberg, Germany and Karl-Franzens University in Graz, Austria, which she completed with distinction in 2011. Rachel then undertook an MPhil in Islamic Studies and History at Oxford (2016), focusing on qur’ānic exegesis and furthering her knowledge of the languages required for research on her chosen subject: Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Greek and Coptic. Her doctoral thesis will examine how angels are depicted in the Qur’ān and their use in the narrative structure of the stories in which they appear. Rachel was a critical part of last year’s Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, collaborating with Conor Dube (Ph.D. Candidate, Harvard University) to compose the yearly Conference Report.

IQSA welcomes its members and affiliates to contribute to its mission by submitting content for its weekly blog! Examples of past blog posts can be found HERE. Content can range from relevant event announcements to professional development opportunities to literature reviews and more. Submissions should be pertinent to the Qur’anic Studies, Late Antiquity, or Islam.

Submissions will be evaluated according to their relevance to IQSA and the interest of its members. Please send your submission to contact@iqsaweb.org to be considered. Questions? Email contact@iqsaweb.org for clarification.

Once again, a warm welcome to Rachel Dryden as IQSA’s newest member of the Executive Office!

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2018. All rights reserved.