Qur’an and Canon: The Contours of Scripture at the End of Antiquity

FAIN: FEL-267830-20

Stephen James Shoemaker
University of Oregon (Eugene, OR 97403-5219)

Research and writing a book on the origins of the Qur’an in the context of late antiquity.

This project investigates the Qur’an’s emergence as a new scriptural tradition in the late ancient Near East from a novel perspective: it understands the Qur’an as a late ancient biblical apocryphon that eventually became the scripture of a new religious tradition. By approaching the Qur’an as a late ancient biblical apocryphon of uncertain origin, whose scriptural destiny is not yet determined, we can study the Qur’an as an invaluable witness to the diversity and creativity of religious culture in the late ancient Near East, and we can also newly examine how this writing eventually developed into the scripture of a new religious faith. Such an approach frees the Qur’an from the interpretive control of the (much) later Islamic tradition and allows us to see it afresh as product of the religious cultures of the late ancient Mediterranean world.

Associated Products

Creating the Qur'an: A Historical-Critical Study (Book)
Title: Creating the Qur'an: A Historical-Critical Study
Author: Stephen J. Shoemaker
Abstract: Creating the Qur’an presents the first systematic historical-critical study of the Qur’an’s origins, drawing on methods and perspectives commonly used to study other scriptural traditions. It demonstrates in detail that the Islamic tradition relates not a single attested account of the holy text’s formation but preserves a surprisingly diverse array of memories regarding the text’s early history and its canonization. The book also brings perspectives from radiocarbon dating of manuscripts, the linguistic history of Arabic, the social and cultural history of late ancient Arabia, and the limitations of human memory and oral transmission, as well as various peculiarities of the Qur’anic text itself. Considering all the relevant data to present the most comprehensive and convincing examination of the origin and evolution of the Qur’an available, this study concludes that the canonical text of the Qur’an was most likely produced only around the turn of the eighth century.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.128
Primary URL Description: Open Access copy of the book
Secondary URL: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520389038/creating-the-quran
Secondary URL Description: Publisher's page for the book.
Access Model: open access
Publisher: University of California
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780520389045
Copy sent to NEH?: No

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