Abstract: This article challenges the view, common among Western academics since early last century, that the Qurʾān was left incomplete as a book and did not take final shape until well after the Prophet’s death. Against this, it highlights an example of structural continuity: that of center-periphery connection between adjacent sūras. This type of connection is identified throughout the phases of revelation, from the early Meccan period to the late Medinan one. The structural consistency illuminated here indicates that one author or authority likely arranged the Qurʾān, a finding in accordance with recent stylometric analysis of the text carried out at Princeton University. It also accords with an examination of the theme of jihād in the Qurʾān, the conclusions of which were presented at the 2017 International Qur’anic Studies Association conference in Boston. Far from suggesting a multiplicity of voices, the doctrine of jihād is characterized by overall consistency and adherence to core principles, pointing to a likely single origin. At the conclusion of the article, an updated hypothesis for the early writing and transmission of the Qurʾān is presented, taking into account the existence of minor variations in the old codices, the reports about an ʿUthmānic commission issuing a standard text, and the fact that no prototype manuscript has been discovered.
Raymond K. Farrin is an associate professor of Arabic at the American University of Kuwait. He studied Arabic in Cairo and received a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. He is author of Structure and Qur’anic Interpretation: A Study of Symmetry and Coherence in Islam’s Holy Text (Ashland, OR: White Cloud, 2014) .
You can download the pdf version of the paper here
Wow thanks Eirc!
Reblogged this on | truthaholics and commented:
Fresh research confirms the textual veracity of the Qur’an
Jazaka Allah khyran.
He also has a nice lecture with examples here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2kw90KApW4
Now what’s interesting is Dr. Raymond Farrin originally studied classical Arabic poetry and became Muslim after he studied the Quran. What everyone forgets in the ayat of Allah challenging mankind is to get experts to produce something like the Quran. If you’re not learned in Arabic the challenge doesn’t apply to you.
Reblogged this on The Quran and Bible Blog and commented:
A Muslim scholar explains the process of preserving the Quran. An excellent scholarly discussion.