Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Eds.)
authors
data
Product: Book
ISBN-10: 0-521-53934-X
ISBN-13: 9780521539340
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Country:
Year: December 11, 2006
Edition: 1
Size: 15.24 x 22.35 x 2.29cm
Number of pages: 348
Weight: 567gr
Binding: Paperback
ISBN-10: 0-521-53934-X
ISBN-13: 9780521539340
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Country:
Year: December 11, 2006
Edition: 1
Size: 15.24 x 22.35 x 2.29cm
Number of pages: 348
Weight: 567gr
Binding: Paperback
editions
Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Eds.)
Cambridge University Press; 2006
Hardcover
order
description
Product Description
As the living scriptural heritage of more than a billion people, the Qur'an (Koran) speaks with a powerful voice. Just as other scriptural religions, Islam has produced a long tradition of interpretation for its holy book. Nevertheless, efforts to introduce the Qur'an and its intellectual heritage to English-speaking audiences have been hampered by the lack of available resources. The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an seeks to remedy that situation. In a discerning summation of the field, Jane McAuliffe brings together an international team of scholars to explain its complexities. Comprising fourteen chapters, each devoted to a topic of central importance, the book is rich in historical, linguistic and literary detail, while also reflecting the influence of other disciplines. For both the university student and the general reader, The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an provides a fascinating entrée to a text that has shaped the lives of millions for centuries.
As the living scriptural heritage of more than a billion people, the Qur'an (Koran) speaks with a powerful voice. Just as other scriptural religions, Islam has produced a long tradition of interpretation for its holy book. Nevertheless, efforts to introduce the Qur'an and its intellectual heritage to English-speaking audiences have been hampered by the lack of available resources. The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an seeks to remedy that situation. In a discerning summation of the field, Jane McAuliffe brings together an international team of scholars to explain its complexities. Comprising fourteen chapters, each devoted to a topic of central importance, the book is rich in historical, linguistic and literary detail, while also reflecting the influence of other disciplines. For both the university student and the general reader, The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an provides a fascinating entrée to a text that has shaped the lives of millions for centuries.
Book Description
The Qur'an (Koran) is the primary religious text for more than a billion people. Understood by Muslims to contain God's own words, it has been an object of reverence and intense study for centuries. This unique guide will help students clarify the complexities of text and commentary of the Qur'an.
The Qur'an (Koran) is the primary religious text for more than a billion people. Understood by Muslims to contain God's own words, it has been an object of reverence and intense study for centuries. This unique guide will help students clarify the complexities of text and commentary of the Qur'an.
reviews
Great! 
This text is used in my department's Intro to Islam class--and for good reason! There are some really insightful essays on a whole variety of topics. The review below is a great overview of why this is a great source. No need for me to repeat myself!
This text is used in my department's Intro to Islam class--and for good reason! There are some really insightful essays on a whole variety of topics. The review below is a great overview of why this is a great source. No need for me to repeat myself!
Disappointed 
I would expect a book claiming to be a Companion to the Quran to have at least some Muslim scholars represented in the sections of the book dealing with compilation and history. This Companion, although a fair distillation of modern Western Quranic scholarship, is rather like a Companion to the Bible being written only by Muslim scholars. I doubt the publisher would accept such a product but they seem to have no problem when it comes to the Quran.
I would expect a book claiming to be a Companion to the Quran to have at least some Muslim scholars represented in the sections of the book dealing with compilation and history. This Companion, although a fair distillation of modern Western Quranic scholarship, is rather like a Companion to the Bible being written only by Muslim scholars. I doubt the publisher would accept such a product but they seem to have no problem when it comes to the Quran.
The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an 
The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an (Cambridge Companions to Religion) Interesting reading.
The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an (Cambridge Companions to Religion) Interesting reading.
A very helpful collection
Having heard about the Koran (or Qur'an) for years, I decided to read it in English translation. But I soon bogged down, confused and disappointed. This book was of immense assistance. It helped me appreciate why I had been confused (I had expected the Qur'an to be like the Bible or the Gita or Upanishads; it is unique in all sorts of ways) and it evaporated the disappointment like a mirage. The COMPANION is well organized, with different scholars addressing their particular areas of specialization. All contributors are scholars based in European or North American universities, which might be considered a complaint by others, but not by me: these scholars knew well how strange the Qur'an can appear to a reader in the West. They knew what questions would be primary and inevitable, and troubled to answer them. For example, what English translation should be preferred and what is lost in translation? These questions are taken up in McAuliffe's introduction (she mentions all the translations in print, recommends several for one reason or another, and prefers none as clearly foremost). The history of the codification of the Qur'an is discussed by several scholars, with excellent discussion of what can be known about its early transmission and its textual disputes. Major lines of interpretation follow, with attention to the political tensions within early Islam. All essays are deeply respectful of the Qur'an. As might be expected, Western interest in the Qur'an, and the first Western translation of it (into Latin), were inspired by the desire to refute it, rebuke it, or otherwise neutralize it. THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION shows how far scholars have come in seeking to understand the Qur'an on its own terms, which are exceedingly various and tremendously demanding. First of all, the need to know Arabic; then the life of Mohammed and the Hadiths, collections of his sayings; then the competing and collateral traditions; and then the multiple evocations of the Qur'an in inscriptions, architecture, poetry, weaving, and law. One essay is devoted to the reception of the Qur'an by Western scholars.
Having heard about the Koran (or Qur'an) for years, I decided to read it in English translation. But I soon bogged down, confused and disappointed. This book was of immense assistance. It helped me appreciate why I had been confused (I had expected the Qur'an to be like the Bible or the Gita or Upanishads; it is unique in all sorts of ways) and it evaporated the disappointment like a mirage. The COMPANION is well organized, with different scholars addressing their particular areas of specialization. All contributors are scholars based in European or North American universities, which might be considered a complaint by others, but not by me: these scholars knew well how strange the Qur'an can appear to a reader in the West. They knew what questions would be primary and inevitable, and troubled to answer them. For example, what English translation should be preferred and what is lost in translation? These questions are taken up in McAuliffe's introduction (she mentions all the translations in print, recommends several for one reason or another, and prefers none as clearly foremost). The history of the codification of the Qur'an is discussed by several scholars, with excellent discussion of what can be known about its early transmission and its textual disputes. Major lines of interpretation follow, with attention to the political tensions within early Islam. All essays are deeply respectful of the Qur'an. As might be expected, Western interest in the Qur'an, and the first Western translation of it (into Latin), were inspired by the desire to refute it, rebuke it, or otherwise neutralize it. THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION shows how far scholars have come in seeking to understand the Qur'an on its own terms, which are exceedingly various and tremendously demanding. First of all, the need to know Arabic; then the life of Mohammed and the Hadiths, collections of his sayings; then the competing and collateral traditions; and then the multiple evocations of the Qur'an in inscriptions, architecture, poetry, weaving, and law. One essay is devoted to the reception of the Qur'an by Western scholars.
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