Creating the Qur’an: A Historical-Critical Study

372 Pages·2022·29.381 MB·English

by  Stephen J. Shoemaker

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Creating
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Creating the Qur’an presents the first systematic historical-critical study of K
the Qur’an’s origins, drawing on methods and perspectives commonly used to E the Qur’an
study other scriptural traditions. Demonstrating in detail that the Islamic tra- R
dition relates not a single attested account of the holy text’s formation, Stephen
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J. Shoemaker shows how the Qur’an preserves a surprisingly diverse array of
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memories regarding the text’s early history and its canonization. To this he adds
perspectives from radiocarbon dating of manuscripts, the linguistic history of e A Historical-Critical Study
Arabic, the social and cultural history of late ancient Arabia, and the limita- a
tions of human memory and oral transmission, as well as various peculiarities t
of the Qur’anic text itself. Considering all the relevant data to present the most i
comprehensive and convincing examination of the origin and evolution of the n STEPHEN J. SHOEMAKER
Qur’an available, Shoemaker concludes that the canonical text of the Qur’an g
was most likely produced only around the turn of the eighth century.
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“Stephen Shoemaker leaves no significant aspect of the debate over the Qur’an’s
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origin and evolution unexamined. His book is a milestone in Qur’anic studies.
Everyone in the field will have to read it.” u
FRED M. DONNER, Peter B. Ritzma Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern History, University r
of Chicago ’
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STEPHEN J. SHOEMAKER
is Professor of Religious Studies and
Ira E. Gaston Fellow in Christian Studies at the University of A

Oregon. He is author of The Death of a Prophet, The Apocalypse H
of Empire, and A Prophet Has Appeared, among many other i
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS S
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www.ucpress.edu u
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A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos,
University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program.
Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.
Author photo: Joel Elliott, National Humanities Center. ISBN 978-0-520-38903-8
Cover design: Glynnis Koike. Cover illustration: “Prophet Muhammad
Preaching.” Folio from a Maqtal-i Al-i Rasul of Lami’i Chelebi. Dating to
the late sixteenth century. Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper.
Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers 9 780520 389038
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Open access edition of this title is funded by the
National Endowment for the Humanities.
Creating the Qur’an

Creating the Qur’an
A Historical-Critical Study
Stephen J. Shoemaker
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2022 by Stephen J. Shoemaker
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons [CC BY-NC-ND] license.
To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses.
Suggested citation: Shoemaker, S. J. Creating the Qur’an: A Historical-
Critical Study. Oakland: University of California Press, 2022.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.128
Names: Shoemaker, Stephen J., author.
Title: Creating the Qur’an : a historical-critical study / Stephen J.
Shoemaker.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2022] |
Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0-520–00000–0
(cloth : alk. paper)
Identifiers: LCCN 2021060219 (print) | LCCN 2021060220 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780520389038 (paperback) | ISBN 9780520389045 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Qur’an—History. | Qur’an—History—Sources. |
Qur’an—Criticism, interpretation, etc.—History—Sources.
Classification: LCC BP131 .S56 2022 (print) | LCC BP131 (ebook) |
DDC 297.1/2209—dc23/eng/20220129
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021060219
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021060220
Manufactured in the United States of America
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For the Loncoske sisters

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. The Traditional Narrative of the Qur’an’s Origins: A Scholarly Sunnism 17
2. ʿAbd al-Malik, al-Ḥajjāj, and the Composition of the Qur’an 43
3. Radiocarbon Dating and the Origins of the Qur’an 70
4. The Hijaz in Late Antiquity: Social and Economic Conditions in the
Cradle of the Qur’an 96
5. Literacy, Orality, and the Qur’an’s Linguistic Environment 117
6. Remembering Muhammad: Perspectives from Memory Science 148
7. Re-Remembering Muhammad: Oral Tradition and Collective Memory 171
8. The Qur’anic Codex as Process: Writing Sacred Tradition in Late Antiquity 204
9. The Qur’an’s Historical Context According to the Qur’an 230
Conclusions 259
Notes 267
References 307
Index 341