Creating the Quran: A Historical-Critical Study

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Creating the Quran presents the first systematic historical-critical study of the Qurans origins, drawing on methods and perspectives commonly used to study other scriptural traditions. Demonstrating in detail that the Islamic tradition relates not a single attested account of the holy texts formation, Stephen J. Shoemaker shows how the Quran preserves a surprisingly diverse array of memories regarding the texts early history and its canonization. To this he adds 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 Quranic text itself. Considering all the relevant data to present the most comprehensive and convincing examination of the origin and evolution of the Quran available, Shoemaker concludes that the canonical text of the Quran was most likely produced only around the turn of the eighth century.