Genesis of Literature in Islam

The Genesis of Literature in Islam : New,
'From the Aural to the Read'
[A5] Paperback - 160 pages,
by Gregor Schoeler,
Revised & Translated by Shawkat M. Toorawa,
Edited by Carole Hillenbrand,
by New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys.

Description : 

The Qur’an was the first book of Islam and indeed the first book of Arabic literature. It contains the word of God and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Muslims wishing to fully understand and interpret this material were inspired to make an inventory and study of their tradition. 


This involved the collection, transmission and instruction of the sacred text, of the words and deeds of Muhammad ﷺ, and also of poetry. This activity, which began towards the end of the seventh century, relied predominantly on oral communication between teacher and student. However writing became an integral part of this process, and was the genesis of one of the richest literatures of late antiquity and the middle ages. This is clear from the widespread dissemination of scholarship through the writing and proliferation of books.


The Genesis of Literature in Islam explains how this change in the transmission of knowledge - from predominantly oral/aural to written - came about.


 *** Considers the evolution of the Qur’an as it became an official written document,

 *** Explores the role of the court in the development and transmission of Arabic literature,

 *** Looks at the influences on the transmission of knowledge from Arabic, Jewish and Hellenic-Christian culture,

 *** Situates the development of Islam and the Arabic language within the history of the book.

Dr. Gregor Schoeler is Professor and Chair of Islamic Studies, Orientalisches Seminar, University of Basel. His many publications include The Oral and the Written in Early Islam (2006).

Shawkat M. Toorawa is Associate Professor of Arabic Literature and Islamic Studies at Cornell University. He is the author of Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur and Arabic Writerly Culture (2005).

Table of Contents

---Translator’s Preface,
---Author’s Preface.

---Introduction

---Chapter [1]. The Oral and the Written during the Jahiliyya and Early Islam,
---Chapter [2]. The Qur’an and Qur’an ‘Readers’
---Chapter [3]. The Beginnings of Religious Scholarship in Islam: Sirah, Hadith, Tafsir,
---Chapter [4]. Literature and the Caliphal Court,
---Chapter [5]. The Turn toward Systematisation: The Tasnif Movement
---Chapter [6]. The Birth of Linguistics and Philology
---Chapter [7]. Books and their Readership in the Ninth Century
---Chapter [8]. Listening to Books, or Reading Them?.

---Glossary,
---Notes,
---Bibliography,
---Index.

Dimensions : 23.5 x 15.5cm.