The Story of the Qur’an: an introductory overview

Week 1: “The Civilization of the Book”: Overview of the Islamic intellectual heritage

• What understandings and approaches to religion did the Qur’an inspire?

• Broad outline of the different disciplines, paradigms, and orientations of Islamic knowledge in Muslim intellectual history

• Go over objectives and outline of what we will be doing this year

Week 2: Modes of revelation: How was the Qur’an revealed?

• How the Prophet received and conveyed revelation

• The Qur’an as an ongoing process and dialogue

• Compilation of the Qur’an into a “book”

Week 3: Chronology and themes of the Qur’an

• What were the themes of revelation in the different periods of the Prophet’s life?

• Approaching the Qur’an through the sirah (life of the Prophet), and approaching the sirah through the Qur’an

Week 4: Interpreting and Understanding the Qur'an (the tafsir literature)

• What are the different types of Qur'anic commentary (tafsir) and their approaches to the Qur'an?

• What are the different methods used to understand the Qur'an?