Preface and Acknowledgments to the Second Edition ix Preface to the First Edition xi 1 God Speaks to Humanity 1 God Hears and Responds 1 Defining the Quran 2 Ancient Origins of the Meccan Sanctuary 4 The Arabian Context 7 The Arabic Language 11 The Jahiliyya: A Time of Lawlessness and Immorality 13 The Early Life of Muhammad 16 Muhammad as the Messenger of God 18 2 The Prophet Conveys the Message 27 Historicizing the Quran 27 The Medium and the Message 34 God Is One 37 Moral Conduct and Its Ultimate Consequences 46 Servants of God 50 Persecution of Believers Past and Present 55 Establishing a Viable State and a Just Political Order 61 Building Community 68 A Door to Heaven Is Closed 73 3 The Voice and the Pen 79 A Sacred Pedigree 79 Recited and Written 85 The Prophet and the First Collection of the Quran 88 The Early Generations: Regional Schools of Recitation and the Elaboration of the Mushaf 100 Standardizing the Curriculum 105 Quranic Recitation and Ritual Life 109 Breaking the Tradition 119 The Value of Memorization 124 Transmission of the Quran in the Modern Age 127 Conclusion 133 4 Blessed Words: The Quran and Culture 141 The Quran as the Word of God 141 The Quran and Sacred Architecture 147 The Elevation of the Quran 155 Language, Naming, and Common Expressions 157 Ritual Purity and Purifying Rituals 161 Death, Mourning, and the Afterlife 168 5 What God Really Means: Interpreting the Quran 185 Exegesis before Hermeneutics 185 The Epistemological Challenge 193 Intertextuality: The Isra'iliyyat 197 Occasions of Revelation 201 Understanding the Language of the Quran 204 Relating the Sunna to the Quran 210 Deriving Legal Norms from the Quran 215 Consensus and Diversity in Legal Reasoning 223 Modernity: Making the Words "Reasonable" 226 Some Contested Issues 235 Inheritance 235 Wife-beating 237 Conclusion 242 6 Conclusion: Listening for God 247 Glossary 267 Bibliography 271 Index of Quranic Citations and References 287 Index 289