Textual Criticism and Bibliography: The Case of Qurʾānic Studies

Abstract

Philological studies on Arabic and Islamic literature have traditionally been limited in many respects. The approaches to the texts and their editing have mostly reflected a primary interest in diffusing texts without sharing the editing methodology or discussing the specific problematic aspects of Arabic. In the realm of Qurʾānic studies most of the research has been devoted to the formation of the text and early manuscript evidence with some significant results but without addressing many other aspects and critical problems which still await the attention of scholarly research. Later manuscript attestations and the history of the printed Qurʾān have also been in general neglected fields of critical research.