Sacred Editors

Sacred Editors: Islam

This volume explores how the Qur’an was compiled, standardized, interpreted, and preserved—through conflict, consensus, and centuries of devotion. It reveals how sacred memory was mediated by power, how forgotten voices shaped theology, and how the digital age poses new questions about a text believed to be unchangeable.

Islam Book Cover

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Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Prologue: In the Beginning… There Was the Word

    3. Part I: Origins of the Text — Prophecy, Memory, and Early Codices

  3. Chapter 1: The Prophet as Editor
  4. Interlude A: The Seven Ahruf and the Problem of Plurality
  5. Chapter 2: The Battle of Yamama and the Fear of Forgetting
  6. Chapter 3: Uthman’s Standard – Burning Books, Building Unity
  7. Chapter 4: Capstone – Codex and Custodian: The Qur’an After the Prophet

    8. Part II: Shaping Orthodoxy — Power, Politics, and Preservation

  8. Chapter 5: The Umayyad Caliphate and the Architecture of Scripture
  9. Interlude B: Shi‘i Memories and the Lost Mushaf of Ali
  10. Chapter 6: Abbasids and the Rise of Textual Authority
  11. Chapter 7: The Created Qur’an and the Mihna
  12. Chapter 8: Capstone – Who Owned the Text? Religion, Empire, and Control

    13. Part III: Preserving the Unchangeable — Calligraphy, Commentary, and Codification

  13. Chapter 9: Sacred Script and the Art of Transmission
  14. Chapter 10: Tafsir and the Rise of Interpretive Schools
  15. Interlude C: Naskh – The Theology of Abrogation
  16. Chapter 11: Translation and Tension
  17. Chapter 12: The Cairo Edition of 1924
  18. Chapter 13: Capstone – Unread Variants and Frozen Recitations

    19. Part IV: Memory, Manuscripts, and Modernity — Debates in the Digital Age

  19. Chapter 14: Discoveries in the Dust – Sanaa, Birmingham, and Beyond
  20. Chapter 15: Sufi and Esoteric Interpretations
  21. Chapter 16: Women and the Qur’an – Custodians, Critics, and Commentators
  22. Interlude D: Digital Mushafs and Algorithmic Authority
  23. Chapter 17: Interfaith Polemics and Comparative Readings
  24. Chapter 18: Preserving the Word – Human Stewardship in the 21st Century
  25. Conclusion: Between Heaven and History
  26. Research Methodology

    27. Appendices

  27. Appendix A: Timeline of Qur’anic Compilation and Canonization
  28. Appendix B: Ahruf, Qira’at, and the Politics of Recitation
  29. Appendix C: The Mushaf of Ali and Shi‘i Textual Memory
  30. Appendix D: Major Tafsir Traditions and Interpretive Lineages
  31. Appendix E: Women in Qur’anic Transmission and Interpretation
  32. Appendix F: Key Manuscript Discoveries and Textual Variants

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