An Oral-Formulaic Study of the Qur'an - Softcover

Andrew G. Bannister is adjunct research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths, Melbourne School of Theology, and visiting lecturer at the Centre for Islamic Studies and Muslim-Christian Relations, London School of Theology.

This book’s success resides in its methodology. . . .This book will be beneficial to both Islamic scholars and in particular to students of orality. (Journal of Folklore Research)

This fascinating book has the potential of reviving the debate regarding orality and literacy in the late antique Near East.... Bannister’s work sets the premise for a serious discussion about the role of orality in late antique societies, including seventh-century Arabia, pushing against a certain methodological conservatism in the field. The author constructively provokes scholars to explore different approaches and narratives.... The data presented in the book compellingly shows the richness and sophistication of formulaicity in the Qur’ān, and the author is perceptive in pointing out the most interesting or apparently problematic findings.... [This] study raises insightful questions on style, composition and redaction that invite the attention of all scholars in the field. (Review of Qur'anic Research)

An Oral-Formulaic Study of the Qur’an is a thought-provoking work which presents a serious challenge to the field of Qur’anic Studies. In a rigorous and thoughtful manner Bannister illustrates how computerized analysis and oral literary theory raise new questions about the Qur’an’s origins and development. (Gabriel Said Reynolds, University of Notre Dame)

The nature and identity of the Qur’an as text is much contested. Received Muslim views of the Qur’an as the direct word of Allah transmitted through Muhammad have been challenged for many years by the revisionist approaches of some non-Muslim scholars. In this book by Andrew Bannister, we are treated to a highly original and much needed fresh approach to the study of the Qur’an. Though scholars, both Muslim and non-Muslim, have long recognised the importance of oral transmission in the Qur’an story, none has ever subjected that oral dimension of the Qur’anic text to rigorous analysis. Dr. Bannister’s work is therefore ground-breaking, exciting, and long overdue. This well-written and incisive study will undoubtedly open fresh windows into Islam’s most sacred text, and will trigger much subsequent scholarly enquiry. (Peter G. Riddell, SOAS, University of London, Melbourne School of Theology)

This is a breakthrough book opening new ground amidst traditionalist and critical approaches to Qur’anic studies, and between written and oral paradigms for Qur’anic origins. It is a must-read for anyone interested in issues of intertextuality, orality, the Qur’an’s internal structure, and computerised analysis of the Qur’anic text. (Keith E. Small, London School of Theology, Oxford University)

This is an outstanding, highly original contribution to the field of Qur’anic studies. Using a mode of interpretation derived in part from Milman Parry and Albert Lord’s famous work on the poems of Homer, and employing sophisticated digital tools, Bannister shows how the Qur’an is best understood as an oral document. The author breaks free of the constraints of "traditionalist" approaches to the Qur’an which resist the implications of literary and historical analysis. While he draws upon the work of "revisionist" Western scholars, he goes beyond a simple focus on the origins of Qur’anic material to look at the Qur’anic text itself, arguing that it is best understood as the product of a process of oral performance. The result is a compelling account of the Qur’an’s composition and early redaction. (Jonathan Berkey, Davidson College)