The position of the Qur'an as the central symbol and reference point of Islam cannot be disputed. Despite this significance, the academic study of the Qur'an has lagged far behind that of the Bible. In these studies Andrew Rippin reflects upon both the principles and the problems of studying the Qur'an within the discipline of religious studies. He

Contents: Introduction; Reflections on method in Qur'anic studies: The Qur'an as literature: perils, pitfalls and prospects; Literary analysis of Qur'an, Sira and Tafsir: the methodologies of John Wansbrough; RHMNN and the Hanifs; Reading the Qur'an with Richard Bell; Studying early tafsir texts; Qur'anic Studies, part IV: some methodological notes; Variants to the text of the Qur'an and their significance: Qur'an 21:95: A ban is upon any town?; Qur'an 7.40: Until the camel passes through the eye of the needle?; Qur'an 78.24: A study in Arabic lexicography; Muslim Reflections on the Qur'an: Tafsir; The present status of tafsir studies; Interpreting the Bible through the Qur'an; Ibn 'Abbas's Al-lughat fi'l-Qur'an; Ibn 'Abbas's Gharib al-Qur'an; Tafsir Ibn 'Abbas and criteria for dating early tafsir texts; Al-Zuhri, naskh al-Qur'an and the problem of early tafsir texts; The exegetical genre asbab al-nuzul: a bibliographical and terminological survey; Al-Zarkashi and al-Suyuti on the 'occasion of revelation' material; The function of asbab al-nuzul in Qur'anic exegesis; Lexicographical texts and the Qur'an; Epigraphical South Arabian and Qur'anic exegesis; Indexes.