Locating the Qur’an in the Epistemic Space of Late Antiquity

Why do we need a scholarly reading of the Qur’an? Not perhaps for the sake of a spiritually deeper Muslim understanding. But maybe for the sake of reclaiming the Qur’an’s universal significance, to remind of its message as raḥmatan li’l-ālamīn, as addressed ultimately to all mankind. And perhaps, most importantly, for preserving its integrity, correcting present misconceptions. The scholarly reading of the Qur’an today then is a politically relevant task. In the following, I wish to highlight what is presently at stake in Qur’anic studies, what are the pitfalls we have to beware of and how we can break a path through the thicket of contradicting scholarly positions in order to restore the image of the Qur’an as a text that concerns culturally and religiously committed individuals in general.