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ABSTRACT
This essay considers some of the past, present and possible future contexts and prospects of qur'anic studies in a Western academic context, particularly within the contested confines of so-called university theology and its sister disciplines of religion and cultural studies. It argues that qur'anic studies can and should cross – but not leave – its traditional borders within the humanities and re-engage with theological studies, and vice versa. This also includes a plea for a new recognition of committed and experimental readings, since scholarship inevitably implies an element of intervention and engagement, even when pursued with the strictest ideals of objectivity or fairness in mind. Therefore, a number of motivations for a renewed relevance of qur'anic studies within the orbit of university theology are adduced.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 The two departments, however, were originally part of the Faculty of Theology, which later was subsumed under the aegis of the Faculty of Humanities.
2 Also known as an mso professorship, an abbreviation for professor med særligt område, i.e. professor ‘with special responsibilities’. It is a temporary five-year position.
3 See http://www.ft.dk/Dokumenter/Publikationer/Engelsk/∼/media/PDF/publikationer/English/The_Constitutional_Act_Of_Denmark_2013.pdf.ashx (accessed 30 August 2018).
4 Marshal Hodgson has emphasized the distinction between Christianity and Christendom and pleaded for the use of their Islamic and Islamicate equivalents of Islam and Islamdom. However, in this article the terms Christianity and Islam will be the respective shorthand terms for these distinctions.
5 See http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/tr/nielsen-jorgen.aspx (accessed 30 August 2018).
6 See also http://teol.ku.dk/ceit/english/ (accessed 30 August 2018).
7 http://www.interfaith.cam.ac.uk/ (accessed 30 August 2018).
8 For another critical take on the alleged progresses of secularism, see, e.g. Stark (Citation1999).
9 For the question of the ‘nones’, see Pew Research Center (Citation2012).
10 For a presentation and critique of the post-secular turn, see McLennan (Citation2010). For a recent contribution that comprises the above mentioned scholars, see Gorski et al. (Citation2012).
11 Some of the most influential studies and theoretical works on Islam have been produced by anthropologists including, for instance, Clifford Geertz, Talal Asad and Saba Mahmoud.
12 For annual hands-on overviews of Muslims in the respective European countries, the Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, initiated by Jørgen S. Nielsen (Nielsen et al. Citation2009), is worth consulting.
13 For the somewhat forgotten history of Christianity in the Muslim world, see e.g. Jenkins (Citation2008).
14 See e.g. Pew Research Center (Citation2015), which argues that Islam will grow faster than any other major religion.
15 This statement should be taken with a grain of salt since the Qur’an actually seems to contain what could reasonably be called biblical quotations.
16 For a comprehensive reference handbook on these approaches and their important scholars, see, e.g. Porter (Citation2007).
17 For a plea for family resemblance as a viable approach to Islam, Christianity and Judaism, see Stroumsa (Citation2015).
18 For Abrahamic chairs, see https://www.theology.ox.ac.uk/people/professor-anna-sapir-abulafia (accessed 30 August 2018) and http://www.cambridge.org/dk/academic/subjects/classical-studies/ancient-history/abraham-or-aristotle-first-millennium-empires-and-exegetical-traditions-inaugural-lecture-sultan-qaboos-professor-abrahamic-faiths-given-university-cambridge-4-december-2013?format=PB&isbn=9781107462410 (accessed 30 August 2018).