ulum-al-quran

The methods of explanation.
The scholars of exegesis and their books.
The aim of this book as all 'ulum al-qur'an is to help towards a better understanding of the Qur'anic message by providing
information on its setting, framework and circumstances. To a great extent it is a descriptive account of the traditional
subject of 'ulum al-qur'an. Some branches of 'ulum al-qur'an, such as the divisions of the text, style, literary form etc.,
have only been touched upon briefly, while others that seemed more important have been dealt with in more detail. In
particular such topics related to the understanding of the text (asbab al-nuzul, al-nasikh wa al-mansukh, etc.) have been
treated more extensively while others, such as the 'seven ahruf' or the 'Uthmanic writing, which are of benefit only to
readers with a good knowledge of classical Arabic, have been introduced, but not elaborated upon.
I have restricted myself to presenting the generally-accepted views on the issues and, where no consensus exists, have
referred to the most important of the divergent opinions. Although I do have my own views on some questions, my basic
aim in this 'Introduction' is generally to inform the reader about the subject, and not to guide him overtly or covertly
towards my own conclusions.
There are a number of matters related to the study of the Qur'an to which I have drawn special attention since this
'Introduction' to the 'ulum al-qur'an is aimed at a special readership, namely, young educated Muslims with little or no
access to the original sources on the subject. I have therefore included several topics, of special relevance for that
readership, such as:
Orientalists and the Qur'an.
Translations of the Qur'an.
Modern interpretation of the Qur'an.
Language of the Qur'an.
Reading and recitation of the Qur'an.
Again, particularly for the benefit of these readers, I have often quoted typical examples to illustrate the various points
discussed and make them more easily comprehensible.
Finally, to assist readers not familiar with Arabic, I have supplied references to English translations, where available (such
as translation of hadith books, etc.). However, on certain topics (e.g. asbab al-nuzul or al-nasikh wa al-mansukh) there is
no literature available as yet in English and references had to be restricted to Arabic sources only.
I have also attempted to note in the bibliography at least one or two books in English for each section, from which more
insight may be gained on the topic discussed.
May this volume (to the best of my knowledge, the first of its kind in a European language) fulfil its purpose and assist
you to grasp fully the message of the Qur'an and to apply it in your life, and may Allah accept this humble effort and
forgive its shortcomings.
Ahmad von Denffer
Leicester. Ramadan 1981/1401