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xxivintroductionpublished within the last 1,000 years [!], a work that examines theQur"an in a sharp-minded manner, reveals a scientific spirit, a holisticvision and a progressive, modern point of view”. 17 In stark contrastto such effusive praise, a damning article about the book waspublished in the journal Nahj al-Isl§m, the official press organ of theAwq§f Ministry in Syria in as early as December 1990. Without namingthe title or author of the book, Sheikh Rama·§n al-BåãÊ, one ofSyria’s most influential #ulam§", informed the reader of a “tip-off fromone of the Deans of Libya’s Tripoli University that a Zionist organizationhad produced a new commentary of the Qur"an and now [hasfound] an Arabic publishing house, as well as an Arab writer whosename can serve as the author of the book”. 18 After al-BåãÊ provideda number of allusions to the content of The Book and the Qur"an, theassociation was certainly well established. A few months later, inMarch 1991, al-BåãÊ’s spiritual novice, ShawqÊ Abå KhalÊl, wroteanother article in Nahj al-Isl§m in which he declared that he hadcome across three books which, although published at exactly thesame time and under three different titles, were absolutely identical:“the same ideas, the same preface, method, aims, even the sameconclusion!” 19 —for Abå KhalÊl a clear sign that all three were writtenas part of a well-orchestrated intellectual war against Islam.However, the official disapproval of the book failed to achieve itspurpose—to discourage and prevent people from buying it—andwithin a short period of time it was sold out. Thus, tactics had to bechanged. In a series of five articles by Sheikh MuÈammad ShafÊqY§sÊn against Shahrur, published in late 1991 and 1992 again in thejournal Nahj al-Isl§m, the accusation of an intellectual and religiouscrusade was dropped and a less aggressive approach adopted. 2017Na#Êm al-Y§fÊ, “ al-Qur"§n wa’l-Kit§b [sic]: Qir§"a Mu#§ßira,” Al-Usbå# Al-AdabÊ247 (January 1991): 3.18MuÈammad Sa#Êd Rama·§n al-BåãÊ, “ al-Khalfiyya al-Yahådiyya li-shi#§rqir§"a mu#§ßira,” (The Jewish Origins of the Call for a Contemporary Reading) Nahjal-Isl§m 42 (December 1990): 17–21 (17).19ShawqÊ Abå KhalÊl, “Taq§ãu#§t khaãÊra fÊ darb al-qir§"§t al-mu#§ßira” (DangerousCrossings on the Path of Contemporary Readings) Nahj al-Isl§m 43 (March 1991):17–21. One year earlier, in 1990, he had already published a little booklet titledQir§#a #ilmiyya li’l-qir§"§t al-mu#§ßira (A Critical Reading of the ‘Contemporary Readings’),(Damascus/Beirut: D§r al-Fikr 1990), in which he attacked ‘contemporaryreadings’ of the Qur"an as a form of warfare against the religion of Islam, withoutspecifically mentioning Al-Kit§b.20MuÈammad ShafÊq Y§sÊn, 1. “Qir§"a naqdiyya fÊ mu"allaf ‘al-Kit§b wa’l-Qur"§n’” (A Critical Reading of the Book ‘The Book and the Qur"an’”; 2. “Qir§"a