THE CURRENT STATE OF QUR’ANIC STUDIES: COMMENTARY ON A ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION*

Abstract

This paper is based on a roundtable discussion held at the 2015 IQSA Annual Meeting about the current state of the field of Qur’anic Studies and its future, gathering together specialists in different areas from within the academic field of Qur’anic Studies, as well as from outside it. The panelists were Kecia Ali (Boston University), Herbert Berg (University of North Carolina at Wilmington), Joseph Lumbard (American University in Sharjah), Nicolai Sinai (Oxford University), Devin Stewart (Emory University), and Shawkat Toorawa (Cornell University, now Yale University); Farid Esack (University of Johannesburg) presided. The discussion is here summarized and analyzed by Karen Bauer (the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London). The aim in writing up this discussion is to present a coherent summary and analysis of its major points, so that specialists and nonspecialists alike may get a clearer picture of recent trends and changes in the field, as well as of the challenges facing scholars now and in the future.