TIQ · Textual Integrity of the Qur’an: Sunni and Shi'i Historical Narrations on the Falsification
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2021-06-01 → 2024-05-31
- EU contribution
- €251,435
- Participants
- 3
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
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Results in brief
Textual Integrity of the Qur’an: Sunni and Shi'i Historical Narrations on the Falsification
My first goal in the "Textual Integrity of the Qur'an" project was to train in Sunni approaches to Quranic studies at the University of Toronto for 22 months under Professor Walid Saleh's supervision. I aimed to deepen my understanding of early Muslim historical and legal data, including hadith studies, at the University of Goettingen for two months and later at Lund University for twelve months under Professor Oliver Scharbrodt. My second goal was to push the limits of the isnad-cum-matn method by analyzing the earliest Sunni and Shi'i sources. I wanted to pinpoint when the idea of falsification of the Qur'an might have first emerged and track how these traditions influenced interactions between Sunni and Shi'i scholars. The third goal was to equip myself with the knowledge to address the tensions between Shi'is and Sunnis, both in Europe and globally. By sharing the historical insights from my research, I hoped to challenge existing misconceptions and contribute to peace and community cohesion in Europe. However, I had to terminate the project earlier than planned, when I received a permanent job offer for an Assistant Professor position from the University of Groningen. After consulting with my supervisors and managers, I decided to accept this fantastic opportunity. Although I started my new role, I remained involved with the TIQ project by participating in community outreach events in the Netherlands and the UK, thus meeting the project's outreach goals at the return phase. During this time, I also signed a contract with Bloomsbury to publish a handbook on contemporary Islam studies, which includes selected papers from a conference I co-organized in Toronto. I'm currently editing this handbook, set for publication in 2026. I am profoundly thankful for the opportunities the Marie S. Curie Fellowship provided, and I am excited about continuing my academic and outreach efforts. Thank you so much!
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The Qur’an is the central text in Islam and 1.9 million Muslims around the world strive to shape their lives according to the principles and rulings derived from it. Yet the textual integrity of the Qur’an has largely been taken for granted and some aspects of it have not been investigated, especially the idea of the falsification (tahrif) of the quranic text. Since the 2nd century AH, a group of Muslim traditionalists have claimed that certain verses were removed from the quranic text after the death of the Prophet, making the present quranic text incomplete. Sunni traditionalists (Hashwiyya) advocated the existence of this falsification (in the form of omission of some of the verses of the Qur’an) within a legal framework, while Shi'i traditionalists (Akhbaris) perpetuated the concept to support the succession of the Prophet and sanctity of the Twelver Shi'i Imams. The limited existing studies on the subject are mostly reviews of the opinions of past and present scholars. Further, while the falsification has been advocated by both Muslim groups in different ways, the notion has been largely attributed to the Shi'is. As a result, to this day, it has been a cause of tension between Sunni and Shi'i communities due to the firmly established view regarding the integrity of the Qur’an. Dr Seyfeddin Kara’s primary goal is to uncover the historical origins of a neglected aspect of the textual history of the Qur’an through undertaking a multidisciplinary study combining quranic studies, hadith studies, Islamic law and biblical studies. “Uncover” means to date the relevant Muslim traditions and reveal the interaction/influence between the Sunni and Shi'i traditionalists in the development of the notion of falsification from the 2nd to the 5th centuries AH. In his previous study on Ali b. Abi Talib’s quranic codex, SK tested new suitable methods and theories to study the textual history of the Qur’an.
Original text from CORDIS.
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Data: CORDIS, © European Union