WILLIAM A. GRAHAM he appearance of a collection of essays on "Approachcs to Islam in Religious 5tudics" underscores a idespread !

udgment among concerned scholars that the relationship "et een Islamic studies and the study of reli#$ic#n has "een a relati%ely unproducti%e one. I It is not unfair to say that the "roader& generic study of religious life and history has not "een sufficiently informed "y Islamic data& hile Islamicists ha%e correspondingly made less than satisfactory use of more general scholarly studies in religion.' In particular& Islamic studies ha%e contri"uted little to and profited little from the phenomenological study of religion (a situation& it must "e added& that they share in large part ith )udaic and *hristian studies +,. -he present study is an attempt to consider a specifiie instance in hich Islamic data and the pro"lem of understanding those data are directly rele%ant to the de%elopment of a more ade.uate understanding of an important general concept in religion. -his concept& or phenomenon& is that of scri lure, and as o"%ious a topic as it might seem in the light of the uni.uely scriptural character of the Islamic tradition& it 24 William A. C:rahaur has not recei%ed sufficiently serious attention e%en from those historians of religion ith special e/pertise in Islamic 0tudies. In hat follo s& I ill consider first the idea of scripture as a generic concept in modern scholarship in religion& e/amining its limitations and suggesting some correcti%es. "I it su"stantiate1 these suggestions& t shall turn specifically to the Muslim notion of scripture and argue that the role of the 2ur3an in Muslim life and consciousness illumines ith particular clarity an important aspect of scripture that has recei%ed little or no attention in modern scholarship& namely& its oral and aural character& its function as spo4en ord. Scripture as a Generic Category ~--- '~ ~~ ., 't'he modern scholarly use of "scripture" as a general concept has& li4e so many usages in the study of religion& de%eloped out of the specific conte/t of the )e ish and especially the *hristian tradition. 5nly relati%ely recently has it "ecome common for this concept to "e goner-3 ali6ed and applied generically to normati%e te/ts of other religious traditions. 7 -he primary signification of "scripture&" cr of any of its l8uropean-language e.ui%alents such as the German Scbrr t, 9rench ecrirnre, or Italian scrittura, as originally& and remains still specifically& the )e ish or the *hristian :i"le. -he ord deri%es from the Latin scripture, a " riting&" hich in turn translates the Gree4 yt,a.,t! (or its plural ypa#;t,. -he idea of di%inely re%ealed or inspired !rillen ord-"the t/ 4s&" "What is ritten&" i.e. "scripture"- is at least as old in the West as the post-e/ilic period of )e ish history and certainly attested in the second century :.*.L. in terms such as ba-~~ "rim ("the "oo4s"-in Gree4 translation th <t(i=i(/& hich through Latin "ecame ""i"le&" ":i"el&" etc.,& hich as used to refer to part or all of the He"re sacred ritings. 5

Here the related notion of a canon" of scriptures is rele%ant. Although there is no specific )e ish e.ui%alent for the *hristian appropriation of /a% % (lit. "rod&" then "measure&" "rule", to designate a formally delimited corpus of sacred and normati%e ritings& the concept of such a corpus clearly is "ased upon )e ish ideas that antedate the second-century *hristian concept considera"ly. > Indeed& for the first century& and most of the second& the ":i"le of the *hurch" as "the holy "oo4s" (th (it(+=ia ih ayta, of the )e s? the threefold collection (later 4no n as #aua$h% of the -orah (@ the <entateuch,& the <rophets &'hi'(r)% and the other "Writings" &4-'tirbirn * Gr. uyt"y2uc"u,.A -he sulrscclucnt *hristian agreement upon a"canu&t" of "tile Bc&&t. (?ut3cnant" (an "agreement" that has differed in different sectors and different periods in its specifics, completed tile process here"y tile idea 5f a *anon 5f scripture "ecame a shared (although differently deri%ed and defined, concept for *hfistians and 1Ac s. It is this shared concept th?a& many centuries later& as ta4en and used generically hen thc 1)uclaC*hristian West "egan serious academic study of other religious traditions. In this academic study ( hich today is no longer only "Western" "ut international,& "scripture" has "ecome one of those ta4en-forgranted categories that e%eryone uses ith scarcely a second thought. Most students of religion ould concede to scripture a prominent ran4& at least in literate cultures& among important and idespread religious phenomena. "0cripture" as aDgcncric term seems cr"%iuusl% aphlica"lc to te/ts .uite diffcrcnt .from those of )e s and *hristians. Bo one is %ery e/ercised a"out the use of la"els such as "'oroastrian holy rit&" "Eedic scripture&" "tile -i"etan canon&" or ":uddhist sacrcd te/ts&" or a"out placing them alongside "*hristian scriptureF3 5r ")e ish canonical ritings" as e/amples of the same general category of phcnomcna. It as upon !ust such te/ts as ould fit into this 4ind of category that the study of religion& and especially the historical study of the ma!or religious trnctitirCns& focused during its rapid cAc%clohmcnt in the nineteenth century. Ma/ Miillcr3s series of tc/t-c(li tions& -he Sacre" +oo$s o the hast, is one 4ind of monument to such study$ others ould "e the great "schools" of "i"lical scholarship asso ciatccl ith persons of the stature of )ulius GEcllhauticn in A-IchrcGHA+i"lc studies or h. *. A+aur in Be #lcstaIriiciit stuclics." 3t3he tas4 at hand in such studies as clear? tile application 5f histcrrical-critical& tc/t-critical& and linguistic analysis to the central te/ts Jrf thc " orld religions&" including those of one3s o n tradition. -he result of these studies& impressi%e and important as thct1 con tinue to "e& has hccn a continuing focus upon particular ritten te/ts that ha%e cone in %arious traditions to carry tile sacred and normati%e& usually inspired& authority of scripture. -he stucly of scripture in the ma!or oricntalist and "i"lical fields has& e%en up to the prcscnt& meant the study of documents and tile historical conte/t in hich thc% arose. -he chief concerns ha%e "een to esta"lish an "original&" uncorrupted

te/t& to reconstruct tile process of composition of the te/t& to analy6e the te/t for contemporaneous historical information& and to search out 4ey ideas of the te/t and trace their "sources" or antecedents. As a result& the ongoing role of a te/t as scripture in the su"se.uent life and faith of a gi%en tradition has recei%ed relati%ely little scholarly attention.K #he study of religious te/ts in their unction as scriptures has "een su"ordinated to the critical study of their earliest ritten forms. -his is changing as more scholars are de%oting themsel%es to the in%estigation of "postclassical" religion in the great orld traditions& "ut in general "scriptural studies" de%oted to.tracing the historical roles of sacred texts have yet to emerge in their o n right. 9urthermore& the pre%alent focus upon original te/ts and their historical conte/ts has meant not only that descripti%e or4 on scripture in the later life of the %arious communities has suffered& "ut also that interest in scripture as a generic phenomenon has "een small %is-a-%is the interest in particular sacred texts. 10 1 -he relati%e lac4 of interest in scripture as a general religious phe nomenon has "een especially glaring in general and comparati%e studies in religion. plere there has "een an often noted "ias in fa%or of "archaic" or "nonliterate" religious cultures here scripture& unli4e. myth& ritual& sacrifice& sacred space& or the li4e& is not a rele%ant phe nomenon. I I When treated at all in the ma!or phenomenological or4s oil 3religion& scripture has tended to "e defined in accordance ith te/tual-studies usage as "sacred ritings" and correspondingly dealt ith under the ru"ric& "holy rit&" or the li4e. -his category& in turn& has "een usually paired ith "holy ord" in most catechisms of ma!or religious phenomena and %ie ed as either an ancillary or later (and hence less "original", de%elopment of the inherently oral phenomenon of tile primordial sacred ord& or " ord of po er" (%an der l.eeu ., AL 0e%eral phenomenologists ha%e underscored this dichotomy of ord and rit "y pointing out that although the ritten ord fi/es and A 1nds permanence to the spo4en ord& it also threatens to 4ill the o iginally %ital&spirit of the oral ord "y incarcerating it in "the Ictt1r., # i In this ay& students of religion ha%e reinforced the delimita 3tiun of scripture to the ""lac4 and hite" te/t& the "canonical" collec tion& and the "holy rit" of theological and legal authority in a tradition. -he cumulati%e result of these tendencies in specialist and generalist scholarship& together ith the inherent etymological connection of terms for "scripture" ith riting in the West& 14 has "een effecti%eIB& to o"!ectify scripture as merely a special 4ind of ritten document or& l//r4. 3I3hc pro"lem this presents is not the lin4age of scripture to tile rittcn ord& "ut the simplistic understanding of scripture as oi"y the ritten ord& only the physical tc/t of tile holy rit. 0cripture has conic to refer too easily to one o"!ect& al"eit an important one& among tile many trappings of religious life.

Mnderlying such an o"!ectified usage arc a constellation of attitudes peculiar to the modern Western cruci"le in hich the history of religion has ta4en shape as a field of study. -hese attitudes center upon our understanding of language itself& hich tends to "e primarily script-oricntcd and %isual as opposed to sound-oricntcd and oral. We arc& as has "een pointed out "y se%eral scholars in recent years& a typographic culture in hich it is unconsciously assumed that the really fundamental form of language is tile ritten or printed ord. We ha%e lost to a large degree the oral-aural dimensions of literate culture that characteri6ed our o n ci%ili6ation ell "eyond the Guten"erg re%olution up to pcrhaps tile Nnlightenment& and that still characteri6e most other literate cultures of the orld today. Oominated "y tile silent& mass-produced& printed ord& e ha%e conic to thin4 of "oo4s as repositories of ritten ords& data& and ideas& and hence as o"!ccts rather than li%ing& spea4ing te/ts. 0uch an unconscious attitude is further reinforced "y our scholarly premiums oil scientific classification and "o"!ecti%e" analysis& "oth of hich are pc culiarly congenial to tile printed pagc.AI -hus it is easily understanda"le ho c ha%e conic to assume a definition of scripture that focuses upon its normati%e status as a sacred and authoritati%e document that has "een canoni6ed or other ise fi/ed and officially recogni6ed as di%inely or primordially ordained. What.is left out in this 4ind of o"!ectified definition of scripture is recognition of and emphasis on tile fact that "scripture" only "ecollics a useful and meaningful conccpt for the study of religion hen it is understood to "e a relational rather than an a"solute category or phcnomcnon. A more ade.uate understanding of scripture has to include an a areness that it refers not simply to a te/t "ut al ays to a te/t in its rclationship to an ongoing tradition& that is& in its relationship to persons and communities of faith for hom it is sacred and normati%e. 0o long as one uses "scripture" unrcflccti%cly to refer to a "ocument rather than to a&-acrm.C.rt as it is rrn&lerstor)//ry those or !ban it is more thall a "ocumetit, the meaning of scripture as an important phenomenon in religious life and history ill "e inaccessi"le. 0imilarly& the usefulness of "scripture" as a meaningful category in the analysis of religion ill "e minimal. 0cripture& hen properly seen in its relational conte/t of meaning& refers to a li%ing& acti%e& Immediate reality in people3s li%es rather than merely a completed& transmitted piece of riting. If such a"relational" or functional definition of scripture is accept ed& scriptural studies open onto %arious facets of religious life. 0tudy of scriptures ill in%ol%e study of the transmission and e/egesis of a sacred te/t in conte/ts such as those of la & ethics& theology& mysticism& and sectarianism. It ill see4 to elucidate the role of the te/t in ritual and liturgy& and e%en in the "roader sector of secular appropria tion of and allusion to the sacred te/t. Nspecially it ill include concern ith the function of the te/t in popular piety and practice& hether these in%ol%e superstition and magic or the most ele%ated le%els of de%otional life. A canonical riting is something people read and- study& Ia scriNitu9e3something people li%e "y and for. In dealing ith scripture the historian of

religion has to do ith te/ts that "spea4" to the faithful. 0uch te/ts are scriptures only insofar as the faithful see or& more often& bear in them something more than a piece of "eautiful prose or poetry. 16 Bo here is the acti%e function of scripture in human li%es more dramatically e%ident than its role as spo4en ord. Whate%er its etymology and literal signification& "scripture" is most %i%idly e%ident here it li%es as an oral and aural& %ocal reality. Bo one Would WAlIt to deny that the idea of a hoo4 of holy rit& a ritten %er"al itness of the transcendent& is central to the concept of scripture$ "ut so also is the essentially oral nature of e%en the ritten ord& especially "efore first paper& and then printing& made physical replication of te/ts easier than memori6ation& hich is an oral-aural acti%ity. 0cripture is meant to "e recited& memori6ed& and repeated$ it is incant to "e listened to& meditated upon& and internali6ed. It is !ritten !or" #hat is spo$en, be cause it is (ontologically as ell as chronologically, spo4en ord "efore it is ritten. 17 -his can "e demonstrated& I am persuaded& for %irtually e%ery scriptural tradition in the orld today. 18 Most %i%idly& e%en radically& oral arc the Eedas and later sacred te/ts in the Hindu tradition. *ertainly traditional )e ish and *hristian treatment of scripture has "een far more fundamentally oral than most scholarly or4 on these traditions ould indicate. 5ne need only thin4 of the primacy of the reading of the -orah in the synagogue or the massi%e role of lrctiu "i0ina and uie"itatio in the *hristian monastic traditions. 19 Pet "ecause tile Islamic tradition presents the case of a scripture that is at once so fundamentally oral and so firmly ritten a "oo4& it offers perhaps the 'uslim Scripture as Spo$en Wor" In considering the role of the 2ur3an as an oral te/t in Islam& it is first helpful to contrast in general terms the ideas of scripture in the )e ish and *hristian conte/ts ith those in Islam. In the Muslim c?tsc& tile original clc%clupmcnt of tile %ery concept "scripture &$ir"h, usuall% translated as "lrJ/t4", had its o n uni.ue history. It is& ho e%er. a history that has played no e%ident role in determining our modern scholarly use of "script urc, in a "c$ncricscnsc. LA3A3hc Islamic tradition& in contrast to that of )e s and *hristians& had A generic concept of scripture from its %ery "cginnings. -he 2ur3an3s n %ie is that there ha%e "een many scriptures& or $rctccb (plur. of $imb%, in the sense of sacrcd and authoritati%e& di%ine relations& of hich the 2ur13an& or "Recitation&" is the final and most compicte. LA All these scriptures ha%e conic to the %arious peoples of history as God3s G&cry Word& ta4en in each casc from His hea%enly 0cripture (5Q-Q(RSQQG& or 1miu al-2ihih, "Mothcr of the +oo$,, i.e., the :oo4 par c.rcrllcncc%.33 -his fundamentally generic notion of scripture has not diminished tile BTuslin,3s consciousness o the particular ultiniac% of their o n scriptorc& "ut it does gi%e to %er"al re%elation and scriptural te/ts a clear status as char?rctcristic& recurring phenomena in the history of God3s dealing ith human4ind. -he specific understanding of their o n scripture is also diffcrent among Muslims from that among either )e s or *hristians. While all three traditions ha%e "een charactcri6ed "y tile centrality of scripture in orship& picty& de%otion& and faith& tile

2ur3+n stands more clearly alone as thc transccndcnt focus of Muslim faith than does the *hristian or e%en the )e ish :i"le in its tradition of faith. It is of course true that the torah in its most "asic sense as the La re%ealed at 0inai plays a role for )e s a4in in significance to that of tile 2ur3in for Muslims& and further that *hristian& especially protestant *hristian& attachmcnt to tile scriptural Word of God has "een u%cr hchning l% important. Bc%crthclcss& tile character of the 2ur35n as tile %er"atim speech of God sets it apart. Whereas the di%ine presence is manifest for )e s in the La and for *hristians in the person of *hrist& it is in tile 2ur3an that Muslims directly encounter God. 45 66illiam A. Graham -hird& the-concept of a canon of scriptures collected o%er time as a part of the ongoing record of God3s dealing ith His people is peculiar to )e s and *hristians and distinguishes their concept of hat scripture as Oi%ine Word means from that of Muslims. 9or the latter& re%elation as sent one final time& in the course of one prophetic career during hich and immediately after ard it as collected into "oo4 form. -he collected te/t& as God3s direct 0peech& has "een e/plicitly recogni6ed as scripture since die actual time in hich it "came do n."& 5f a process of canonization Muslims 4no nothing analogous to that of )e ish and *hristian scripture. L+ 9inally& and most importantly for present *oncerns& the primary and most authoritati%e form of the yur3anic te/i$ unli4e the "i"lical& is oral$ not ritten?? -he %ery name of the Muslim scripture& "al-2ur3an&" u derscores this. It is deri%ed from the rout 2-R-3 ith the "asic mean ~1p "to proclaim& recite& read aloud." -he name "al-2ur3iin" carries the fundamental sense of "the ltecitin"" or "the Recitation&" and it is indeed U r #n as a recited te/t a"o%e all that the 2ur3an has played its ma!or role in the piety and practice of Muslims. It is this role that ill occupy us here. . !"# $%I&I'() *&.('I'& $+ ",-%#('" 0tudents of Islam as ell as Muslims themsel%es customarily thin4 of and use the Ara"ic 7ur'"n primarily as a proper noun ith the definite article? "al-2ur3an&" 8 br 2ur3an. L1V With this they refer to tile collected and ritten corpus of Muhammad3s re%elations from God as as sem"led and arranged in essentially its present form "y the most respected original "rccitcrs" (.urrd3-also from tile root flR-3, or& to gi%e them one of their more precise names& "the transmitters of the recitation" &9umulat al-7ur'au% ho ere still ali%e in the reign of the third *aliph 3Mthnt+n (reg. L$S>U?T-+5S>5>F,. L5 As a codified hole& tile re%elations ha%e "een

4no n and thought of since that time "oth as "al-2ur3an" and simply as "the :oo4" or "tile 0cripture" &al-2it"G%. -his is e/pressed in traditional usage as "that hich is "et een tile t o "oards" :ua Gayn al-"a atayn%' ; and understood in Islam theologically as "the 0peech of God" &2al"iu Allah% preser%ed in tile eternal 0cripture of God &al-2itab or 1niiu at-2it ib% anti ritten do n for human use in earthly e/emplars &ma<"9i = sin g . n<us9a<%. F-he dual dates throughout this %olume refer to the Islamic (n.tl., ancl Western or A. O., calendars& respecti%ely.-la,. It is 5"%ious that "al-2ur35n" in tile later& fi/ed meaning of God3s Word as ritten do n in thc t>a.t'"lt is necessarily a post@ Mthm?tnic& or certainly a post-Muhamniadan& usage. Mntil tile codification of hat has since ser%ed as the te)tus recentrrs-or at least until acti%e re%elation ceased ith Muhammad3s death-there could ha%e "een no use of "al-2ur3an" to refer to the complete "ody of "collected re%ela tions in ritten form." LR -his is not to deny that e%en3 in tile 2ur3an there are hints of a de%eloping notion of the collecti%e Re%elation in tile use of the ords ".ur3an" and "4ita"&" "ut rather to emphasi6e the fallacy in%ol%ed in "reading "ac4" tile later& concreti6ed meaning of these terms into the (!ur3anic or other traditional-tc/t usages. 39ile earliest Muslim sources& in particular the 2ur3an itself& ma4e it clear that the original understanding of tile 2ur3an as scripture as focused upon the oral character of the sacred te/t. 9undamentally3 tile 2ur3an as hat its name proclaimed it to "e? the Recitation gi%en hB 1 God for human "eings to repeat (cf. 0ura K>? t,. 0uch repetition ser%ed as a Reminder &1hi$r% and a *riterion &?urr."n% in human orship and action$ it proclaimed God3s Word and 4ept this Word constantly "efore its intended hearers. In an earlier& detailed article on tile earliest meaning of the ord I ha%e documented this oral character of Muslim scripture in earliest Islam.6H 0onic of the salient points from that study "ear recapitulating here. 9irst is tile apparent degree to hich the %ery name "2ur3an" ( hich is not attested to "efore tile 2ur33an, as influenced h% the 0%riac *hristian 7clyala. -his latter term as used for tile oral& liturgical .reading" from holy rit &*.ectio, ;%ay% ot*, and for the passage of scripture at is rcad aloud &*.ectio, neeto/#& Q/%ay% oWu& ctc.,. LII AIs-C rele%ant is the e%ident parallel in Muslim use of r@rtr'an to Ra""inic e ish use of 7Ari'" and -rli7r"' li4e ise for tile act of scripture-reading and the passage read aloud& respecti%ely. +A, Blidra3 is also used as a -almudic term for the hole :i"le& one that "ser%es to underline "oth the %ocal manner 5f study ancl the central role that the pu"lic reading (if the 0criptures played in the liturgy of the )c s." +A 0uch parallels in *hristian and )e ish usage heighten tile li4elihood that 7ur'"rr must originally ha%e "een understood "y its earliest hearers to refer to oral scripture rea"ing or recitation

such as )c s and *hristians practiced in tile sc%cnth-ccntury Ara"ian millicu (as else here,& here these older scriptural traditions (along ith that of the 'oroastrians& ho also engaged prominently in oral recitation of scripturcQ6, ere %cn 1 much in e%idence. A""ou4" used in liturgy and de%otions ould not ha%e "een the silently read document that e today understand a"l//o4" to "e$ rather& it ould ha%e "een a sacred& di%ine ord that as meant to "e recited or read 0i0a %oce an" listened to ith re%erence. ++ A second argument for the originally oral-aural understanding of "yur an" comes from the internal e%idence of tile c!ur3unic te/t itself. -hat the yur3anic re%elations ere meant o "e3prc/aaimed aloud is e%ident from the recurring imperati%e ,Bul/, &,Say/,%, hich ntroduces ell o%er three hundred different passages of the 2ur3an& as ell as the fre.uent occurrence of the %er" tal", "to recite. follo/." ith similar reference to reading the te/t aloud. 9urther& in the 2ur3an& the ord ".ur3an" and the other forms of its root can argua"ly "est "e understood in conte/t if their fundamental sense of oral, 0ocal acti%ity is retained and not anachronistically replaced ith the modem idea of silent reading from a silent& ritten te/t of the mrr lra . #he t o most unassaila"le dur3anic instances that support this argument "ear repeating here? 5"ser%e the ,iul"t at the sin4ing of the sun until the dar4ening o night& and the "a!n recital C7ur';u ul a<rD= truly& the "a!n recital C,<//rEB-u. u<rD is !el@-atteste" C-rlalbbu&l.. CS. AR? RXA A,u not mo%e your tongue ith it so that you hurry too muchQ 5urs it is to collect it and to recite it &7ur'auubuD, and hen We recite it& ollo! the recitation 6attahi'7ur'<naha<. I0- R5? 160 181 Another "ody of material that argues for the retention of the essen tially oral sense of ".ur3an" ell after the time of Muhammad is the Hadith& or -radition-Literature ascri"ed to the prophet and codified in the second and third centuries of Islam. Among %arious e/amples cited in the aforementioned article& the follo ing arc particularly interesting. -he first is a statement ascri"ed to a famous poet and older compan ion of the <rophet& Hassan ". "hha"it. In this& he spea4s of "one ho Iinterrupts3 the night 24 "y praising YGodZ and reciting" (yu(IatttY al--tryl tusbi lart !a-7ur'"uatr%=S-a clear ad%er"ial use of 7ur'au to denote the act of reciting. Another e/ample is the hadith that reports that Muhammad spo4e highly of the person " ho is constantly mindful of God inSdur ing reciting" &$aua ra<ulan $atbir u"b-"bi$r lillab i l-7ur'au%. 4> Another tradition has Muhammad say that "in e%ery ritual orship C<ulatD there is a recitation Yor? reciting &7ur'anuti%D.,37 ( final e/ample is a so-called "Oi%ine 0aying" in hich the <rophet is .uoted as saying that .. the Lord says? "Whosoe%er is 4ept from petitioning *e Yfor hclp& fa%orsZ "ecause of preoccupation ith rrcitiu,F( an" constant nu0uch usages in 2ur3an and *$ladith reflect the predominantly oral& rccitati%c function of the

2ur3an in early Muslim life. 3I3hcy point to ard the acti%e role as spo4en ord that has "een the distincti%e rnarU U GA&A )im #criptiire nut onl% in earl% da%s "ut throu%hotit ltlamic histnrG. - hl$- mlc is e%ident across the cnF.ir# --"tE.Arn BAuJliF.$A faith and practice& e%en though it has up until recently not recei%ed the scholarly attention its importance deser%es. Bo here is it more nota"le than in the formal culti%ation of 2ur3+n-rccitation and its rclatcd disciplines on tile one hand and& more generally& in Muslim Gt"itr- iUi1 ship and de%otional life oil the other. 3A3AA9. <5I'AinI.3A3ItiHI,I3I3IMB 59Itl7*I3I3A3I3I5B ((AAAt&43$H, Along ith yur3+nic e/egesis &ta sir%, tile "asic discipline of scriptural studies in Islam is clur3?inic recitation& or 7irir'a. -his ord is tile most common %er"al-noun form deri%ed from the %er" r@nrci'n (abu%c& h. +(A,& "to rccitc& read& proclaim." Bira'a, li$e 7rrr'irn "ut c%cn more cmhhatically& rctains the fundamentally oral sense of its root %cr". As a t**llnical tcrm& it is used to refer not only to the act or practicc of rcciting aloud part or the hole of tile (lur3an& "ut also to a particular "rcadin"" or "rcc?iting" (i.e.& pronouncing& "0ounding out", of any ord& phrase& or passage in the 2Mr3an. -his latter usage is further e/tended to refer to a"rcadinf$" of the entire clur3anic te/t according to one of the %arious traditions of oral te/t transmission& all of hich arc traced "ac4 to prominent rccitcrs (e.g. (lm [athir or 3rHsim, or local "schools" of rccitation-rcadings (e.g.& "tile people of [iifa", in the first t o ccn turics A., t. (sc%cnth and eighth *enturies A. O.,. 4, Bir"'a as a formal Islamic "science" &'ilm a@-7irrl'n% encompasses "oth the study and transmission of the %ariant readings &7irir'nt, plur. of 7ira'rr% of the 3Mthmanic consonantal tc/t-thc rittcn ntuF@lrr *:in" also the actual art of oral recitation& or ta.'ui" ("doing HG-cll "y." "rcndcrin" e/cellent" Idle ('ur3an,,& ith its %arious traditions of %ocal performance. As a !oint science& tile 'ilm al-r.irit'irt .rrr-l-.u<$i" represents the long Muslim tradition of yur13+nic te/tual stuctics. -hese studies rely& of course& upon 4no ledge of %arious other sciences& from grammar &nalru.,% and philology &ht ~l)r% to rhetoric &hal"4l~rr%, urthct gL.A!,hG 1 and especially e/egesis &-n sir%. -heir focus is& ho c%cr& upon 44 William A. Graham the e/act preser%ation and ongoing re-creation of the li%ing di%ine Word as it "came do n" in oral& recited form to Muhammad.Fc3 -his is not to deny the a"solutely necessary role of the ritten te/t of the 2ur3an in these or other Muslim sciences& "ut to emphasi6e that the ritten te/t is al ays secondary. :ecause the ritten c(uiificatian of the authoritati%e te/t under IMthman too4 place "efore the de%elopment of an Ara"ic orthography that could indicate ith some preci sion ho a te/t actually reads& the ritten uuF$a could ne%er stand alone. Its defecti%e consonantal

form allo s for %ariant readings not only of internal %o els and inflectional endings& "ut e%en of many &of the holly unpointed consonants themsel%es. 9or these reasons& tile 2ur3an had to "e transmitted primarily as it had originally i,een gi%en? as a recited& phonetic te/t. "A3he "ase form of this oral te/t as& after IMthman3s time& set do n in a standard "ut rudimentary ritten form and its details noted& descri"ed& and preser%ed "y tradition (the original manuscript has not sur%i%ed,. As such it could ser%e as an ai"rrnemoire "ut not a documentary te/t apart from the memori6ation and oral recitation of its content.Ut -o read the "are te/t& one had to 4no & it already "y heart& or nearly so. It seems to ha%e "een accepted from the outset that there could "e %arious readings of the same di%ine te/t& hether "ecause of dialectical differences among the first Ara" Muslims or "ecause e%en tile prophet is said to ha%e recited the same passage in %arious forms at %arious times. -he 3Mthmanic neu 9a allo ed for such %ariety in recitation& and Muslims sa this %ariety as a "lessing& not a curse for the conununity. UL In this acceptance of di%ergent readings and recitati%e practices& they relied often for their proof-te/t upon the statement ascri"ed to Muhammad& that "the 2ur3an as sent do n according to se0en ahl8l (lit. "letters"$ usually ta4en as "dialect8 or "mode0 -,.AAU) As the traditional accounts of the preparation of the 3MthniAnic ritten code/ ha%e it, 7ira'a and the indi%idual yir"'nt, or %ariant readings of the yur3+nic te/t& ere of moment from the earliest decades after Muhammad3s death "ecause of the concern ith preser%ation of the re%elations. Ho e%er& hile there are also references to and some manuscripts of treatises ascri"ed to e/perts on 7ira'u in the first t o Islamic centuries&F3 it appears that the crystalli6ation of 7ir"'a as a more formal science pro"a"ly too4 place su"stantially only in the thirdSninth century.U5 In any e%ent& the culmination of this process came in the efforts of 3A"u 3a4r I"n Mu!ahid (d. +LUSK+>, of :aghdad-A> to systemati6e and gi%e rules for proper recitation. He seems to ha%e "een the person ho on recognition for se%en differ ent "readings&" or traditions &ri!ay"t% of recitation& as authentic modes of transmitting the 2ur3an. 0onic later scholars added three further traditions of 7ir"'at as permissi"le %ariant systems& and still others ha%e recogni6ed these plus an additional four. Accordingly& se%en& ten& or fourteen traditions of 7ira'at arc sometimes cited as "authentic" in the Muslim literature& and e%en these traditions ha%e "ranched to form su"traditions. As a result& the panoply of %ariant riuay"t that the e/pert must master is .uite large& e%en though the actual te/tual %aria tions they represent arc relati%ely minor and do not in%ol%e crucial differences in the litcral meaning of the sacred tc/t. U R -he study of the 7ir"'"t is, as e ha%e indicated& ine/trica"le from the science of ta<!i", or actual recitati%e practicc.\B '('a<!i" is tile attempt to preser%e the li%ing Word of God in tile full "eauty and full range of meaning ith hich it

as gi%en to and faithfully transmit ted "y tile prophet. llo the 2ur3an is actually rendered as recited Word sets it fore%er apart from all other te/ts. -he traditional authori ty for the special oral treatment of tile sacred te/t is the 2ur 135in itself& ith its e/hortation to "chant tile recitation carefully and distinctlt1" lG0a-rattil al-7rtr'"rta tartilarr &S. 84:4= cf. 0. 2H:42%%.U '' -he tartil, or carefully enunciated recitati%e chanting& of tile 2ur3+n has "een and remains the fundamental orm of the scriptural te/t in Islam o%er the centuries. 'la<!irl has& of course& also encompassed many traditions and types of oral recitation& the must "ornamented" &(nrr<alcua"-?rum the same root as ta<!irl% of hich in%ol%e sophisticated 4no ledge f musical artistry as ell as complete memori6ation& 4no ledgea"le techni.ue& careful comprehension& and sensiti%e interpretation of tile hole 2ur3an. H 5 -he science of ta<!i", "uttressed "y that of tile 7ir"'ut and of ta sir, has "een tile guardian and normati%e mediator of the clttr3anic te/t as li%ing scripture in tile Muslim community. :ecause of its predomiy oral character& ta<!i" has recei%ed e%en less modern scholarly attention than the 7irir'"t, hich themsel%es ha%e hardly "een dealt ith e/hausti%ely. " It is encouraging to note& ho e%er& that in recent years se%eral scholars& most nota"ly A -i"it, al-0a3icl&I L [ristina Belson& 5 + and 9rederic4 M. A,cnny&s3r ha%e done much to redress this deficiency. As they demonstrate through their consideration of "oth tile classical literature on 7ira'at and ta<!i" and the li%ing tradition of 2ur3+n-rccitation in its contemporary center& *airo& it is the spo4cn& recite(Y& chanted ord of the 2ur3an upon hich Muslim stud% of tile + > Willia>i A. G ra h am .ur3anic te/t centers. Moreo%er& the science and art of the te/tual specialists are ne%er isolated in the academy as& for e/ample& modern "i"lical studies sometimes ha%e "een in the West. 3I3he study of 7ira'at and ta<!i" opens out automatically into the pu"lic domain in Muslim society. Here it finds practical application in the highly popular artis tic as ell as de%otional forms of oral recitation that ha%e "een one of the hallmar4s of Islamic culture here%er it has spread. In turn& the formal and pu"lic recitation of the 2ur3an& hether as orship or as performance (and the t o are ne%er easily separated,& is "ut one seg ment of the larger role of the 2ur3an as an oral-aural reality in Mush rn life. *onsideration of this larger role leads 5s to the heart of the func tional aspect of scripture as spo4en ord in Islam. 3A3AANF ItL$*I3I3hM ,-%#(' I' "6"%78(7 9I""1#7 ABA+

nantl

<RA*-I*N -he formal sciences of recitation could not ha%e "een sustained had not the practice of recitation more generally &7ira'a, or til"!ass% al!ays "een central to Muslim life. Here e can only touch "riefly upon this practice and related phenomena& "ut any discussion of the 2ur3an as scripture-especially ith regard to its oral .ualities- ould "e partial ithout some indication of its recitati%e role among Muslims of all times& places& and stations. 3 -he 2ur3an first and foremost has "een the one a"solute essential of Muslim orship. -his can "e made %i%id in %arious ays& "ut one of the most interesting is through a passage in the earliest e/tant or4 on the clur3anic sciences& the 2it"G al-'ubatti,s> hich attempts to dis tinguish specifically .ur3anic ords from the e/tra-dur3anic ords of God in the so-called "Oi%ine 0ayings" (a"o%e& p. +L,. "I3hc 'abatti passage admits that the Oi%ine 0aying is a di%inely re%ealed te/t& "ut it then proceeds to differentiate it from the 2ur3?in as follo s? It is not permissi"le to recite any of it Ythe Oi%ine 0ayingZ in the =alat, for it as not sent do n in the same form &uapr% in hich all of the 2ur3an as sent do n- hich Y2ur3anZ e ha%e "een com manded to recite &urninu bitil.iG.:atibiI., hich is urittcn in Yuurlccipies la/-%nala9p, and the transmission of hich has come to us &#eneralh# attested in e%ery generation. 5 R -he functional orientation of this distinetic.n "ctu ten .ur3anic arid other di%ine ords is stri4ing. Here it is the 2ur3an3s form as a te/t intended for recitation in snlnt, tile daily ritual of urship& that distin.Duishes it. Later thecCluuical distinctions of "inintitahilit%" (i !r- r', or (,4Jt Lt%##- ' +AA the func#i#m U rfl* 2QQr& AAA .A.& spo4en ord in orship that sets it apart. Indeed& the reciting of tile 2ur3an is hat has "een called "tile %ery heart of tile prayer-ritc&"s" and no -crlirt is %alid ithout recitation of at least the Matiha& or "5pening" (0. t,. It is e/pected that one or more shorter suras (chapters, or %erses ill also "e recited.I33 It is .uite common to precede or follo the 9nSat-ritc proper ith su"stantial recitation from tile 2ur3an&3&(3 and 2ur3+n-rccitation in general is a highly preferred form of religious de%otion at any time. -he fact that its language is tile sacred Word of God in "an Ara"ic recitation" &7rrr'"rrrrrr araG?yarrll% has deterred Muslims from translating it and& con%crsclH 1& has spurred e%en Muslims ho 4no no Ara"ic to memori6e shorter or longer passages in order to hc a"le to orship in S,llllrl and apart from snlat "y reciting the 2ur3an. Among manH1 possi"le e/amples illustrati%e of this is an interesting account "y a 9rench tra%eller to 0ingapore o%er a century ago. lie tells of al4ing one day in

tile r:t;i tay .uarter of tile city and hearing children3s %oices apparently ch?rnt ing a lesson from a near"y house. Going in& lie found an old Malay ith a hite "eard sitting on tile floor together ith o%er a do6en children and leading them in recitation-hc from a "oo4& they from pieces of paper. 2uestioned "y tile %isitor as to hat as "eing rc citcd& tile old man replied that it as the 2ur3?in& in Ara"ic& hich lie admitted lie did not understand& "ut hich lie could sound aloud from the ritten page. As4ed further hy they ould tic learning ords they could not understand& tile teacher replied that in reading them aloud& the children learn them "y heart. -he sons o the <rophet ought to ha%e this Word in their memory so that they can repeat it often. -hese ords are endo ed ith a sl/ci?tl %irtue. . . . In translating YthemZ c might alter the mc?rning& and that ould "e a sacrilcgc."L While the matter of the special %irtue con%eyed "y the %ery sound of the cZur anic Word is interesting in itself&" most %i%id in tile preced ing story is tile e/press feeling that Muslims need to "c alrlc& as early in life as possi"le& to recite from the 2ur3In in its original form ith some case. Memori6ing from the 2trr3&in has al ays "een "asic to clcriicntary education in e%ery corner of tile Muslim orld. I"n 4halditn remar4ed long ago that "teaching the 2ur3an to children is one of the 4K 46illiuar A. Graham signs of the religion &sbaJ"'ir al-"in% that Muslims &ubl al-millu% profess and practice in all their cities." 64 $ne of the most cherished honorifics a *5slim can earn is that of 9" iF , one ho "has "y heart" the entire scripture. -raditionally such complete mastery of the entire te,#t has "een re.uisite for any accomplished& religious scholar &J"lim= plur. Juharrta% in any of the religio5s sciences. $ne does not ha%e to read long in Muslim te/ts nor listen often to any Jalim spea4 to disco%er ho tile ring of the .ur3anic te/t cadences the thin4ing& riting& and spea4ing of those ho li%e ith and "y the 2ur3an. Anyone ho has spent any length of time in a Muslim society ill ha%e remar4ed also the degree to hich the lilting refrain of .ur3+nic recitation occupies a prominent place in the pu"lic sphere. -he hadith that says& "-he most e/cellent form of orship and de%otion &'ibol"i"% among my people is reciting the 2ur3an&" > 0 has "een ta4en to heart in Muslim practice. In that most social and communal of all Muslim religious e%ents& the month of fasting in ltamad+n& the nights are filled ith the sound of 2ur3an-recitation in the mos.ues. Indeed& the "asic recitati%e di%ision of the 2ur3an into thirty parts is held to "e for tile purpose of reciting one part LuG% in each night of Ram4lan. 66 In practice& the hole is often recited in one night "y the most 6ealous indi %iduals or groups ho repair to the mos.ues for this purpuse.A AR

Another popular form of pu"lic tila!u is the group chanting associ ated "oth ith the formal "bi$r sessions of the yufi "rotlterhc/uls and ith the popular "bi$r sessions at certain mos.ues& especially tom" mos.ues. Mbi$r, the "remem"rance" of God in litanies of de%otion& in%ol%es the chanting of formulae and te/ts steeped in the language of the 2ur3an& and yur3anic recitation itself commonly "egins such sessions. > " I ha%e itnessed one popular "bi$r held each 9riday after the e%ening prayer at the tom" of "0idi Mahyiddin&" Muhyi3I-Oin Hill al@ Ara"i (d. >+XSALU], in Oamascus. In this gathering& the men ho cro d into the tom" cham"er to sit on the floor all !oin in a sing-song recitation in popular "bi$r style hich focuses at least in the first hour or so on fa%orite suras of the 2ur3an. In contrast to such group chanting is the session in hich listeners and reciters come together to hear the 2ur3an recited "y a series of indi%idual practitioners of ta<!i". *airo is particularly ell 4no n for its %aried forms of this 4ind of session& hich is 4no n as a ma7ra'. 'ust of these are associated ith mos.ues and ta4e place regularly one or more times a /ee4. -he most prestigious are those at places li4e the lmam 0hafiIi mos.ue and the A6har Mni%ersity mos.ue& "ut tUere arc many smaller& more pri%ate& or local mos.ue-scttinTQs for the nra7ra'.((-y 0till another 4ind is the ua"!a, or listening session held often in pri%ate homes and attended "y cognoscenti of the art.R" In this latter type of session tile musical aspects of recitation often recei%e greater attention& although it is ne%er easy to distinguish the artistic from the religious elements of 2ur3+n recitation and listening. -han4s to the or4s of Belson and I,cnny& e ha%e interesting documentation of some of the inner dynamics of %aried nra7ra's in *airo today. 3I3hcsc studies point up the degree to hich tila!a is at once a demanding art form& popular entertainment& and sometimes e%en performing contest& as ell as al ays an act of de%otion and piety and a formal part of the transmission of the 2ur3an in its most perfect possi"le form.3 ( Pet the acti%e role of tile 2ur3an as spo4en ord among Muslims is still more per%asi%e than e%en the preceding e/amples from ritual& de%otional& and pu"lic life can ade.uately con%ey. 9rom "irth to death& %irtually e%ery action a Muslim ma4es& not to mention e%ery solemn or festi%e e%ent in his or her life& is potentially accompanied "y spo4en ords of the 2ur3an& hether these "e entire recited passages or simply discrete yur3inic ords or phrases that ha%e passed into e%eryday usage. 0uch a dur?inic ord may "e the simple basmala, "In tile name of God& tile Merciful& the *ompassionate" &bisnr alhrh rrlrn9nrarr al-rahi>r% that precedes countless daily acts such as drin4ing or eating& !ust as it prcccdcs all hut one sura of the 2ur3+n. 5r it mm& "e tile u"i.uitous %.lll S-.l(' @lnb ("Whate%er God illsQ", of 0. AX?+K and al~am"rr lilhG ("<raise "e to GodQ", of 0. r& "oth of hich punctuate Muslim speech e%en outside of the Ara"ic-spea4ing orld.8G As an e/ample of longer clur3anic passages heard in daily life& one thin4s immediately of tile I3afllla& 0ura r& hich c%crB1 Muslim 4no s "y heart and hich is recited not only in e%ery Fal"t "ut oil %irtually e%ery formal occasion& he it the signing of a edding contract or prayer

at a tomh&84 -here is also tile po erful 0ura of Mnity& or <ure Oe%otion& r ( 6& hich enters into most prayers and form.-& the "asis of countless litanies of praise$ or tile final t o sur?u& r r$ and r (4, that fend off e%il (al-MuIa idhatan, and hence figure prominently as tal ismanic recitations$ or the prayer for forgi%eness in tile final %erses 5f 0ura L& "-he *o " (AA-A+a(lara,& hich are 4no n as "tile seals of tile A+ayara" and often are recited "efore going to sleep-& or the po erful and mo%ing strains of 0ura +>& P+ 0in& hich one recites at e%en "urial and also on the "Bight of 2uittance" &l.aylat al-+ar" la%, a 4ind of Muslim All-0oul3s Bight hen life and dcath in the coming year and 45 l6i iam A. Graham the deeds of the past year are popularly held to hang in the "alance. 84 -hese are "ut a fe one could mention& as anyone ell 4no s ho is a are of ho popular the "-hrone Eerse" 5f 0. L?L55 and the 0ura "Light" (LU, also are. What Gha6ali said of the 2ur3an long ago still holds today? "Much reaetition cannot ma4e it seem old and orn to those ho recite it." 8S -he po erful presence of the rhythmic cadence of yur3anic tila!a is e%ery here e%ident in traditional and much of modern Muslim society? ". . . the "oo4 li%es on among its people& stuff of their daily li%es& ta4ing for them the place of a sacrament. 9or them these are not mere letters or mere ords. -hey are the t igs of the "urning "ush& aflame ith God."8;

Bone of the preceding is meant to "elittle the importance of the rit ten form of the 2ur3an or any other of the great scriptural te/ts of human history. -he 2ur3an in particular has "een ritten and is %isi"le in magnificent fashioir? its tradition of manuscript illumination and 1 calligraphic artistry is one of the onders of the Islamic cultural heritage. -he ritten yur3anic ord em"ellishes %irtually e%ery Muslim religious "uilding as the prime form of decorati%e art. Bor is the re%erence and honor sho n the ritten 2ur3an-te/t in Muslim piety any less stri4ing and impressi%e. All such facts simply underscore hat has "een argued here? that the scriptural ord& e%en here its ritten form is most prominent& is al ays demonstra"ly a spo4en ord& a recited ord& a ord that ma4es itself felt in personal and communal life in large part through its li%ing .uality as sacred sound. 5ur easy dichotomi6ing of oral ord and ritten ord ill no longer do as a ay of tal4ing a"out religious te/ts& let alone a"out stages of religious de%elopment. 5ralit characteri6es the "scri ,tural" as ell as the#re-scri tural" forms of religious life. If that clearest& e%en most e/treme instance of hat 0iegfried Moren6 has called ""oo4-reli@ % #ion&"88 namely the Muslim treatment of the 2ui an& presents us ith a scripture that is oral as ell as ritten& e ould do ell to ponder the

implications of this for our general understanding of scripture as interpretation of it in particular traditions.

ell as our specific