Before the Qur’an: Material Sources at the Advent of Muslim Scripture

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Suleyman Dost (Assistant Professor of Late Antiquity and Early Islam, University of Toronto-Scarborough)

Before the Qur’an

Name: Before the Qur’an
Price: 219 AUD
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ISBN: 9781399528641

Material Sources at the Advent of Muslim Scripture

Suleyman Dost (Assistant Professor of Late Antiquity and Early Islam, University of Toronto-Scarborough)

$219

Hardback

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English

Edinburgh University Press
31 January 2026

History of religion; The Koran; Islamic theology; Ancient religions & mythologies

Series: Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Scripture and Theology

The question of the Qur'an's geographical and cultural context has been hotly debated in the last few decades. Several authors have proposed that its place of origin may be somewhere other than the Hijaz in Western Arabia, the location stated within Islamic literary sources. Yet these theories have not engaged with the resources provided by numerous inscriptions in a wide range of ancient languages in the Arabian Peninsula and its environs.

Bracketing theological claims about Qur'anic provenance and relying solely on securely datable material evidence from before the rise of Islam, this book shows that the Qur'an emerged from the Hijaz and addressed a Late Antique Arabian audience. Suleyman Dost argues for significant religious, cultural and linguistic continuities between pre-Qur'anic Arabian sources and the Qur'an, especially highlighting underappreciated parallels with religious idioms in South Arabia and Ethiopia. This book thus challenges revisionist perspectives that situate the Qur'an outside a Western Arabian milieu.

By: Suleyman Dost (Assistant Professor of Late Antiquity and Early Islam University of Toronto-Scarborough)
Imprint: Edinburgh University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781399528641
ISBN 10: 1399528645
Series: Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Scripture and Theology
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 31 January 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

List of Figures Note on Transliterations Sigla of Inscriptions Acknowledgements Introduction: Whence the Qur'an? Urbanism and Literacy in Pre-Islamic Arabia Idols of Arabia in Epigraphy and the Qur’an From Rabb to Allāh: Names of God in the Qur’an Vestiges of Pagan Arabia in the Qur’an Religious Vocabulary of the Qur’an Christian Terms in the Qur’an History and Historical Geography in the Qur’an Conclusion: What the Stones can (and cannot) Tell Bibliography

Suleyman Dost is Assistant Professor of Late Antiquity and Early Islam at the University of Toronto. He works primarily on inscriptions and other documentary sources from late antique Arabia and Ethiopia. His research also covers the historical context in which the Qur’an emerged as well as the history of its textual transmission. Before joining the University of Toronto, Dr. Dost was an Assistant Professor at Brandeis University. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago.

Reviews for Before the Qur’an: Material Sources at the Advent of Muslim Scripture

The author, a bright new star in the firmament of Qur’an scholarship, slices through the bramble of false assumptions and ungrounded speculation that have plagued the field. With careful historical reasoning, he establishes the cultural and geographical context for the emergence of Islam, deploying recent epigraphic and archeological findings. -- Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History, University of Michigan and author, Rethinking the Qur'an in Late Antiquity