Freelance

Under the direction of Professor Angelika Neuwirth and, later, Dr. Dirk Hartwig, Corpus Coranicum at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities has produced a highly enlightening introduction (Der Koran als Text der Spätantike – Ein europäischer Zugang, Verlag der Weltreligionen, Berlin 2010, KTS) as well as so far three commentaries on early Meccan (HK1, early mid-Meccan (HK2/1), and late mid-Meccan sūrahs of the Qur’an (HK2/2). I have written about the two earlier books here and here.

After the publication of volume HK2/2 on late mid Meccan sūrahs, published in 2021, Professor Neuwirth moved Corpus Coranicum from Berlin to the University of Münster, where her colleague, Professor Mouhanad Khorchide is Director of the Center for Islamic Theology. It is hoped that anticipated HK2/3 on late Meccan sūrahs is being finalized by Neuwirth, Hartwig and Khorchide in due time.

In the meantime, the authors published a smaller volume, called Nizänum und Islam (Herder, Freiburg i. Breisgau 2025), a historical-critical and Islamic-theological analysis of two early Medinan sūrahs, Q24 An-Nūr, and Q112 Al-Ikhlāṣ.

At first glance, the title may be somewhat misleading. It is only later mentioned that the 1700 Anniversary of the Nicene Council in 325 CE had motivated the authors for their enterprise. In his Foreword, Khorchide has in fact a focus on the Nicene Creed. But the main text points to the well-established environment in the area of Yaṯrib, later Medina, with both Christian churches and monasteries as well as Jewish synagogues to which the followers of Muhammad had very recently arrived. While the Jews in Medina have been critical of the Nicene Creed, the newcomers from Mecca under Muhammad may have joined them in their, well, analysis.