In the beginning was the Quran, the first book of Islam and also the first book of Arabic literature. Occasioned by the need to understand and interpret the word of God, and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, Muslims made an inventory and study of the
Translators Preface; Authors Preface; Introduction; 1. The Oral and the Written during the Jahiliyya and Early Islam; 2. The Quran and Quran Readers; 3. The Beginnings of Religious Scholarship in Islam: Sirah, Hadith, Tafsir; 4. Literature and the Calipha