Towards an Abrahamic Religion: Developments in Later Meccan Suras. Part I: Strategies of Argumentation and Interpretation

Abstract

Recent Qur'anic scholarship emphasises a distinction between a Meccan and a Medinan Qur'an. In addition to the doctrinal and literary particularities that set Medinan suras apart, scholars underline the failure of Muḥammad to convert his people and the despair exhibited by his followers in Later Meccan suras. In contrast, the Medinan suras depict a successful, socially and politically engaged leader of a growing and strong religious community. This paper approaches literary and content-related developments in Later Meccan suras and demonstrates that our perceptions of a passive messenger in Mecca and an active leader in Medina, and of the emergence of a self-assured community only in Medina, have to be reconsidered. Later Meccan suras depict a contest over the interpretative dominance of the empirical world which ultimately strengthens the authority of Muḥammad and consolidates the emerging group of Followers. They exhibit intertwined developments of literary strategies such as argumentation patterns or parabolic speech, and intensive reflections on notions such as perception and knowledge. Whereas the first part of this paper examines these processes, the second part focuses on the growing importance of the figure of Abraham, a decisive turn to local heritage and the development of liturgical formulas and ethical norms. The exploration and understanding of these textual dynamics are indispensable for understanding the genesis of both Meccan and Medinan suras.