Introduction to the Qur'an

The book under review is the translation of the originally French which was later translated into Arabic. It is based on Muhammad ‘Abd Allah Draz’s supplementary doctoral dissertation, Initiation au Coran [the main thesis being La Morale du Coran], submitted to the University of Sorbonne, Paris. Professor Draz was born in Egypt, graduated from al-Azhar in 1916 and then proceeded to the Sorbonne University in Paris on a scholarship for a doctorate. On his return to Egypt, he resumed his teaching and academic career at al-Azhar. He died suddenly in 1959 at the age of 65 while attending an international academic conference in Pakistan. The present English translation by ‘Ayesha Abdel Haleem was made possible by the ‘Abd Allah al-Zaheer Charitable Foundation of Kuwait. The book has a Foreword by Muhammad Abdel Haleem, King Fahd Professor of Islamic Studies, SOAS, University of London, UK. Abdel Haleem has paid a glowing tribute to the author of the book and has recommended it as an essential reading for the scholars of the Qur’an. Similarly, Abdulaziz Sachedina, Francis Myers Ball Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia, USA, has also praised the book, saying that ‘it provides a rare glimpse of applying modern textual-historical methodology to the study of the Qur’an’.