A principal reason for why the Qur'an managed to establish itself as a text believed to constitute divine revelation is that it is compelling literature. How do Islamic and modern Western scholars approach the Qur'an's literary dimension?

The Qur'an's original addressees must have been familiar with earlier Jewish and Christian traditions, which the Qur'an claims both to "confirm" and to "clarify". Narratives about Abraham and the death of Pharaoh serve to exemplify what this means.

This second episode examines the historical context in which the material now collected in the Qur'an was first promulgated. Special attention is paid to the various groups of addressees who figure in the Qur'an.

What does it mean to study the Qur'an historically? In this initial episode we consider how historically oriented research on the Qur'an relates to religious belief and to traditional Islamic scriptural interpretation.