"Islam is frequently characterized as a "religion of the book," and yet Muslims take an almost entirely oral approach to their scripture. Qur'an means "recitation" and refers to the actual words Muslims believe were revealed to Muhammad by God. many recite the entire sacred text from memory, and it was some years after the Prophet's death that it was first put in book form. Physical books play no part in Islamic ritual.

What does the Qur'an mean, then, when it so often calls itself Kitab, a term usually taken both by Muslims and by Western scholars to mean "book"?".

"Here Daniel Madigan reevaluates this key term, kitab, in close readings of the Qur'an's own declarations about itself. He presents a compelling semantic analysis, arguing that the Qur'an understands itself not so much as a completed book but as an ongoing process of divine "writing" and "re-writing," as God's authoritative response to actual people and circumstances.".

"Madigan's book will be valuable not only to Islamicists but also to scholars who study revelation across religious boundaries."--BOOK JACKET.