ABSTRACT STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS DEDICATION INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE WESTERN SCHOLARSHIP AND THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE QUR'AN: A SHORT HISTORY OF QUR'ANIC STUDIES IN THE WEST Discovering the biblical roots of the Qur'an Challenging the Muslim narrations Syriac influence on the Qur'an The Wansbrough school Decoding Wansbrough 'Muslim conspiracy' against the Qur'an CHAPTER TWO MUSLIM RESPONSE TO THE CRITICISMS OF THE TEXTUAL HISTORY OF THE QUR'AN Convincing 'non-Believers' of the authenticity of the Qur'an: The traditional Muslim approach to the history of the text Arguing historicity of the Qur'an Use of archaeological data CHAPTER THREE SHI'I APPROACH TO THE HISTORY OF THE COLLECTION OF THE QUR'AN Denial of Judeo-Christian influence on the Qur'an The issue of tahrif 'Ali's codex in the earliest Shi'i sources The collection of the Qur'an at the time of the Prophet CHAPTER FOUR INTRODUCTION TO ISNAD-CUM-MATN METHODOLOGY The isnad-cum-matn method in the assessment of the Sunni traditions regarding the collection of the Qur'an Employment of the isnad-cum-matn method on fewer variant traditions Criticism of the method CHAPTER FIVE TRADITIONS ATTRIBUTED TO MUHAMMAD AL-BAQIR Group one variants Isnad analysis: Investigating the identity of the reporter An analysis of al-Kafi's isnad patterns Matn analysis: Group two variants Isnad analysis: Matn analysis: Group three variants Isnad analysis: Matn analysis: CHAPTER SIX TRADITIONS ATTRIBUTED TO 'ALI B. ABI TALIB: Ahmad b. Faris's version (Ah1): Isnad analysis: A Brief Study of the Succession Crisis Matn analysis: CHAPTER SEVEN TRADITIONS ATTRIBUTED TO JA'FAR AL-SADIQ: Isnad analysis: Matn analysis: CHAPTER EIGHT TRADITIONS ATTRIBUTED TO IBN SIRIN: Isnad analysis: Matn analysis: MISCELLANEOUS CONCLUSION.