Book excerpt: The Blackwell Companion to the Qur’an is a reader’s guide, a true companion for anyone who wishes to read and understand the Qur’an as a text and as a vital piece of Muslim life. Comprises over 30 original essays by leading scholars Provides exceptionally broad coverage - considering the structure, content and rhetoric of the Qur’an; how Muslims have interpreted the text and how they interact with it; and the Qur’an’s place in Islam Features notes, an extensive bibliography, indexes of names, Qur’an citations, topics, and technical terms