The “Seven Long Ones” (al-Sabʿ al-Ṭiwāl): Approaches to Surahs 2–7 and 9
PAST EVENT | 24 March 2025 09:00 - 25 March 2025 17:30
The “Seven Long Ones” (al-Sabʿ al-Ṭiwāl):
Approaches to Surahs 2–7 and 9
Convened by Marianna Klar and Nicolai Sinai
Pembroke College, Oxford, on 24 and 25 March 2025
In traditional Muslim scholarship, seven exceptionally large and complex surahs of the Qur’an (Q 2–7 and Q 9) are singled out as “the Seven Long Ones” (al-sabʿ al-ṭiwāl). In this conference, an international roster of scholars will address the compositional structure and coherence of these seven macrosurahs, models for their textual genesis, the possibility of positioning them in a relative chronology of the Qur’an, and their relationship to the rest of the Qur’anic corpus.
Register for the conference here. Non-speakers must register by Wednesday 5 March. Places are limited.
Read more about the conference here.
Programme
Monday 24 March 2025
| 9.00–9.15 | Registration and welcome remarks |
| 9.15–10.00 | Shuaib Ally, “Similarity through Difference: Studying al-Sabʿ al-Ṭiwāl through Mutashābih al- Qurʾān Literature” |
| 10.00–10.45 | Karen Bauer, “The Qur’an’s Emotional Community of Believers from Mecca to Medina: Comments on Virtue, Eschatology, and the Structure of Q 7 and Q 9” |
| 11.15–12.00 | Julien Decharnaux, “The Cosmological Sign Passages in the Seven Long Ones: An Unpopular Genre?” |
| 12.00–12.45 | Salwa El-Awa, “‘Disjointedness’ and the Problem of Long Surah Structure: A Case Study” |
| 2.00–2.45 | Mohsen Goudarzi, “The Curious Case of the Medinan Gospel: Jesus and the Scriptures” |
| 2.45–3.30 | Saqib Hussain, “The Rabbis of Q 2 and Q 7” |
| 4.00–4.45 | Marianna Klar, “Patterns of Late Antique Text Production and the Plausibility of an Evolutionary Hypothesis for Q 2” |
| 4.45–5.30 | Ilkka Lindstedt, “The Fate of the Medinan Jews in Light of the ‘Constitution of Medina’, the ‘Seven Long Ones’, and the Sīra Literature” |
Tuesday 25th March 2025
| 9.15–10.00 | Joseph Lowry, “Signs and Ritual Law in Sūrat al-Anʿām (Q 6)” |
| 10.00–10.45 | Gabriel S. Reynolds, “Theodicy and Hellfire in Surah 3” |
| 11.15–12.00 | Sohaib Saeed, “Sūrat al-Anʿām (Q 6) as Mufassir and Mufassar” |
| 12.00–12.45 | Nora K. Schmid, “The Ascetic Barter in a Long Medinan Surah” |
| 2.00–2.45 | Emmanuelle Stefanidis, “Does Sūrat Yūnus (Q 10) Belong to the Sabʿ al-Ṭiwāl? Traces of a Pre-ʿUthmanic Codex in the Exegetical Tradition” |
| 2.45–3.30 | Nicolai Sinai, “Aspects of the Redactional History of Surah 2” |
| 4.00–4.45 | Marijn van Putten, “For God’s Sake or For Rhyme’s Sake? Re-evaluating Kaplony’s ‘Documentary Hypothesis’ of the Qur’an” |
| 4.45–5.30 | Holger Zellentin, “The Divine Authorship of the Mishnah in the Qur’an and in the Rabbinic Tradition” |
The “Seven Long Ones” (al-Sabʿ al-Ṭiwāl): Approaches to Surahs 2–7 and 9
PAST EVENT | 24 March 2025 09:00 - 25 March 2025 17:30
The “Seven Long Ones” (al-Sabʿ al-Ṭiwāl):
Approaches to Surahs 2–7 and 9
Convened by Marianna Klar and Nicolai Sinai
Pembroke College, Oxford, on 24 and 25 March 2025
In traditional Muslim scholarship, seven exceptionally large and complex surahs of the Qur’an (Q 2–7 and Q 9) are singled out as “the Seven Long Ones” (al-sabʿ al-ṭiwāl). In this conference, an international roster of scholars will address the compositional structure and coherence of these seven macrosurahs, models for their textual genesis, the possibility of positioning them in a relative chronology of the Qur’an, and their relationship to the rest of the Qur’anic corpus.
Register for the conference here. Non-speakers must register by Wednesday 5 March. Places are limited.
Read more about the conference here.
Programme
Monday 24 March 2025
| 9.00–9.15 | Registration and welcome remarks |
| 9.15–10.00 | Shuaib Ally, “Similarity through Difference: Studying al-Sabʿ al-Ṭiwāl through Mutashābih al- Qurʾān Literature” |
| 10.00–10.45 | Karen Bauer, “The Qur’an’s Emotional Community of Believers from Mecca to Medina: Comments on Virtue, Eschatology, and the Structure of Q 7 and Q 9” |
| 11.15–12.00 | Julien Decharnaux, “The Cosmological Sign Passages in the Seven Long Ones: An Unpopular Genre?” |
| 12.00–12.45 | Salwa El-Awa, “‘Disjointedness’ and the Problem of Long Surah Structure: A Case Study” |
| 2.00–2.45 | Mohsen Goudarzi, “The Curious Case of the Medinan Gospel: Jesus and the Scriptures” |
| 2.45–3.30 | Saqib Hussain, “The Rabbis of Q 2 and Q 7” |
| 4.00–4.45 | Marianna Klar, “Patterns of Late Antique Text Production and the Plausibility of an Evolutionary Hypothesis for Q 2” |
| 4.45–5.30 | Ilkka Lindstedt, “The Fate of the Medinan Jews in Light of the ‘Constitution of Medina’, the ‘Seven Long Ones’, and the Sīra Literature” |
Tuesday 25th March 2025
| 9.15–10.00 | Joseph Lowry, “Signs and Ritual Law in Sūrat al-Anʿām (Q 6)” |
| 10.00–10.45 | Gabriel S. Reynolds, “Theodicy and Hellfire in Surah 3” |
| 11.15–12.00 | Sohaib Saeed, “Sūrat al-Anʿām (Q 6) as Mufassir and Mufassar” |
| 12.00–12.45 | Nora K. Schmid, “The Ascetic Barter in a Long Medinan Surah” |
| 2.00–2.45 | Emmanuelle Stefanidis, “Does Sūrat Yūnus (Q 10) Belong to the Sabʿ al-Ṭiwāl? Traces of a Pre-ʿUthmanic Codex in the Exegetical Tradition” |
| 2.45–3.30 | Nicolai Sinai, “Aspects of the Redactional History of Surah 2” |
| 4.00–4.45 | Marijn van Putten, “For God’s Sake or For Rhyme’s Sake? Re-evaluating Kaplony’s ‘Documentary Hypothesis’ of the Qur’an” |
| 4.45–5.30 | Holger Zellentin, “The Divine Authorship of the Mishnah in the Qur’an and in the Rabbinic Tradition” |