An exploration of storytelling and narrative devices in the Qur'an In this book, Leyla Ozgur Alhassen approaches the Qur'an as a literary, religious and oral text that affects its audience. She looks at how Qur'anic stories function as narrative: how characters and dialogues are portrayed; what themes are repeated; what verbal echoes and conceptual links are present; what structure is established; and what beliefs these narrative choices strengthen. And she argues that in the Qur'an, some narrative features that are otherwise puzzling can be seen as instances in which God, as the narrator, centres himself while putting the audience in its place. In essence, this makes the act of reading an interaction between God and the audience. Qur'anic Stories demonstrates that a narratological and rhetorical approach to the canonised text can contribute new insights to our understanding of the Qur'an and its worldview. Key Features  Draws on narratology, rhetoric and Qur'anic studies to develop a new methodology to analyse Qur'anic stories  Examines the interaction of the text, the audience, characters and the narrator, while analysing Qur'anic commentary (classical and modern; Sunni, Sufi and Shi'i)  Studies stories that represent the variety of Qur'anic narrative: Surat Yūsuf; Surat Āl 'Imrān; Surat Maryam; Surat Ṭaha; and Surat al-Qaṣaṣ Leyla Ozgur Alhassen is a Visiting Scholar in the Near Eastern Studies Department at the University of California, Berkeley.