The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran

''The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran: A Contribution to the Decoding of the Language of the Koran'' is an English-language edition (2007) of ''Die syro-aramäische Lesart des Koran: Ein Beitrag zur Entschlüsselung der Koransprache'' (2000) by Christoph Luxenberg.

The book received considerable attention from the popular press in North America and Europe at its release, perhaps in large part to its argument that the Quranic term ''Houri'' refers not to beautiful virgins in paradise (Jannah), but to grapes there.

The thesis of the book is that the text of the Quran was substantially derived from Syriac Christian liturgy, arguing that many "obscure" portions become clear when they are back-translated and interpreted as Syriacisms. While there is a scholarly consensus Classical Arabic was influenced by Syro-Aramaic, since the latter used to be the lingua franca of the Ancient Near East, Luxenberg's thesis goes beyond mainstream scholarly consensus and was widely received with skepticism in reviews. The book asserted that the language of the early compositions of the Quran was not exclusively Arabic, as assumed by the classical commentators, but rather is rooted in the Syriac language of the 7th century Meccan tribe of the Quraysh, which is associated in the early histories with the founding of the religion of Islam. Luxenberg's premise is that the Syriac language, which was prevalent throughout the Middle East during the early period of Islam, and was the language of culture and Christian liturgy, had a profound influence on the scriptural composition and meaning of the contents of the Quran. Provided by Wikipedia