This collection of articles emanates from the panel „Literarische und linguistische Ansätze der Koranexegese“ during the 29th Deutscher Orientalistentag at Halle/Saale on October 2, 2004. The editors are especially glad that this volume brings together a variety of different approaches in the modern research on Quranic studies from Denmark, Germany, France, Israel, the Maghreb and Nigeria. Especially in times of global intercultural challenges, it is precisely this kind of scholarly exchange that is long overdue in Modern Quranic studies. This collection of articles is a vivid proof of the continued enthusiasm of philologists and Islamic researchers active in the studies of quranic language and history. Even today, scholars from all over the world still struggle for a sound understanding of Quranic phenomena such as self-referentiality, inter-textuality or poeticity. Against this background, each article of this volume represents an innovative analysis of highly controversial issues in contemporary Quranic debate.