ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the need to emphasize the socio-historical context of the Qurʾān in its interpretation. This context is of fundamental importance in order to make the ethico-legal texts of the Qurʾān meaningful and relevant to contemporary Muslims. The socio-historical context provides a basis for understanding the connection between the Qurʾānic ethico-legal instructions and the reasons for introducing such instructions in the seventh-century Hijaz. Despite the importance of this context, it has until recently been marginalized in both law and exegesis.
