ABSTRACT
Addressing the issue of "scripture" in relation to the Qur'an is at once a straightforward and a complicated venture. It is straightforward because in many respects the Qur'an itself puts forward a generic concept of scripture that is consistent with that widely used today in the general study of religion. The history and phenomenology of scripture as both a generic concept and a global reality has only begun to be written, and only in recent decades has it become the object of serious scholarly investigation and reflection. The Qur'an conceives of itself as a revelation intended to confirm the truths and set right the distortions in the earlier scriptures. In general, the qur'anic discourse is one in which scriptural words and divine signs in creation can be referred to with the same term, since both are ultimately the clearest "signs" of the One God in mundane reality.
