Volume 12 deals with the topic “Readers of the Word”. The man of Islam is not only a walking, speaking, and rational animal, but he is a “living reader” created to enable himself to regain his lost heavenly position by reading the Word. This good news is constantly conveyed to him through the Koranic read-commandment.

The word of God takes on such a central importance in Islamic revelation theology that not only man becomes the “reader of the word”, but also the angels, the prophet - and even God. The man of Islam is no longer just the hearer of the word, but he is the “reader of the word”.

“Readers of the Word” is a study that attempts to offer a non-violent approach to the Quran as the “Word of God” and to show appropriate approaches to it. It is about the important topics such as paradigm shifts, i.e.: From “listening” to “reading”, “the shema commandment of the Holy Quran, namely “Read!” and “man as reader of the word”.

This new anthropological hermeneutic or hermeneutic anthropology also includes a practice of life and offers the following topics to Quran and Shia studies:

1. “Readers of the Word”.

2. Hermeneutics of the Word.

3. On the horizon of the Word.

4. The application of the Word.

5. The non-violent Quran-Hermeneutics.

These are an introduction to my Quran commentary: “Tafsir-ul-Amin”. This speaks for a paradigm shift that - in dialogue with the text -:

1. Try to break the culture of silence.

2. Enables every person to read the Quran as the “word of God”.

3. Helping people become “readers of the word”!

Therefore, we are on the threshold of a new era for Quranic studies. In this way, people will rediscover the Holy Quran, and the reader will encounter it and the understanding of its message in a fresher, more lively and more dynamic way. An important reason for this phenomenon is the Quranic appeal that one reads the text and understands its message without prejudice and misunderstandings. In this sense, the exalted Creator says: “Read!” (Holy Quran 96:1) And so man becomes a “reader of the word” of God.

This is learning to understand that also leads to self-knowledge, because in the light of the Koran one rediscovers oneself and perceives oneself as a “reader of the word”.

We do this with the conviction that we will awaken in people a strong non-violent hermeneutical interest and to make them aware of their own identity as “readers of the word”.