Based on what we discussed, read and learned in this course, in your own words, please first describe the main features, structure, and content of the Qur’an as a text and the way it has been received

• Meaning: A Sunni is a member of the largest branch of Islam. A Sunni is a Muslim who believes that the caliph Abu Bakr was the rightful successor to Muhammad after his death. In Arabic, the word Sunni means "lawful," and its root can be found in Sunna, "the traditional teachings of Muhammad," or "way, course, or teachings.“ • It is commonly said that the first Sunnī exegetical corpus based upon traditions is the commentary of al -Ṭabarī, but there were several others before him at the end of the second/eighth and the beginning of the third/ninth century. For example, Yaḥyā b. Sallām al - Baṣrī (d. 200/815 in Egypt). He interested himself in qur ’ānic readings, along with the occasions of revelation, ḥadīth and the exegetical traditions of Iraq, Mecca, and Medina, and is said to have shared the Murji ’ite conception of faith: • Murji’ite: Murji'ah held the opinion that God alone has the right to judge whether or not a Muslim has become an apostate. Consequently, Muslims should practice postponement (ʾirjāʾ ) of judgment on committers of major sins and not make charges of disbelief (’takfir’ ) or punish accordingly anyone who has professed Islam to be their faith. SHIITE EXEGESIS a member of one of the two great religious divisions of Islam that regards Ali, the son -in -law of Muhammad, as the legitimate successor of Muhammad, and disregards the three caliphs who succeeded him. • There is no fundamental difference between Shiite and Sunni commentaries, as both groups have interpreted the Qur'an using different methods and tendencies, but what distinguishes Shiite commentaries from Sunni commentaries is that Is interpretive sources; Because in the sources of interpretation, there is a major difference between Shiites and Sunnis. • Since the Sunnis, after the death of the Prophet Muhammad did not believe in the Imamate of the Imams, therefore, the commentators followed the second caliph and said: “The Qur’an itself is sufficient for us”. • In opposite side, in Shiite, Muslims believed in the Imamate of the Imams, therefore, the commentators followed their way of understanding and interpreting the Qur’an. ISMA’ILITES EXEGESIS: • The Ismā’īlites make a fundamental distinction in religion and knowledge between the exterior ( ẓāhir ) and the interior ( bāṭin ), a distinction also reflected in their interpretation of the Qur’ān. The science of tafsīr (exoteric exegesis) is absent from their literature, since true meaning can be obtained only through ta ’wīl (esoteric interpretation), which originates in the legitimate Imām . Hence, the Imām is often called “the speaking Qur’ān” Qur ’ān -i nāṭiq ), while the book itself is called “the silent Qur’ān” (Qur ’ān -i ṣāmit ). This arrangement corresponds to the distinction between the hidden, spiritual meaning of scripture explained by the Imām (ta ’wīl ) and the divine message delivered by the Prophet in its literal form (tanzīl , descent). Even the physical objects mentioned by the Qur’ān are to receive an esoteric interpretation.