Huon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Arkoun

Mohammed Arkoun has published in 1970 a french translation of the Quran, with an introduction of 26 pages. In the last page of this introduction, he writes (my translation) :

The Quran cannot be seen as a literary and historical document, except additionally ; it means that we must reverse the method which was practiced by the ancient fundamentalists and the modern commentators : the verses do not get their meaning through the "circumstances of the Revelation" (asbâb al-nuzûl), but they can offer the historian some indications about the state of the culture and the society in Arabia at the beginning of the 7th century. Fastening the verses to a circumstance gives credence to the positivist idea of an opportunist revelation, of a prophet calling for God's help when that is useful. It fixes in contingency the significance of a text, while the its first intention and its effective result is the activation of history. It is high time to reconsider this deadly attitude of the essentialist theory which was developed in the Middle Ages.

Xianthe

I believe the Qu'ran does represent opportunistic revelation. Such was stated by no less than Mohammad's wife Aisha who noted the remarkable convenience of his revelations, particulary when it came to his wives.