The Speaking Qur’an: Revelation in Sunni and Shi‘i Ismaili Islam

A brief history of the development of the modern Islamic concept of the eternality of the Qur'an in light of tawhid and its development from Mu'tazilite and Ash'arite theology. A defense of the Christian view of the Bible as the eternal Word of God in light of the trinity.

The Routledge Companion to the Qur'an, 2021

This chapter is an introductory account of Shiʿi Ismaili Muslim engagements with the Qur’an during the fourth/tenth and fifth/eleventh centuries. While these examples are drawn from premodern sources, the overarching principles of Ismaili hermeneutics continue to play a major role within contemporary Ismaili communities. Ismailis revere a specific lineage of ʿAlid Imams in the descent of Ismaʿil ibn Jaʿfar al-Ṣadiq (d. 148/765) as the successors of ʿAli and the holders of a divinely ordained leadership called the Imamate. The present chapter surveys Ismaili views of Qur’anic revelation, exoteric Qur’anic hermeneutics employed by Ismaili jurists, and esoteric Qur’anic hermeneutics or taʾwil from several Ismaili scholars. The latter pertains to Ismaili interpretations of the fi ve daily ritual prayers, Qur’anic natural phenomena like the sun and moon, and the famous Qur’anic “Verse of Light” (Q 24:35). While many Ismaili exegetes purported to be conveying taʾwil under the divine guidance and inspiration of the Imams, their interpretations of the Qur’an happen to diverge in several respects. This suggests that Ismaili taʾwil, while presented as an authoritative revelatory exegesis derived from the knowledge of the Imam, was also a creative product of each Ismaili exegete’s encounter with the Qur’an. The diverse expressions of Ismaili taʾwil indicate that Ismaili hermeneutics was not necessarily aimed at developing a stable canon of Qur’anic commentary; rather, taʾwil primarily functions as a spiritual practice by which the Ismaili aspirant integrates his or her soul into the higher spiritual cosmos and continues to find expression in modern times.

Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, 1991

2018

This dissertation proposes a new interpretation of the Qur’an’s conception of scriptural and prophetic history, which may be called respectively its “scripturology” and “prophetology.” Previous scholarship often considers the Qur’an to espouse a monotonous historical vision in which God sends a series of prophets with essentially identical messages to various human communities. In contrast to this prevailing interpretation, I contend that the Qur’an envisages the history of revelations as having two towering moments: the revelation of the Torah to Moses, and the sending down of the Qur’an to Muhammad. This contention is based on the hypothesis that the Qur’an, in its discourse on revelations, uses the term kitāb not as a label for all scriptures but as an exclusive appellation for the Torah and the Qur’an. That the Qur’an applies the term kitāb to the Mosaic and Muhammadan scriptures alone, I further argue, reflects its estimation of the Torah and the Qur’an as the only scriptures that embody consummate divine guidance on account of their comprehensive historical and legal instruction. Moreover, I show that the Qur’an ties the revelation of these two kitābs to God’s special regard for the descendants of Abraham: the Torah was sent down for the benefit of Israelites, and the Qur’an is meant primarily for the guidance of Ishmaelites. In the qur’anic view, then, the mission of Muhammad does not represent the end of a universal history of dispensations so much as it constitutes the realization of the “Abrahamic dream” for Ishmaelites and thus the second major act in the drama of the Abrahamic covenant. The two-kitāb hypothesis and its corollaries enable fresh interpretations of many qur’anic passages, a process that has far-reaching implications for our understanding of the Qur’an.

ULUM Journal of Religious Inquiries, 2021

This article argues that the Qur'ān seeks to place its modality of revelation within the oracle of Arabia and recognizes it as such a valid "form" of revelation. It inducts its medium of revelation within the familiar apparatus of the pagan divination institution by tapping into the realm of supra-rationality while, simultaneously, making a radical departure from it at the doctrinal level. The Qur'ānic oracle speaks for one universal God as opposed to a tribal deity, pantheon of gods, or an anthropomorphized divinity that partakes of the experience of humanity. The article seeks to work with the core Islamic concept of revelation in dialogue with the notion of the Word of God in a semantic slash historical context. 1 The inquiry glances at the historical presentation of what Islam warrants as a rationale of revelation by maintaining a propositional and qualitative distinction from the pagan oracle. It projects the dialectics of quality versus quantity and principle versus form rather than undertaking a complete break with the existing metaphysical and epistemological cosmos. Such a claim of external guidance, from the above, as laid by all three Semitic religions is, inherently, based upon, and rooted within the source of a higher realm attributed to the divinity. Islam's hierarchy of being and non-being revolves around an essential Being, the one true God, as a theological necessity, whereas all contingency, the creation including mankind, is granted existence in the sanctuary of the divine will that takes place through God's grace. The will of God, Logos, defines the relationship between the necessity and the contingency in the self-consciousness of the Qur'ān.

The use of sacred script for polemic purposes is a method as ancient as the script itself. Biblical citations, which are used as a vehicle to support an ideology at stake, can be traced easily in various texts throughout history. Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam, from its earliest days, has integrated Qurʾānic verses into its writings, gradually turning the technique into a major form of expression. In the last few years, however, we have witnessed a significant increase in the number of Qurʾānic verses that are used as a source for the justification or sanction of specific current events. We often encounter citations of the divine word that are not limited to sacred texts or religious items, but are rather interwoven into the rhetoric of central figures and communicated through the general media. The present chapter is necessarily a preliminary study of this emerging and changing phenomenon. Islam regards the Qurʾān as the word of God that was gradually revealed to Muḥammad to answer the needs and changing circumstances of the developing nascent community. Although prophecy ended with Muḥammad's death, the idea of a perfect compatibility between the revelation and current events did not stop in the first/seventh century. Instead it expanded to the next generations and became a central part of the Qurʾānic sciences (ʿulūm al-Qurʾān), known as the " occasions of revelation " (asbāb al-nuzūl). This flexibility was facilitated by the general, sometimes vague, nature of the Qurʾānic text. Most Qurʾānic verses are phrased in a style that avoids specific details, and consequently can be understood to have more than one meaning within more than one context. Islamic scholars, therefore, could use these verses as recourse for instruction, whenever and wherever needed, thus taking these verses beyond the scope of the time in which they were revealed. This special Qurʾānic style underlies a major part of the Islamic dogma that deals with the miraculous nature of the Qurʾān (iʿjāz). The latter views the Qurʾān as a divine revelation that cannot be imitated by mortals, as an eternal and universal truth that can be adapted to changing circumstances, and as assistance and guidance that may be applied to any situation at any given time or place. The act of identifying a part of the Qurʾānic truth with a specific experience has always been accepted as an ultimate authorization. In other words, the ability to interpret a verse in a way that was relevant to a debatable issue always reinforced the confidence in the decisions taken.

1 as together addressing the relationship between the 'horrific' violence and internecine strife that characterised the first centuries of Islam and the emergence during that same period of codified scriptures. More specifically, Amir-Moezzi seeks to bring into conversation the long-standing scholarly interest in the textual history of the Qur'an and the concern of much early Shīʿī literature with the Holy Book's alteration and falsification. The undertaking provides a welcome reiteration of the still-pertinent complaint that historians' near-exclusive reliance on Sunnī texts and narratives, on the basis that these are somehow less corrupted by sectarian distortions than Shīʿī literature, is untenable. In the case of the texts studied here, however, Amir-Moezzi further contends that the version of events given therein is at times strikingly close to that suggested by many modern historians. The prime interface between scripture and violence discussed here is censorship-the suppression of alternative narratives and alternative scriptures. Shīʿīs, as 'history's vanquished' appear as the chief victims of this violence, and the early Shīʿī accounts that have survived against the odds therefore constitute an especially vital testament to versions of events that the wielders of power and violence sought to eradicate. This book seeks to supply a self-confessedly preliminary investigation of these far-reaching observations through studies of five texts from the early Shīʿī tradition: the Kitāb al-Saqīfa of Sulaym b. Qays al-Hilālī (d. c. 76/695), the Kitāb al-Qirāʾāt of Aḥ mad b. Muḥ ammad al-Sayyārī (d. c. 286/899), Tanzīl al-āyāt al-munzala fī ahl al-bayt by al-Ḥ usayn b. al-Ḥ akam al-Ḥ ibarī (d. 286/899), the Bas ̣āʾir al-darajāt of Muḥ ammad b. al-Ḥ asan al-Ṣ affār al-Qummī (d. 290/902-903) and al-Kāfī by Muḥ ammad b. Yaʿqūb al-Kulaynī (d. 328/939-940 or 329/940-941). These five works are introduced and examined in chronological order in five respective chapters. Beyond the conclusions advanced therein, Amir-Moezzi aspires in these five studies to bring these works and their importance to greater attention from the scholarly community and beyond. Journal of Qur'anic Studies 20.2 (2018): 112-131 Edinburgh University Press © Centre of Islamic Studies, SOAS www.euppublishing.com/jqs

The Islamic college, 2019

Any unique approach to the key issue of the revelation is necessarily a reflection of the divine message, and therefore of the Quranic text and the speech of Prophet Mohammed. The revelation also remains a sensitive and significant matter in Islam, because of the mysterious sphere and performance of the revelation discourse, from the historical, anthropological, and psychological aspects. Historical research into the significance of the revelation speech is, in itself, research into the divine Qur’anic text and its relationship to prophets and messengers. Such a matter requires precision, and an already obtained amount of knowledge - not least the linguistics - to study the language system, the environment surrounding the speech and its significance during the era of prophecy. I.e. A knowledge and understanding of the time of the first revelation, with the heavenly message addressed to the Prophet Muhammad and the significance of the divine messengers who were sent before him. The reading of the question of revelation tries to thwart attempts to confuse what is divinely spiritual on one hand and what is unfamiliar “fantasy”, which calls for surreal, expressive images or any imagination, on the other hand. Also, reading about the question of the revelation will work, at a minimum, to delve deeper into the theological debate of the revelation speech and its problems. It will equally consider the distinct division between scholars, jurists, and the esoteric stream about the symbolism of revelation, its bodily and sensual presence and its metaphors, etc. It aims to cover all aspects related to the revelation speech. Reviewing the matter of revelation does not mean questioning it or testing its substance, but rather re-reading the revelation speech through the lens of linguistic and semiotics. By examining the nature of the movement of revelation and its relationship with the prophets through a rational and linguistic understanding of the implications of the Qur’anic text, we will produce various hermeneutical views that can lead us to a contemporary semiotic understanding of the revelation. Accordingly, this article attempts to go beyond thinking of the revelation as a timeless religious phenomenon – this article aims to rationalize it as a linguistic movement with religious determinants, within the historical context of the Qur’anic text. This article answers two key questions: What is the relationship of the Arabic language to the discourse of revelation through the interpretation of the Qur’anic text? What is the difference between the revelation of the Qur’an and the devil of the poet, when studied from the viewpoint of poetry in the pre-Islamic era?

Journal of the American Oriental Society

The Qur’an: A Historical-Critical Introduction. By Nicolai Sinai. The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017. Pp. viii + 242. £90 (cloth); £24.99 (paper).