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      Prophetic Clarity: A Comparative Approach to al-Ṭabarī's Theory of Qur'anic Language, Rhetoric, and Composition

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          Abstract

          The article is a comparative study of Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī's (d. 310/923) concepts of Qur'anic language, rhetoric, and composition. Al-Ṭabarī identified the Qur'an semantically and generically with the Biblical scriptures, as prophecy, and with Arabic rhetoric ( balāgha and khaṭāba). At the same time, he claimed that the Qur'an superseded them all in terms of how its forms convey God's intended message about Covenant, through its clarity of distinctions between universals and particulars, its persuasive proof, and innovative composition. Based on a comparative analysis of al-Ṭabarī's concepts, I conclude that he theorised Qur'anic language, rhetoric, and composition in ways that offer new insights into their relationship to the Biblical scriptures and Arabic rhetoric. His theory confirms and adds to parts of current research, opening up new paths for further research, also of a comparative theoretical kind. The study consists of four parts. Part 1 surveys recent research into theories of language and rhetoric in the Qur'an, as a necessary background to al-Ṭabarī. The survey will also show the relevance of Greek paradigms for the Qur'an. Developing the outcomes of this survey, Part 2 describes theories of language and rhetoric in Plato, Aristotle, the Biblical scriptures, and the Qur'an, and models the relationship between language, rhetoric, and scripture with reference to covenant and the concept of ‘belief’. Part 3 applies the model to al-Ṭabarī's theory of Qur'anic language, rhetoric, and composition. In Part 4, I develop al-Ṭabarī's definition of al-Fātiḥa (Q. 1) as a paradigm of covenantal terms that suffuses the entire Qur'anic canon, into a framework for analysing composition as the level of sura structure and genre, intertextual references and concepts, and overarching meaning.

          Most cited references93

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          A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament

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            The Early Arabic Grammarians' Contributions to the Collection and Authentication of Qur'anic Readings: The Prelude to Ibn Mujāhid's Kitāb al-Sab c a

            The ninth and tenth centuries of the classical Islamic tradition are often viewed as periods in which distinctive shifts towards the consolidation, standardisation and homogeneity of Islamic thought and concepts are discernible. Accordingly, Ibn Mujāhid's authorship of his renowned Kitāb al-Sab c a and his efforts to accentuate a set of seven Qur'anic readings are invariably contextualised within the accommodating confines of these perceived shifts across the gamut of the classical Islamic sciences. Yet the trajectory followed by Ibn Mujāhid's text owes its dynamics to an entirely different set of factors. This article proposes that the methodical efforts of Ibn Mujāhid were an extension of the attempts by Qur'anic readers to reinvigorate the traditional conventions of adhering to defined precedents in the authentication of the readings of scripture. Notwithstanding the fact that the nature of variances among Qur'anic readings was infinitesimal, endeavours in this area are governed by the liturgical value of lectiones . In order to gauge the broad significance of the Kitāb al-Sab c a , the text has to be placed in the well-defined context of the genesis and development of Arabic linguistic thought.
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              The Qurʾān's self-image: Writing and authority in Islam's scripture

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                JQS
                Journal of Qur'anic Studies
                Edinburgh University Press ( The Tun - Holyrood Road, 12(2f) Jackson's Entry, Edinburgh EH8 8PJ UK )
                1465-3591
                1755-1730
                February 2020
                : 22
                : 1
                : 216-268
                Affiliations
                NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology
                Article
                10.3366/jqs.2020.0417
                92cb7c2f-d3e1-4119-810b-9f1b3cfbe03f
                © Centre of Islamic Studies, SOAS
                History
                Page count
                References: 57, Pages: 53
                Categories
                Articles
                Islamic Studies

                Political science,Literature of other nations & languages,Art history & Criticism,Religious studies & Theology,Arab world & Islam,History
                al-Tabari,prophecy, balāgha ,Qur'anic composition,Qur'anic and Biblical theory of language,Qur'anic and Biblical rhetoric

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