The Islamic Mary: Between Prophecy and Orthodoxy

This article traces the medieval debate over the potential prophecy of the Islamic Mary (or Maryam). The debate is initiated by the Andalusian exegete and scholar Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456/1064) who argues that women, most importantly Mary, could be prophets because they were spoken to directly by God or His messengers. The argument is continued by al-Qurṭūbī (d. 671/1273), who makes a special case for Mary’s prophecy because the angel Gabriel is believed to have come close to her and ‘breathed’ his spirit into her. Mary is, furthermore, he asserts, one of the greatest prophets because she accepted God’s will without any question or scepticism. However, the argument that Mary was a prophet was refuted by the Damascene exegete Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373), who argued that Mary was not a prophet but rather truthful and righteous ( ṣiddīqa) according to the Qur’an. He bases his position on the fact that the Qur’an does not term any woman a prophet, and that she did not follow the path of those named as prophets, who called their people to a particular mission and cause. Ibn Kathīr’s argument eventually won the day as his tafsīr has become, in modern times, the most widespread and popular of all Qur’an commentaries.

Do We Go Back to Where We Came From? Mullā Ṣadrā's Philosophical Exegesis on the Paradise of Adam and the Promised Paradise of the Afterlife

The cosmological location and identity of the Paradise in which Adam and Eve dwelled and from which, we are told in Q. 7:22 and 24, they were sent down to earth after giving in to Satan’s temptation and approaching the forbidden tree, has long been a controversial issue among exegetes and theologians. Ṣadr al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. Yaḥyā Qawāmī Shīrāzī Mullā Ṣadrā (d. 1050/1640), a flag-bearer for the philosophical and mystical exegesis of the Qur’an, is one of those who has engaged with this question. The subject is important because it is closely connected with several important anthropological Qur’anic topics: the philosophy of the creation of humankind and their earthly abode; the states of human existence before earthly life on this world, and in the descending journey to it; as well as the connections between these states and those following death and in the ascending journey. An analysis of Ṣadrā’s approach to the issue of Adam’s Paradise has implications for both our appreciation of his philosophical understanding of the Qur’an and his methodology, as well as a clearer understanding of his contribution to Islamic philosophical thought. Mullā Ṣadrā took the view that the location of one Paradise on the descending arc of the circle of being, and a second on the ascending arc of this circle, indicate the stages of human existence before and after this world. He believed that these two Paradises suggest the same reality, though from two different aspects; the first shows the inward and indistinct aspect of the human soul while the second represents its outward and distinct side.

The Role of khafāʾ al-maʿnā (‘Obscurity of Meaning’) in Qur'anic Rhetoric

Khafāʾ al-maʿnā (‘obscurity of meaning’) is a distinctive characteristic of Qur’anic rhetoric that helps the Qur’an convey its intended message. It grips the attention of its readers, regardless of time or place, and should be considered an integral element of Qur’anic iʿjāz (‘inimitability’). This study divides khafāʾ al-maʿnā into three linguistic categories: lexical, morphologic, and syntactic, and these categories will be explored through three research questions and thirteen research points. The paper will examine reader response to the Qur’anic text found in various works of tafsīr from differing historical periods. The objective is not to assess the accuracy of the mufassirs’ interpretations, but to objectively explore the influence that khafāʾ al-maʿnā has on the reading process. This study uses the term ‘Qur’anic rhetoric’ in order to distinguish between ‘Qur’anic rhetoric’ and ‘Qur’anic text’. This differentiation is based on the idea that the meaning of the literal ‘textual’ verses of the Qur’an is clear, and does not involve any obscurity of meaning (and, moreover, the interpretation of these verses has been clarified by Muḥammad). However the ‘rhetorical’ verses invite the Qur’an’s readers, in their respective times and places, to read, contemplate, and reflect on them, and to attempt to uncover the hidden meanings that can be found by exploring their linguistic context.

A Zaydī Qur’an Commentary from Yemen: An Introduction to Tajrīd al-Kashshāf maʿa ziyādat nukat liṭāf

This article provides an introduction to Tajrīd al-Kashshāf, a Qur’an commentary written by the Yemeni Zaydī scholar Ibn Abī’l-Qāsim (d. 837/1433–1434) that remains unpublished. Despite his reputation as a partisan Zaydī, Ibn Abī’l-Qāsim’s Qur’an commentary draws exclusively upon Sunni tafsīr works, especially al-Zamakhsharī’s al-Kashshāf, al-Wāḥidī’s al-Wasīṭ, and Ibn al-Jawzī’s Zād al-masīr. Through a careful analysis of his commentary on the Sūrat al-Najm (Q. 53) and Q. 5:55, this article illuminates Ibn Abī’l-Qāsim’s sources and exegetical techniques. It contains a critical edition of Ibn Abī’l-Qāsim’s commentary on Sūrat al-Najm and highlights the intimate relationship between Zaydī and Sunni Qur’anic exegesis.