The basic intention of 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic exegesis (迟补蹿蝉墨谤) is to understand what the text of the Qur’an means. Before attempting to understand anything of the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic worldview, its theology and ethical values, there is a need for exegetes to engage with the individual words found in the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍Muslims believe that the Holy 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 contains divine revelations to the Prophet Muhammed received in Mecca and Medina over a period of 23 years in the early 7th century CE. More itself. Yet, exegetes and translators, whether medieval or modern, have different theological perspectives, which influence how they do this. Many modern scholars have recognised that lexicology plays an important part in exegesis, but there are few studies of how exegetes use it to develop their interpretations of the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 or that address lexicology in 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic exegesis in any depth. This volume of essays addresses this gap in the scholarship.
The Meaning of the Word provides an overview of the development of lexicological analysis in the 迟补蹿蝉墨谤 tradition, and examines how exegetes interpreted words in the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍. The contributions reflect on lexicology in 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic exegesis through studies of a wide range of subjects, from linguistics to literary criticism, and law and gender to mysticism; from examinations of the issue of lexicology in the Arab, Persian and Turkish worlds to its examination in the European world; and from studies of the earliest discussions of 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic lexica to those made in twentieth-century Turkey and recent English translations of the Qur’an. This volume will become a subject-specific reference volume for anyone working on the interpretation of the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍, but also in Islamic Studies and the wider field of Religious Studies.
Notes on Contributors
Note on Transliteration, Conventions and Abbreviations
Preface
1. Introduction: Words, Hermeneutics, and the Construction of Meaning, S.R. Burge
Section I: Lexicology and the Formative Period of 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Exegesis
2. In Search of Meaning: Lexical Explanation in Early 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Commentaries, Kees Versteegh
3. Lexicological Hadith and the 鈥楽chool鈥 of Ibn 士Abb膩s, Herbert Berg
4. The Interpretation of Three 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Terms (厂颈测腻丑蹋补, 岣办尘补 and 峁诲诲墨辩) of Special Interest to the Early Renunciants, Christopher Melchert
Section II: Lexical Methodologies in Action: Four Case Studies
5. The Use of Lexicography in the Great 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Commentary of al-W膩h蹋id墨 (d. 468/1076), Claude Gilliot
6. Authority and the Defence of Readings in Medieval 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Exegesis: Lexicology and the Case of Falaq (Q. 113:1), S.R. Burge
7. Poetic Licence and the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Names of Hell: The Treatment of Cognate Substitution in al-R膩ghib al-I峁ah膩n墨鈥檚 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Lexicon, Devin Stewart
8. Paradoxes in Shahrast膩n墨鈥檚 Lexicological Methodology, Toby Mayer
Section III: Words, Interpretation and Legal Disputes
9. From 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 to Fiqh: Sunni and Shi鈥榠 罢补蹿蝉墨谤 on the Inheritance Verses and the 鈥楴amed Cases鈥 (al-Mas膩示il al-Mulaqqaba), Agostino Cilardo
10. Marital Discord in 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Exegesis: A Lexical Analysis of Husbandly and Wifely 狈耻蝉丑奴锄 in Q. 4:34 and Q. 4:128, Ayesha S. Chaudhry
11. The Optional Ramadan Fast: Debating Q. 2:184 in the Early Turkish Republic, M. Brett Wilson
Section IV: The Word in Translation: Medieval and Modern Disputes
12. The 贵腻迟颈岣 of Salm膩n al-F膩ris墨 and the Modern Controversy over Translating the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍, Travis Zadeh
13. The 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 Today: Translating the Translatable, Stefan Wild
Bibliography
Index of 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Citations
Index of 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Words and Phrases
General Index
鈥業n this volume, a fascinating array of subject areas, including theology, mysticism, the linguistic sciences, literary criticism, law and translation, provides the thematic backdrop against which key aspects of classical exegetical discourses are gauged and contextualized.鈥
鈥 Mustafa Shah, Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
鈥楾his volume of essays, dealing with how Muslims have grappled with issues of meaning in the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 through lexicography and translation through the centuries, brings together some excellent research and penetrating analysis. It provides a valuable contribution to the discipline.鈥
鈥 Andrew Rippin, Professor Emeritus, University of Victoria, Canada
Stephen R. Burge is a Research Associate at 鸟大大影院, London. He completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2009, and has since published this as Angels in Islam: Jal膩l al-D墨n al-Suy奴峁檚 al-岣b膩示ik f墨 akhb膩r al-mal膩示ik (London, 2012). More recently, he has focused his attention on 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic exegesis, particularly Suyu峁璱鈥檚 main exegetical work, al-Durr al-manthur fi鈥檒 迟补蹿蝉墨谤 bi鈥檒-ma示thur. He is also working on an edition of the Anthology of 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍ic Commentaries on the 鈥楶illars of Islam鈥.