The dilemma of the literary approach to the Qur'an.

The principal intention of this article is to discuss some of the difficulties that challenge a literary approach to the Qur'an, an approach that focuses on the Qur'an as basically a literary text. Such an approach was invoked by Amin al-Khuli (1895-1966) as the only approach capable of explaining the inimitability, i'jaz, of the Qur'an. His point is that the acceptance of the Qur'an, and accordingly the acceptance of Islam by the Arabs, was based on recognizing its absolute supremacy compared to human texts. In other words, the Arabs accepted Islam on the basis of evaluating the Qur'an as a literary text that surpasses all human production. The literary method should, therefore, supersede any other religio-theological, philosophical, ethical, mystical or judicial approach. (1)

Our analysis is based on the discussion that took place in the 1940s in Egypt around Muhammad Ahmad Khalafallah's (1916-98) Ph.D. thesis, presented to the Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Fu'ad al-Awwal University (now Cairo University) in 1947. It was entitled Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an alkarim and was written under the supervision of Amin al-Khuli. The nature of the discussion that the thesis raised inside and outside the university will be the main focus of analysis. When the thesis was submitted to the examiners' committee in 1947 to set the date for the defense, the committee members, according to al-Khuli, were satisfied with the academic level, but they demanded some modification. Some information about the thesis was leaked to the media, and a heated polemical debate took place questioning the university academic regulation in a Muslim society that allowed such a thesis. The line of argumentation against the method and the thesis could be summarized as follows:

(1) A literary text is a composition of human imagination while the Qur'an represents the word of God that should not be compared to any human discourse.

(2) To deal with the Qur'an as a work of literary art, fann, is to suggest that it is written by Muhammad.

(3) Furthermore, claiming that the stories of the Qur'an do not present actual historical facts, as the literary approach suggests, is committing the greatest blasphemy that amounts to apostasy. (2) It places the Qur'an in a lower position than a book of history. (3)

(4) More insulting to the Qur'an from the point of view of the traditional dogma is to claim that its language and structure is historically determined and culturally formed. It could be easily interpreted to mean that the Qur'an is a human text. (4)

The objection against the literary approach to the Qur'an is still very strong in the ongoing debate in modern Islamic thought between the traditionalists and the modernists, on one hand, and between Muslim and Western non-Muslim scholars, on the other hand. It presents to a great extent a continuation of the debate about Khalafallah's thesis, in which classical Islamic thought always plays an undeniable role in justifying the position of all the participants. Khalafallah and his professor al-Khuli relate themselves directly to the Islamic reformation movement initiated by Muhammad 'Abduh (1855-1905), who himself invoked the enlightened Islamic tradition in theology and philosophy.

Tracing the literary approach of the Qur'an back to the classical discussion of the doctrine of i'jaz is necessary to analyse the impact of the traditional elements on the modern dispute about the literary approach. This will be dealt with in the first section. The modern Islamic reformation movement, on the other hand--which started, as commonly known, in the middle of the European military and political domination of the Muslim world--will be the focus of the second section. Modernity was imposed from above either by the colonial power or by the post-colonial political regimes. Some of the European cultural and philosophical elements touched upon religious issues that provoked polemic as well as apologetic reaction from Muslim scholars. The major issue raised in Al-Fann al-qasasi, for example, is the historical authenticity of the events mentioned in the Qur'an. Such an issue is present in several articles of the first edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam, whose Arabic translation appeared in the early 1930s in Cairo. This issue will be discussed in the second section of the article. The last section will present the basic presuppositions, as well as the basic conclusions, of Khalafallah's thesis in the light of the debate analyzed in both the first and the second sections.

Classical Literary Explanation of I'jaz

The history of the literary approach to the Qur'an goes back as early as the third hegira/ninth century in the history of Islamic culture. It emerged from within the discussion around the issue of inimitability, i'jaz, of the Qur'an, which is an essential doctrine in theology. It is quite true that the Qur'an had at the very beginning of its revelation captured the Arab imagination by its unique linguistic features. The listeners tried their best to explain its effect on them in terms of the types of text known to them like poetry and soothsaying. All these explanations are mentioned and refuted by the Qur'an itself. (5)

Many stories are preserved in Islamic literature according to which even the unbelievers were fascinated by the overwhelming poetic effect of the Qur'anic language. The notion of the supremacy of the Qur'an, that constitutes its inimitability, was developed later and explained in terms of its rhetorical characteristics. Many theories were introduced in Islamic theology to explain the features that constitute the inimitability of the text. At least two major issues were to be elucidated: First, what was meant by the challenge of the Qur'an to produce something 'like the Qur'an'? What features are to be considered? Second, why did the Arabs fail to produce something like the Qur'anic text by simply imitating its style? Ibrahim ibn Sayyar al-Nazzam (d. 232/846), who was a rationalist Mu'tazili theologian, introduced the theory of sarfa. It meant that God had deliberately intervened and prevented the Arabs from producing a text like the Qur'an. Without such intervention the Arabs could easily have met the challenge. This intervention of God was a miracle, mu'jiza, in itself as it rendered the Arabs, who were supposed to be very capable in poetic composition, incapable. As for the text, there is nothing peculiar about it as a text. Nevertheless, its supremacy is due to the information contained in it, whether about the unknown past or about future events. (6) The Qur'an is imitable as an Arabic text, but as divine revelation containing divine knowledge it is not imitable. Its supremacy, therefore, lies in its content rather than its style. This theory of sarfa that relates the Arabs' failure (to produce a text like the Qur'an) to God's intervention does, in fact, view the Qur'an as a miracle, mu'jiza, that falls beyond human capability. It is related to the same category of miracles performed by previous prophets such as Moses, transforming the stake into serpent, and Jesus, curing diseases and bringing the dead back to life. The Qur'an is the miracle, mu'jiza, upon which depends the truthfulness of Muhammad and the authenticity of the Qur'an.

But the notion that the 'content' of the Qur'an, i.e., telling about the unknown and about the future, is the only constituent of the challenge, tahaddi, raises theological difficulties from the Mu'tazilite perspective at least. Because God's knowledge is absolute whereas human knowledge is limited, it is impossible that God, whose justice is absolute, challenge man by something beyond human capacity. Divine justice, al-'adl--the second principle after tawhid, God's absolute oneness, in the Mu'tazilite rational theology--allows only a challenge that falls within human capacity. Evidence to sustain this line of argumentation includes the nature of the miracles performed by Moses and Jesus in support of their claims. The miracle of Moses was related to magic, the same field of activity in which the Egyptians excelled, as were the miracles of Jesus. As the Arabs were the masters of poetic eloquence, the miracle of Islam--the Qur'an--should be a literary one.

It should be noted that the dichotomy of content and form, lafz and ma'na, which prevailed in Arabic literary criticism, has its roots in the earlier discussion about whether language is based on social human conventionality, muwada'a, or on divine inspiration by God. This discussion focused on the verse in the Qur'an: "And He taught Adam all the names and then showed them to the angels saying 'inform me of the names of these if you have knowledge'" (II:31). The Mu'tazililites were very enthusiastic to establish theologically a strong connection between God's speech, the Qur'an, and human language. They, therefore, emphatically upheld the notion of human convention against the notion of divine inspiration. In order to interpret that verse of the Qur'an properly without contradicting their view they had to explain the term "names," asma', to include the 'concept' or the 'idea' within its referent. It was Al-Nazzam's student, Abu 'Uthman 'Amr b. Bahr al-Jahiz (d. 255/869), who explained:

   It is not possible for Him to teach Adam the name and put
   aside the meaning (ma 'na), to teach him the signifier (al-dalala)
   and not establish for him the signified (al-madlul
   'alayhi). The name without a meaning is a useless word
   (laghw), like an empty vessel ... A word (lafz) cannot be
   a name unless it comprises a meaning (ma'na). (7)

Al-Jahiz, whose treatise about Nazm al-Qur'an has not survived, also ridiculed judging poetry and favoring it due to its content. He emphasized that poetry should be evaluated according to the quality of its imagery, thus solving the dichotomy of form and content, lafz and ma'na, that long prevailed in Arabic literary criticism. He clearly states that, "meanings [ideas] are to be found on the highways and byways [everywhere] and are easily accessible to Arabs and non-Arabs, to Bedouins as well as town-dwellers." (8) He lays more emphasis on the construction; for him, poetry is an art of articulation and casting, and a process of artistic presentation. What al-Jahiz emphasized, i.e., the importance of construction, nazm, over the abstract ideas, ma'na, paved the way to reconsider al-Nazzam's theory.

Abu-Hashim al-Jubba'i (d. 321/973), another Mu'tazili theologian, tried to modify the theory of Nazzam by considering the importance of the expressive power of the wording, jazalat al-lafz, alongside the beauty of the meaning, husn al-ma'na, to claim the eloquence of a given discourse. If the meaning is shallow, rakik, the expressive power of the wording does not count. Eloquence of discourse, he adds, does not rely on the literary form or genre. An orator could be more eloquent than a poet and vice versa. (9) It is obvious that al-Jubba'i was more concerned about two issues: to add the importance of wording to the concept of eloquence without, however, minimizing the supremacy of content or meaning thus modifying the theory of sarfa; secondly and more important, to exclude the poetic rhythm, awzan al-shi'r, from the definition of eloquence. By such exclusion al-Jubba'i tries to undermine the high position in which poetry was placed in the Arabs' minds. "The Qur'an is not poetry, and the Prophet was not a poet," is a statement that is repeatedly emphasized in the Qur'an against Arab allegations.

Although al-Nazzam's theory is refuted by the opponents of the Mu'tazila as well as by the Mu'tazila, it remained implicitly in the discussion. Judge Abu-Bakr al-Baqillani (d. 404/1013), an Ash'ari theologian devoted a book to explain what distinguishes the Qur'an from all other texts including earlier holy texts. He starts by refuting al-Nazzam's theory that relates the miraculous, i'jaz, to one feature only. He points out that previous Holy Scriptures also contain some prophecies. Nevertheless, they do not fall under the heading of miraculous, mu'jiz. Therefore, the composite structure, ta'lif, of the Qur'an should be also considered as another factor. (10) The uniqueness of the Qur'an, according to him, is that it is neither poetry nor prose; it is a literary genre apart. No human literary criteria could be used or applied to evaluate it. Al-Baqillani even goes further to devaluate the great, well celebrated, pre-Islamic Seven Odes as inferior in comparison to the Qur'an. (11) The fact that Muhammad was illiterate stands as additional proof to the conclusion that it is the very nature of the speaker himself, God, that makes it impossible to speak of any kind of similarity or comparability between the Qur'an and any other text. As an Ash'ari, al-Baqillani emphasized the distinction between the 'eternal' speech of God, kalam Allah al-azaliyy al-qadim, and its manifestation in the present Qur'an, between the recited, matlu, and the recitation, tilawa. Nevertheless, inimitability according to him is related to the existent text as presented in our human tilawa not only to the eternal divine speech, matlu. (12) The devaluation of the exemplary Arabic poems in order to preserve the supremacy of the Qur'an seems to echo the negative attitude towards poetry established by the Qur'an. If the poetic creativity of the Arabs was so weak according to al-Baqillani's view, the challenge, tahaddi, is insignificant, l'jaz, according to Baqillani, is to be proven by enumerating three aspects: "One of them is that it contains information about the unseen, al-ghayb, and this is something beyond the powers of humans, for they have no way to attain it." The second aspect, al-Baqillani continues:

   is that it is well known that the Prophet was an unlettered
   man, ummi, who could not write, and who could not read
   very well. Likewise, it was generally recognized that he
   had no knowledge whatever of the books of earlier peoples,
   nor of their records, their histories, their biographies.
   Yet he produced summaries of what had happened [in history],
   told about mighty matters [of past days], and gave
   the important life histories from the creation of Adam. He
   also makes mention of the story of Noah, Abraham, all the
   other prophets mentioned in the Qur'an.

The Prophet, according to Baqillani:

   had no way to obtain knowledge of all this, save that of
   being taught.... The conclusion is that he did not obtain
   this knowledge save by aid from revelation. The third
   aspect is that the Qur'an is wonderfully arranged and marvelously
   composed, and so exalted in its literary elegance
   as to be beyond what any mere creature could attain.

So concludes al-Baqillani. (13)

Two ideas are significant in the discourse of al-Baqillani for the interest of our present article. First, his notion that the Qur'an presents a unique literary genre in itself, a notion that is adopted by Taha Husayn (1889-1973) when he declares that the Qur'an is neither poetry nor prose; it is Qur'an. Second, al-Baqillani's definition of the 'unseen', which includes the stories of the Qur'an is an important element for Khalafallah's argumentation.

The Mu'tazili al-Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar (d. 415/1025), in his extensive discussion of i'jaz, emphasized that eloquent expression, fasaha, is not related to either content or to style alone. Elaborating on al-Jubba'i theory of the synthesis of content and style, he related fasaha to the structure (or syntax) that includes both the 'position' and the grammatical 'function' of its lexicon. The intrinsic excellence of the Qur'an lies particularly in its outstanding quality of fasaha. Elaborating on al-Jubba'i's idea of the necessity of considering both the content and the style, he related fasaha to nazm, composition, structure or syntax. It entails joining words together in specific syntactic manner, al-dammu 'la tariqatin makhsusa, that considers three elements, i.e., the lexical meaning of the word, al-muwada'a, its 'position' in the structure, and its grammatical 'function'. He says:

   With composition, each word must necessarily have a
   [particular] characteristic, sifa. This quality may exist due
   to the conventional language involved in the composition
   [lexical choice], the grammatical function, i'rab, that is
   operative in it, or the position, mawqi'. And to those three
   categories there is no fourth. (14)

It is, therefore, the Qur'anic syntactic perfection that prevented the Arabs from responding by any act of literary matching, mu'arada, in spite of the indubitable occurrence of challenging, tahaddi. No intervention by God such as sarfa was required to inhibit the pagan Arabs from attempting to match Revelation. (15)

The famous philologist and literary critic 'Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani (d. 470/1078), an Ash'ari like al-Baqillani, was well-read in the works of 'Abd al-Jabbar. He wove 'Abd al-Jabbar's ideas into his own position and thesis. He was the one who introduced a detailed analysis, with abundant illustrations of prose and poetry, of the theory of nazm--syntax --in his well-known book Dala'il al-i'jaz (Proofs of Inimitability [of the Qur'an]). First, he establishes his refutation of the notion that i'jaz is confined to the 'content' rather than the style. His refutation is based on more solid ground than that of his predecessors. If it were the content, e.g., telling about the 'unseen' or future events, he argues, i'jaz would have been limited to the suras or the verses that convey information related to the 'unseen.' He affirms that i'jaz lies in every verse of the Qur'an, because the Arabs were challenged to produce a text resembling the Qur'an even if no more than one of the shortest suras. Al-Jurjani was also obliged, so it seems, to deal with the implicit contradiction in the view of one of the eminent Ash'ari theologians, al-Baqillani. He had to elaborate and widen his otherwise vague notion of composition, ta'lif, by being open to learn from the Mu'tazilites, especially from al-Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar. The basic point in al-Jurjani's theory of nazm, which he attributes to al-Jahiz, by way of re-interpretation and elaboration, its first articulation in the history of rhetoric, balagha, (16) is close to that of both al-Jubba'i and 'Abd al-Jabbar's synthesis of 'content' and style. But his extensive analysis and elaborate explanation of its details led him to uncover 'the laws of syntax', qawanin al-nahw.

His defense of the study of language andeloquence, bayan, implies logically that the study of poetry is essential, since it is the store house of language in its eloquent form. For al-Jurjani, the study of poetry reaches the degree of a religious duty. It is not any more a secondary knowledge, 'ilm wasila, as it is in theology; it is rather an essential and vital knowledge without which the light of God might be extinguished. Implicit in al-Jurjani's discourse is an essential principle of jurisprudence: everything that is needed for a Muslim to perform a (religious) duty is a (religious) duty in itself, kullu ma la yatimmu al-wajibu ilia bihi fahwa wajiban. It is, therefore, a religious duty to study poetry in order to understand what eloquence is and accordingly present an understandable explanation of the inimitability of the Qur'an. Without performing this duty, explaining the light of God (i.e. the inimitability of the Qur'an) is not possible to accomplish. Al-Jurjani states that:

   No thinking person intent upon a full appreciation of this
   essential Muslim doctrine [of i'jaz] can do without examining
   these matters. Study of the speech of the Arabs and
   their poetry is a necessary pre-requisite to understanding
   the linguistic phenomena that are inimitably employed in
   the Qur'an. (17)

   If we know that the direction, from which the proof
   [hujja] of the Qur'an emanates and appears and shines
   forth, is that it attains such a degree of eloquence that
   human power falls short of it and that it reaches an
   extreme [excellence] that is not [even] imagined, and that
   it is impossible for any one but he who knows poetry ...
   to appreciate that this is so, then anyone who would reject
   that is preventing God's proof from being known. (18)

In response to the objection that there are other means available to the believer to prove Qur'anic i'jaz, such as the mere knowledge of the Arabs' inability to produce mu'arada, al-Jurjani says:

   The proof of Muhammad's miracle remains over all time,
   baqiya 'ala wajh al-dahr, and can be verified by anyone
   of any era who wishes to acquire knowledge of it....
   What kind of a man would you be, if you withdrew from
   knowing the proof of God Almighty, and chose ignorance
   and lack of clarity about its existence to knowledge about
   it, and if imitation were more attractive to you, and
   reliance on the knowledge of others preferable to you? (19)

Thus attacking poetry and minimizing the importance of the study of poetry on the ground that it is forbidden, or at least makruh (religiously undesired though not forbidden), equals "wanting to extinguish the light of God." (20) Furthermore:

   Ignorance of the science of rhetoric, balagha, whose laws
   can be only reached through the study of poetry makes it
   impossible to attain any knowledge of the Qur'an and its
   interpretation. This may accordingly result in inadequacy
   or even incompetence in interpreting and commenting on
   the text of the Revelation. (21)

   If only these people, when they ignore this matter, would
   leave it alone entirely, and since they claim that what is
   required of it is but a meager amount, would limit themselves
   to that meager amount and not take it upon themselves
   to make proclamation about it and get involved in
   what they know nothing about and not delve deeply into
   explanation, tafsir, and interpretation, ta'wil, then there
   would be only one tribulation. Then, if they did not build,
   [at least] they wouldn't be destroying, and if they didn't
   remedy, at least they would not be the cause of corruption.
   They do not do that, however. Rather, they bring
   about disease such as addles the physician and confounds
   the man of reason. (22)

Though this emphatic defense of the necessity of linguistics and rhetoric echoes previous statements expressed by al-Jahiz and others, it seems to carry more importance than it does in the previous traditional examples. By relating i'jaz to the laws of syntax, al-Jurjani explicitly emphasized more the literary nature of the Qur'anic text. His emphasis is based on the empirical fact that the composition of both the Qur'an and human texts are governed by the same linguistic rules (qwanin al-nahw). Nevertheless, the difference between one text and another in terms of eloquence lies in the level according to which these laws are perfectly employed. The laws of syntax, nazm, are to be uncovered through the study of poetry, which means that only a literary critic is entitled to investigate the features of the Qur'an's supremacy. (23)

Modern Context

It was Muhammad 'Abduh (1848-1905) who published the first critical edition of al-Jurjani's two famous books and used them as textbooks in teaching 'Arabic rhetoric' at Dar al-'Ulum College, an educational institution that was established to combine traditional as well as modern disciplines in its curricula. 'Abduh's good knowledge of al-Jurjani's ideas is well reflected in his Tafsir al-manar. The literary method employed in 'Abduh's interpretation of the Qur'an is closely connected to his aim of providing rational understanding of Islam. But the questions 'Abduh had to deal with were more complicated than those limited to the issue of i'jaz. These questions would be formulated as follow: First of all, the question of modernity: is Islam compatible with modernity or not? How can a faithful Muslim live in a modern sociopolitical environment without losing his or her identity as a Muslim? Does Islam accommodate science and philosophy? Second, there was the question concerning the (dis)agreement between the divine law (shari'a,) that constitutes traditional society and the positive law that constitutes the modern nation-state: are modern political institutions such as democracy, election, and parliament accepted by Islam, and could they replace the traditional institutions of shura and the elite, "ulama' (ahl al-hall wal-'aqd)? (24) The major concern of 'Abduh was to reopen the door of interpretation, ijtihad, in all aspects of social and intellectual life. As religion is an essential part of human existence, the only avenue to start real reformation is to reform Islamic thought. What the well-known Muslim reformist Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838-1897) brought to Egypt, among other things, was the idea of a new modern interpretation of Islam that appealed most to 'Abduh's attention.

A combination of classical rationalism and modern socio-political awareness was adopted by 'Abduh. Such a combination made it possible for 'Abduh to introduce a semi-rational interpretation of the Qur'an. The most important contribution of 'Abduh is his insistence that the Qur'an is not meant to be a book of history. Qur'anic narrative, therefore, should not be taken as historical documents. Historic incidents, mentioned in the Qur'anic narrative, are presented in a literary style to convey lessons of admonition and exhortation. (25) Concerning the stories of the Qur'an, 'Abduh is very clear about the difference between 'historiography' and the Qur'anic stories. Historiography is a scientific field of knowledge based on inquiry and critical investigation of the available data such as reports, testimonies, memories, and geographical or material evidences. The Qur'anic stories, on the other hand, are meant to serve ethical, spiritual, and religious purposes. They might be based on some historical incidents, but the purpose is not to provide knowledge about history. This explains why names of persons, places and dates are not mentioned in these stories. Even if the story is about a prophet or about one of the enemies of a prophet, such as Pharaoh, many of the details are omitted. 'Abduh is clearly against the classical exegetic method which clarifies these obscurities, mubhamat. The importance of the story does not depend on that knowledge; it depends rather on the lesson of 'admonition' deduced from it. All these passages of 'Abduh's Tafsir al-manar are heavily quoted by Khalafallah in order to strengthen his argumentation in his thesis as well as in the dispute that followed. (26)

Khalafallah, relying on the distinction made in literary theory between history and literature, developed this clear distinction between history and the Qur'an made by 'Abduh. There is another important point 'Abduh emphasized in his Tafsir, which is taken by Khalafallah, as we will see. That is the fact that the Qur'an addressed primarily the pagan Arabs of the seventh century. Whatever seems irrational or contradictory to logic and science in the Qur'an is to be understood as reflecting the Arabs' vision of the world. Literary figures of speech like 'metaphor' and 'allegory' are used in Tafsir al-Manar to present rational explanation for all miraculous events and deeds mentioned in the Qur'an. All the Qur'anic verses referring to superstitions like witchcraft, the evil eye, or satanic touch, had to be explained as expressions of what the Arabs used to believe in. The Qur'anic verses about sending the angels down from heaven to fight against the kuffar are explained by 'Abduh as an expression of encouragement. They were meant to provide comfort to the believers in order to enable them to gain victory. (27) The idea that the Qur'an addressed basically the mentality of the pagan Arabs of the seventh century is taken as the point of departure in Khalafallah's thesis. It was through both Taha Husayn and al-Khuli that some of 'Abduh's achievements were developed.

Taha Husayn strongly emphasized the peculiar and very unique aesthetic dimension of the Qur'anic style, i.e. its i'jaz, by emphasizing its literary nature as a literary genre in itself. (28) As a literary historian and literary critic par excellence he claims that the Qur'an is neither poetry nor prose; it is Qur'an. Husayn, furthermore, considers the Qur'anic story concerning the coming of Abraham, his wife Hajar, and his newborn child Ishmael to Mecca, an oral narrative that existed before the revelation of the Qur'an. Husayn states that the story was invented long before the revelation of the Qur'an. It was meant to ease the tension between the pagan Arabs, the original inhabitants of Yathrib, and the Jewish tribes who came to settle in the city. The Qur'an used the story not only to situate Islam in the context of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but also to establish its priority as a monotheistic religion. Taha Husayn's point was to emphasize that this story should not be understood as conveying historical reality according to which some assumptions concerning the linguistic situation in the Arabian Peninsula were unquestionably accepted. (29) Although this was only one point in his line of argumentation in questioning the authenticity of the whole body of pre-Islamic poetry, it was the straw that broke the camel's back, as the proverb goes. Taha Husayn's book created a heated dispute, even though he considered the Qur'an the most reliable and authentic source for understanding pre-Islamic social and religious life. As the dispute reached the Egyptian parliament, and allegations were made that the book was an insult to Islam, Taha Husayn was questioned by the Egyptian Public Attorney before going to trial. The public Attorney declared Husayn innocent of any criminal intention against Islam. (30) Nevertheless, Husayn had to suffer even though he removed that specific passage from the second enlarged edition of the book, which appeared under another title Fi al-adab al-jahili. It should be mentioned that Taha Husayn's writings were part of a total intellectual innovative movement associated with the new established academic institution, the National University or al-jami'a al-ahliyya. The writings of Ahmad Amin (1886-1954) about the history of Islamic civilization presented in his voluminous book Yawm al-Islam (31) is another example of the new trend of scholarship in the new academic institution. Reconsidering the history of Islam in general, and the Prophet's biography, sira, in particular, from a critical perspective was one of the essential concerns of the new movement. This movement was definitely influenced by the nineteenth-century interest in history, especially the history of Islam and the life of its Prophet. Nevertheless, it has influenced the Christian biographical approach to the Prophet. The biographies of the Prophet written by Muhammad Husayn Haykal (1888-1956) (32) and Taha Husayn are considered by some Muslim scholars "one of the reasons behind the tremendous changes in the level of discussion about the Prophet's life." The discussion, according to this view, "shifted significantly from confrontation to dialogue." (33) Taha Husayn wrote many books about the early history of Islam, such as "Ala hamish al-sira (1943), Al-Fitnah al-kubra (1974) and later Al-Shaykhan.

The Champion of Tajdid: al-Khuli

When Amin al-Khuli started his career the winds of tajdid (renaissance) were permeating life in Egypt. He applied the method of tajdid to the study of language (nahw), rhetoric (balagha), Qur'anic interpretation (tafsir) and literature (adab). (34) It is not easy to determine which of these four fields of scholarship presents the ideal model of al-Khuli's methodology of tajdid, but he considers that Renaissance always starts, as history has proved, by innovation in arts and literature. (35) Such innovation in arts and literature is vital to develop the intellectual and aesthetic consciousness of the Egyptian people in order to be able to achieve a real comprehensive Egyptian Renaissance. (36) New inspiring literature needs a new literary method that elucidates its structure and explains the way it functions. Such a method entails fresh study of language and rhetoric, hence the necessity of tajdid in these two disciplines. As long as Renaissance or tajdid implies moving and awakening, it should begin with a thorough and intensive study of the old tradition in every field of knowledge. Al-Khuli's motto is "the first step for any real innovation is to fully analyze tradition" (awwalu al-tajdid qatlu al-qadimi bahthan); (37) otherwise the result will be loss not reconstruction (tabdid la tajdid). (38) If the study of literature in the past, as well as the study of language and rhetoric, were executed for religious ends, this should not be the case now. (39)

The literary study of the Qur'an is not, for al-Khuli, a matter of choice, since the Arabs' acceptance of it is based on Qur'anic literary power and supremacy. (40) The literary method should, therefore, supersede any other religio-theological, philosophical, ethical, mystical or judicial approach. (41) At this point, it is important to mention that 'romanticism,' or to be accurate the Arabic version of it, was the dominant literary theory at that time. (42) Via that theory al-Khuli developed the connection between the study of language, rhetoric, and literature, on one hand, and Qur'anic interpretation, tafsir al-Qur'an, on the other. If the classical theory of i'jaz was based on the classical notion of balagha, this notion should be replaced by the modern theory of balagha that establishes a relation with literary criticism. This relation demands another connection to psychology, a relation that is parallel to the relationship between literary criticism and aesthetics. (43) The study of balagha should then focus on the study of the literary style and its emotional impact on the recipient/reader. (44) Its objective should be then to develop the aesthetic awareness of both the writer and the reader; it should be renamed as fann al-qawl (the art of discourse). (45) Only the literary approach to the Qur'an, through the modern theory of literature, could uncover its i'jaz, which is basically expressive and emotionally provocative (i'jaz nafsi). (46) Two disciples among al-Khuli's direct students--besides his wife Bint al-Shati' (d. 1999)--who applied the literary method in Qur'anic studies, became very famous. Those are Khalafallah and Shukri 'Ayyad. But it should be also mentioned that Sayyid Qutb the famous ideologist of recent Islamic fundamentalism started his writings about the Qur'an by applying a similar, however rather impressionistic, literary method. This can be seen in his Al-Taswir al-fanni fi al-Qur'an and Mashahid al-qiyamah fi al-Qur'an as well as his tafsir, Fi zilal al-Qur'an.

Khalafailah: the Premises and Problems

In his Masters thesis "Jadal al-Qur'an" (The Polemics of the Qur'an), which was supervised by al-Khuli, Khalafallah applied automatically the principles of the literary method as suggested in al-Khuli's comment on the article "'tafsir," in the Arabic translation of the first edition of the Encylopaedia of Islam, which was then included in his Manahij al-tajdid. Khalafalla's Ph.D. thesis developed the method proposed by al-Khuli to some extent. The thesis, in its published version, consists of two parts, each of which is divided into several chapters in addition to the "Introduction," "Method," and "Conclusion." The "Preface" to the later published book is written by al-Khuli.

The first part is entitled "The Historical, Social, Ethical and Religious Meanings and Values," (Al-Ma'ani wal-qiyam al-tarikhiyya wal-ijtima'iyya wal-khuluqiyya wal-diniyya). It is divided into three chapters: the first is about "The Historical Meaning," the second is about "The Psycho-social Meaning," while the third is about "The Ethical and Religious Meaning." It is logical that the first chapter has to deal with the problematic issue concerning the relationship between historiography and literature, which brings out the more problematic issue concerning the historical validity, and accordingly the historical function in the Qur'anic narration.

The second part is entitled "The Art of Narration in the Qur'anic Stories" (Al-Fann fi al-qasas al-Qur'ani) and is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter deals with the general topic "Al-Qissa al-Qur'aniyya," the Qur'anic narrative, which is divided into four categories, i.e., the historical, the allegorical, the mythical and the "sin" story. The second chapter is devoted to "narrative unity" ("Al-Wahda al-qasasiyya"). While the third chapter deals with "Intentions and Purposes" ("Al-Maqasid wal-aghrad"), the fourth deals with the "Sources" ("Al-Masadir"). In the fifth chapter the author analyzes the "Elements of the Story" ("Al-'Anasir al-qasasiyya"), i.e., the characters, the actions, and the dialogue. The sixth chapter deals with the question concerning how far the Qur'anic narration contributed in the "development of the art of narration" in the history of Arabic literature.

As for method, Khalafallah seems to follow the methodological steps suggested by his professor. The first step is collecting the Qur'an stories. The second step is to rearrange these stories according to the chronological order of their revelation (tartib al-nuzul), in order to analyze and explain them according to their original context, i.e., the social environment, the emotional state of the Prophet, and the development of the Islamic message. (47) Such contextualization, Khalafailah affirms, will help uncover the original semantic level of the Qur'anic narration, the original level understood by the Arabs at the time of revelation. (48) It is worth noting here that Khalafallah does not apply the thematic study by collecting together the fragments of the stories mentioned in different suras; he considers every piece of narrative an independent story in itself. So, the story of Moses, for example, is not one story. Rather, each of the stories in which Moses is mentioned represents a narrative unit that should be studied on its own. A thematic analysis would violate the contextual dimension emphasized by Khalafallah.

It seems that Khalafailah had strong expectations to what might happen to him because of his approach. In his thesis, he strongly expresses how difficult it was to accomplish his thesis, and how he lays himself to jeopardy. Nevertheless, academic and scientific knowledge, he affirms, demands such a risk. (49)

Khalafallah refers to the difficulties that the commentators of the Qur'an, especially the theologians (al-mutakalimun) tried to tackle. Such difficulties are mainly caused by either imposing pre-established ideology on the Qur'an or trying to prove the historicity of its narration. In both cases the textual meaning of the Qur'an is ignored. (50) The Orientalists' discourse about the Qur'an, on the other hand, questions its historical authenticity on the ground that its stories contradict, or at least do not comply with, historical facts. (51) Studying the Qur'anic stories as literary narrative and not as historical documents, as the literary approach suggests, will make the question of historical authenticity irrelevant, or rather the wrong question. Quoting some remarks from classical sources, such as al-Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar, al-Zamakhshari and al-Razi, as well as modern sources, especially 'Abduh, Khalafallah emphasizes the conclusion that the stories of the Qur'an are allegories, amthal, that do not intend to convey historical facts per se. As amthal they belong to the category of mutashabihat or ambiguous. Because the classical commentators try to explain the ambiguity, they fill their books with data borrowed from previous religious traditions, isra 'iliyy at. The literary approach does not need such data, because it differentiates between the structure of the story, jism al-qissa, and its meaning. This differentiation is based on classical as well as modern explanation. The classical explanation, which is based on dealing with the stories as amthal, distinguishes in the structure of mathal, allegory, between the meaning, al-ma'na, and its implication, luzum; both are not necessarily identical. (52) The modern explanation is taken from the literary narrative dealing with some historical characters or some historical incidents, such as the character of the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, dealt with by Shakespeare, Bernard Shaw and Ahmad Shawqi, and Sir Walter Scott's novels. (53) The body of such stories seems to be historical, but the meaning, or the message, does not necessarily reflect history. The writer is entitled to enjoy freedom in using history in his literary composition; such a freedom is by no means allowed to a historian.

In addition to the above theoretical evidence there is Qur'anic evidence that proves the necessity of applying the literary approach. First of all, the Qur'an deliberately ignores mentioning not only the time and the place of the historical incidents in its stories, but also some of the characters. Second, in dealing with some historical stories the Qur'an selects some events and omits others. Third, the chronological arrangement of the events is violated. Fourth, the Qur'an sometimes relates certain actions to some characters and sometimes relates the same actions to different characters. Fifth, when the story is repeated in another chapter of the Qur'an, the dialogue related to the same character is not the same as in the first case. Sixth, the Qur'an sometimes adds to the story some incidents that are supposed to happen chronologically afterward. All this evidence clearly indicates that the Qur'an exercises the same freedom exercised in literary stories dealing with history. (54)

The dilemma that seems to be the major concern of Khalafallah and his professor is the state of "schizophrenia" in which the Muslim mind became entrapped in the context of modernizing the socio-political structure of Muslim societies. (55) This dilemma is not limited to the question concerning historical authenticity, but it refers rather to the future of Islamic thought. It is remarkable that Khalafallah always uses the phrase al-'aql al-lslami, the Islamic mind, when he deals with some problems concerning the understanding of the Qur'an. For example, he explains how al-'aql al-lslami, being so concerned with the historical authenticity, is unable to recognize the ethical and spiritual dimensions of the Qur'anic stories. Al-'aql al-lslami is also unable to explain why the story is repeated or why the details are not the same when it is repeated. (56) More problematic is what seems to be contradictory to historical and scientific knowledge in the Qur'anic stories. (57) Al-Khuli, in his introduction to the second edition of al-Fann alqasasi (Cairo 1957), mentions the case of Taha Husayn--who states very clearly that the literary approach to the Qur'an is the only method that could save the Muslim intellectual from schizophrenia. The Muslim can truly believe in Islam and the holy Qur'an without necessarily believing that the stories mentioned in the Qur'an are historical sources. (58) Al-Khuli alludes to other cases in which a similar state of mind is reflected. Here, we can also refer to the attack against the writings of Qasim Amin (1863-1908), the advocate of women's rights who was influenced by 'Abduh's discourse. We can also refer to the case of 'Ali 'Abd al-Raziq in 1925 when he was condemned by an inquisition committee formed in al-Azhar to examine his book al-Islam wausul al-hukm. The literary approach in general is supposed to present a solution to free the Muslim mind from such a position of stagnation. "The Qur'an is not a book of science nor of history or political theory," so the discourse of tajdid tries to establish. The Qur'an is, in fact, a spiritual and ethical guiding book, in which the stories are used to fulfill its purpose. In other words, the Qur'anic stories are literary narratives employed to serve ethical, spiritual, and religious purposes. It is, therefore, a fatal methodological mistake to deal with the narrative of the Qur'an as purely historical facts. (59)

The Reception

The reception of the thesis was mixed and the media helped in turning it into a polemic. Al-Risala, the Egyptian weekly literary magazine represents perfectly the atmosphere of the debate and the role of the participants inside as well as outside the academic arena.

The first news about the thesis appeared in issue 741 (September 15, 1947, 1017). In this first public exposition the reader learns about the thesis, the names of the examining committee members, and their opinions. One of them, Ahmad Amin, refuted the thesis for its weak academic level. The other member, Ahmad al-Shayib, reported that the thesis contained some ideas which are contradictory to religious belief, namely, that the Qur'anic stories are literary narratives and do not present history. In the chapter about sources (masadir), i.e., the fourth chapter of the second part, the student claimed that the Qur'anic stories were taken from Biblical and mythological sources. It should be mentioned that in that specific chapter Khalafallah tries to indicate the difference between the Biblical narrative and the Qur'anic stories. His point of departure is that the Arabs knew the Biblical stories before the time of the Prophet. He refuses the Orientalists' notion that Muhammad had access to these stories or had learned them from some Christian slaves. (60) The article of al-Risala ends by raising the question of how it is possible to accommodate such a thesis in a university in a Muslim country.

Khalafallah responded with an article published in al-Risala's following issue, 742 (September 22, 1947, 1067-69), in which he corrected the information concerning the position of Ahmad Amin who, according to Khalafailah, did not refute the thesis, but only warned that it might bring about some difficulties. The rest of the article is devoted to clarifying his view and explaining that the literary approach has its basics in classical Islamic thought as well as modern thought, especially that of 'Abduh. In issue 743 (September 29, 1947, 1105-06), Ahmad Amin's report about the thesis is published, in which he anticipates possible dangerous consequences if the thesis is accepted. There is another article against the thesis by a Syrian shari'a judge, 'Ali al-Tantawi, accusing Khalafallah of not only being ignorant but also of being incompetent in expressing his ideas in Arabic (1106-07).

In issue 744 (October 6, 1947, 1121-23), we find the second response of Khalafallah devoted to explain the meaning of ustura (myth) as used in the Qur'an and to explain the difference between the body, jism, of the story and the meaning it conveys.

In issue 745 (October 13, 1947, 1146), there is a summary of a letter of protest submitted to the King of Egypt. Copies were also sent to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education, the Rector of the University, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and the Rector of al-Azhar, arguing for submitting both Khalafallah and his professor al-Khuli to an urgent court investigation for their crime against the Qur'an. The decision to make such an appeal was taken during a joint meeting on October 11, 1947, at the Society of Muslim Youth (Jam 'iyyat al-shubban al-Muslimin) headquarters. The letter was endorsed by the General Union of the Islamic Organizations that includes the Muslim Brothers Society, the Front of al-Azhar 'Ulama', the Society of the Muslim Youth, Muhammad's Youth, the Sunnah Supporters, the Society of Shari'ah, and the Society of Good Ethics.

In issue 746 (October 20, 1947, 1192), it is reported that Khalafallah wrote to the Muslim Society newspaper that he was ready to burn his thesis by his own hands if there was any substantial evidence that it included anything contradictory to Islam as expressed in the Qur'an. He furthermore said that he was ready to debate publicly with Ahmad Amin on the pages of al-Risala. The editor of the Muslim Society newspaper comment was, according to that report:

   If the passages quoted from the thesis are true, it is not
   sufficient for the author to bum it by his own hand in public
   where all the students and the professors of the university
   are present. He should also repent and announce his return
   back to Islam. If the author is married he has to renew his
   marriage contract. It is not enough to bum the thesis.

The editor continues addressing Khalafallah:

   But most of all, you have to burn the devil that filled out
   your heart and dictated this nonsense to you. After burning
   the devil in your soul, you have to seclude yourself
   out of the Faculty and its Ph.D. into a place, where you
   weep and cry for being seduced by Satan and his party
   continuously until God accepts your repentance.

In the same issue (1194-95), there is another article against the thesis by Muhammad 'Alam al-Din, inspector at the Ministry of Education, who repudiates Khalafallah's claim that he is defending the Qur'an; he, furthermore, accuses him of causing more damage to the Qur'an than the strongest enemies have done.

The third response by Khalafallah appears in issue 747 (October 27, 1947, 1206-08), where he continues explaining the meaning of ustura, the position of the Qur'an towards it, and how this is related to the doctrine of i'jaz.

In issue 748 (November 3, 1947, 1221-22), the second article by 'Ali al-Tantawi entitled "The Last Word" ("Al-Kalima al-akhira") appears. He first refers to the letter of the Dean of the Faculty, 'Abd al-Wahab 'Azzam, published in some newspapers, in which the Dean explains the whole affair as an ordinary Ph.D. thesis presented by a student and refuted by the examiners' committee. According to the Dean's published letter, the matter is nothing more than a student's opinion that is found wrong by his professors. From what is written in the thesis, concludes the Dean, the student is an enthusiastic Muslim young man who exceeded the limits of ijtihad, trying to defend the Qur'an against the allegations of the atheists and non-Muslims. Although his intention is good, the thesis is rejected. Responding to the Dean's purpose to ease the tension, Tantawi rebukes the Dean's statement about the good intention of Khalafallah. From his position as a judge, claiming that he is capable of clearly distinguishing between blasphemy and faith, kufr and iman, Tantawi makes a severe statement:

   If either Abu Bakr or 'Umar--the first and the second of
   the four Most Guided Caliphs (al-Khulafa' al-Rashidin)--had
   written a thesis like that, they both would
   be condemned as committing kufr. They would have
   become Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab instead. (1222)

'Abbas Mahmud al-'Aqqad writes in issue 749 (November 10, 1947, 1225-26), an article about "Freedom of Opinion and its Responsibility" ("Hurriyyat al-ra'y wa-tabi'at al-ra'y"). He draws a clear-cut line between 'freedom of opinion and expression' in the cultural public sphere, where the individual bears his own responsibility, and the same freedom within academic national institutions such as universities where the responsibility is not individualistic, but rather national and collective. He, therefore, justifies the university decision to reject the thesis without denying the right of Khalafallah to publish it as a book on his own responsibility as an individual. Al-'Aqqad, a poet and literary critic, did not say a word about the validity or invalidity of the literary approach in Qur'anic studies. In the same issue (1234-36), there is another article by 'Abd al-Fattah Badawi (Department of Arabic Language at al-Azhar University) in which he accuses Khalafallah of ignorance and dishonesty, especially in quoting both 'Abduh and al-Razi in his first article in al-Risala. He claims that Khalafallah, in order to authorize his own claim, has intentionally twisted the meaning of what both 'Abduh and al-Razi say about the stories of the Qur'an.

Khalafallah responds to Badawi's allegations in issue 750 (November 17, 1947, 1268-70). In the same issue (1277) Tantawi, the Syrian judge of shari'ah, accuses Khalafallah of copying the missionary St. Claire, whose book Sources of Islam had been translated into Arabic as Masadir al-Islam. In issue 751 (November 24, 1947, 1290-92) appears the second article of Badawi in which he responds first to Khalafalla's comment on his previous article and, then, he discusses the notion of al-mutashabih as used by Khalafallah to include the Qur'anic stories. Badawi differentiates in the concept of mutashabihat between the terminological connotation, "ambiguous," and the lexical meaning, "similarities." He, accordingly and rightfully, disagrees with Khalafallah's interpretation of the classical categorization of the Qur'anic stories as mutashabihat, indicating that while the classical categorization refers to the lexical meaning, Khalafallah understands it in its terminological connotation.

In issue 752 (December 1, 1947, 1390) there is a report about an investigation committee formed by the Rector of the university to give a second opinion about the thesis. The committee members were 'Abd al-Wahab Khallaf, Zaki M. Hasan and M. 'Abd al-Mun'im al-Sharqawi, who agreed that the thesis contradicted the Qur'an, and they, therefore, expressed their support of the position taken by two in the Examination Committee, Ahmad Amin and Ahmad al-Shayib, who refuted the thesis. This left Amin al-Khuli as the only supporter of his student's thesis. (61)

Consequences

After several months of dispute, the university decided on October 13, 1947, not to accept the dissertation, and Khalafallah was transferred to another non-teaching job. For the supervisor, al-Khuli, the university decided that he should not be allowed to teach or supervise Qur'anic studies any more. The decision was based on the reason that al-Khuli was appointed to the chair of Egyptian Literature on October 6, 1946, and thus he was not supposed to teach or supervise Qur'anic studies. (62) Al-Khuli's students of Qur'anic studies were transferred to work under other supervisors. He continued his job as a university professor, allowed to teach only Arabic grammar, Arabic rhetoric and literature. A few years later, in 1954, al-Khuli was transferred--among about 40 university professors--to non-teaching jobs. Ironically enough, the decision was made by the new military system of the Free Officers Movement (Harakat dubbat al-ahrar) to cleanse the University from corruption.

It took about thirty years for 'Ayyad, the disciple of al-Khuli mentioned earlier, to decide to publish his Masters dissertation Yawm al-din wal-hisab fi al-Qur'an, (The Day of Judgment in the Qur'an), accomplished under al-Khuli's supervision during the same period of Khalafallah's thesis. In the introduction he explains why he was reluctant to publish his dissertation earlier He refers to the academic difficulties caused by public misunderstanding and narrow-minded reaction that faced the literary approach to the Qur'an in the forties. Very few readers only, he explains, were able to endure the method of employing linguistics and literary criticism enriched with knowledge of both sociology and psychology in Qur'anic studies. These difficulties discouraged him from the publication of his thesis then, but with the encouragement of colleagues and friends he felt that it became possible now to publish it as a book. (63)

What 'Ayyad did not mention is that after he had finished his M.A. studies, he had to comply with the university decision taken after the heated debate around Khalafallah's thesis. 'Ayyad had the choice either to continue Qur'anic studies under the supervision of another professor or to continue studying with Amin al-Khuli, but to work on a discipline other than Qur'anic studies. 'Ayyad was, like most of al-Khuli's students, so attached to his professor that he preferred the second option. (64)

As for Khalafallah, he obtained his Ph.D. degree two years later on another thesis, "Abu al-Faraj al-Asfhani wa-kitab al-Aghani." He taught at the High Institute for Arabic Studies (Al-Ma'had al-'ali lildirasat al-'arabiyya), affiliated with the Arab League. (65) His thesis, alFarm al-qasasi, enjoyed 5 reprints in Cairo alone (1953, 1957, 1965, 1972, and 1999). He also published other books including his two theses, Jadal al-Qur'an and Abu al-Faraj al-Asfhani wa-kitab aI-Aghani. (66)

The chair of Qur'anic studies in the department of Arabic Language and Literature remained vacant until 1972 when Nasr Abu-Zayd graduated and was appointed as a teaching assistant. It was the department committee decision, approved by the faculty committee, that the new appointed assistant should take 'Qur'anic Studies' as his major field of research in both his Masters and Ph.D. thesis. In 1981, Abu Zayd obtained his Ph.D. degree and was appointed assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1987 and to full professor in 1995. Because the methodology adopted by him in his academic writings is a development and continuation of the literary method, he had to face even more serious troubles than those that were encountered before. In 1993 in the context of the proceedings of his promotion to full professorship, academic allegations started to spread condemning his writings as heresy and apostasy. These allegations, which repeated literally the earlier accusation made against the Khalafallah thesis, reached the Egyptian Family Court. Some Islamist lawyers appealed to the court to annul the scholar's marriage to his wife on the ground that a non-Muslim male is not allowed to marry a Muslim female. Khalafallah was less unfortunate, simply because he was not married at the time he wrote his thesis. If he were, he would have faced a similar court verdict to that which declared Abu Zayd apostate on June 14, 1995, and decided, accordingly, that his marriage should be annulled. The Court gave as grounds for its judgement the following:

(1) In his books, the writer denied the actual existence of certain creatures, such as angels and jinn, referred to in the Qur'an.

(2) He has described certain images in the Qur'an about heaven and hell as mythical.

(3) He has described the text of the Holy Qur'an as a human text.

(4) He has advocated the use of reason to explain the concepts derived from the literal reading of the text of the Qur'an in order to replace them by modern, more human, and progressive concepts. He applies his method of rational interpretation particularly to the texts related to inheritance, women, the Christians and the Jews (ahl al-dhimmah), and women slaves.

The Basic Forgotten Question

It seems obvious from the above-mentioned discussion that the literary approach suffers from the absence of a new supportive theology. The dominant theology is basically the Hanbali, holding very firmly the notion of the Qur'an as the eternal word of God. The distinction made earlier between the eternal and the temporal aspects of the word of God seems to be absent in modern Islamic theology. This makes the literary approach vulnerable and easily condemned. It is even easier to turn the public against the scholars who adopt it; the people will be easily convinced that the literary approach presents not only a threat, but will also cause severe damage to the divinity of the Qur'an. There is no doubt that the literary approach does not by any means intend to damage the Qur'an or even to question its divine and holy nature. Its position is that religious texts, though divine and revealed by God, are historically determined and culturally constructed. As a "message" revealed from God to man through Prophet Muhammad, who is the Messenger of God and who is human himself, the Qur'an represents a communicative model that includes a sender and a receiver through a code of a linguistic system. Because the sender in the case of the Qur'an cannot be the object of scientific study, it is natural that the scientific introduction to the analysis of the Qur'anic text is through its contextual reality and culture. Reality means the socio-political conditions which embraced the actions of those who were originally addressed by the text, including the first receiver of the text, the Prophet. Culture, on the other hand, is the world of conceptions that are embodied in the language, the same language in which the Qur'an is embodied too. In this sense, to begin with the contextual cultural reality in analysing the Qur'anic text is, in fact, to start with empirical facts. Through the analysis of such facts a scientific understanding of the Qur'an could be accomplished. It should be clearly understood and needs no further proof to say that the Qur'an is a cultural product. The question is how to accommodate the Qur'an as cultural product within its divine nature as a text revealed by God?

This is definitely a theological question which recalls the very old dispute that erupted about the nature of Qur'an in classical theology. The Qur'an is God's Word; about that there is no disagreement among Muslims throughout the centuries. The disputed point, however, was whether the Qur'an is eternal or created (by God) and thus historical. This led to fierce dispute and even to the persecution and physical annihilation of the adherents of one or the other of the two positions. There was a great inquisition and persecution (mihna) for those who opted for the eternity of the Qur'an during the first half of the third century A.H. on the grounds that an eternal Qur'an compromises God's oneness, as there would be co-eternals. The debate started even earlier than that, however; the early supporters of the historicity of the Qur'an were the early victims. This was in the context of a new trend of thought, which started to emerge in response to the Umayyad political theology, that emphasized the creed of "predestination" to legitimize their political power. Three thinkers were executed because they opposed "predestination" and emphasized human free will and accordingly human responsibility. They all agreed on "justice" as one of God's divine attributes, which became an essential creed of the Mu'tazilite's system. These three early Islamic (eighth century A.D.) thinkers are Ma'bad al-Juhani, Ghaylan of Damascus and al-Ja'd b. Dirham. Not much is mentioned about their theses except for al-Ja'd, who is reported to have claimed that the Qur'an, God's Word, is not eternal but created by God. It is also reported that some Christian theologians had influenced the three thinkers. Because the line of the argumentation for their thesis is missing, some speculation might be possible within the very limited factual information available. Concerning the nature of God's Word, al-Ja'd might have thought that the notion of its eternity was in contradiction with the doctrine of the absolute unity of God: namely, that if the Qur'an and God are eternal, then God's absolute oneness is compromised. It should be, therefore, maintained that God's Word is created. Like God's justice and human responsibility, the createdness of God's Word became an essential part of the Mu'tazilite's system.

Since the end of the third A.H./ninth century the concept of eternity developed as the mainstream dogma. The intellectual debate concerning the nature of the Qur'an during the third A.H./nineth century was dissolved by the Caliphate's political decision. (67) For the sake of reopening the debate in our modern context, distinction must be drawn between the above-mentioned two trends of thought. It is so important to look at their respective theories concerning the origin of language and the relation between language and reality, on the one hand, and the significance of such theories to the issue concerning the nature of the Qur'an, on the other.

The theories supported by the Mu'tazilites are the more rationalistic ones. Their analysis of the relation between man, language, and the holy book concentrates on man as the addressee of the text, and on human society as the public to whom its teachings were directed. Language is a human invention because relating sound to meaning is a social convention. Language never refers directly to reality, but reality is conceived, conceptualized, and then symbolized by the sound system. This is exemplified by the fact that in Arabic, as in any other language, there are words without referent in reality: a word like 'anqa' (comparable with the English 'phoenix') does not refer to any existing reality. The Mu'tazila, therefore, saw the Qur'an as a divinely created action, and not the eternally existing text. Even in the Qur'anic language, the relation between the signifier and the signified existed only by human convention; and they maintained there is nothing divine in this relationship itself. They insisted that language was the product of Man mediated by a certain historical culture, and that the divine word respected the rules and forms of human language. For the Mu'tazila, there was a bridge between human reason and the divine word. (68)

The anti-Mu'tazila, on the other hand, held different views on language in general and God's word in particular. Language, according to their notion, is not a human invention but a divine gift to man. If the referent does not exist in the real world, it ought to exist in the metaphysical reality. Here the anti-Mu'tazila quoted some Qur'anic verses that would support their assumptions about the divinity of language when taken literally (Qur'an II:31.) The Mu'tazila, of course, favor a metaphorical interpretation of the verse. (69) As for the relationship between the signifier and the signified in the view of orthodoxy, God Himself created it. It is therefore divine. It was logically concluded that God's Word is not a created action but it is one of His eternal attributes.

It is worth noting that the choice in favor of one of the two trends has important implications for other doctrines of theology. The belief that the Qur'an is eternal implies, for instance, that God preordained any event mentioned in the Holy Book and leads to the idea of God's absolute predestination of human action. He who wants to deny predestination will believe the Qur'an to be created by God. And, to mention yet another example, those who advocate the doctrine of God's absolute unity and uniqueness (tawhid) and wish to take it in its strictest sense deny the existence of an uncreated, or eternal, Qur'an sharing eternity with God. The notion of an eternal Qur'an leads to strict adherence to the literal meaning of the text. (70)

The second question that faces the literary approach has to do with the validity of the Qur'an regardless of time and space, i.e., its validity as a message to all humans regardless of language, culture or ethnicity. How does the notion of the Qur'an as cultural product comply with its comprehensive validity? This question brings about the other dimension of the literary approach, which is always deliberately ignored by its opponents. This is the i'jaz dimension strongly emphasized by Taha Husayn, al-Khuli, Khalafallah and their followers. Being a cultural product is only one side of the text, the side of its emergence as a text. The other side of it is that the Qur'an has become a producer of a new culture. In other words, the Qur'an first emerged as a text from within specific socio-cultural reality embodied in a specific linguistic system, i.e., Arabic, and, second, a new culture gradually emerged out of it. (71) The fact that the Qur'anic text was understood and taken to heart has had irreversible consequences for its culture. Speaking about the Qur'an as a message brings about the fact that although embodied in the Arabic linguistic system, the Qur'anic text has its own peculiarities. As a unique text, it employs some special linguistic encoding dynamics in order to convey its specific message. These peculiarities were acknowledged by the Arabs and were admired even by some of those who fought against its message. From these peculiarities and the challenge imposed against the Arabs by the Qur'an itself to try to produce a text like its shortest chapter, the notion of the absolute 'inimitability' (i'jaz) of the Qur'an emerged.

It will always be necessary, however, to analyze and interpret the Qur'an within the contextual background in which it originated. Put differently, the message of Islam could not have had any effect if the people who firstly received it could not have understood it. They must have understood it within their socio-cultural context, and by their understanding and application of it, their society changed. The understanding of the first Muslim generation and the generations to follow are by no means final or absolute. The specific linguistic encoding dynamics of the Qur'anic text always allows an endless process of decoding. In this process the contextual socio-cultural meaning should not be ignored or simplified, because this level of meaning is so vital to indicate the direction of the implicit significance of the text. Knowing the direction of meaning facilitates moving from "meaning" to "significance" in the present socio-cultural context. It will also enable the interpreter to correctly and efficiently extract the "historical" and "temporal," which carry no significance in the present context. In other words, the contemporary interpreter can distinguish between circumstances and principles. As interpretation is the other inseparable side of the text, the Qur'an, being decoded in the light of its historical, cultural, and linguistic context, has to be understood within the code of the cultural and linguistic context of the interpreter. In other words, the deep semantic structure of the Qur'an must be extracted from the surface structure. Subsequently, the deep structure must be explained in a wording which is that of today.

This entails an interpretive diversity because the endless process of interpretation and re-interpretation cannot but differ in time. This is necessary because otherwise the message degenerates and the Qur'an will be subject to political and pragmatic manipulations. Since the message of Islam is believed to be valid to all human beings, regardless of time and space, diversity of interpretation is inevitable. But being aware of the distinction between the original contextual "meaning" and the "significance," and also being aware of the necessity that the significance is to be strongly related and rationally connected to the meaning, will produce a more valid interpretation. The "meaning" is almost fixed because of its historicity while the "significance" is changeable. The interpretation is only valid as long as it does not violate the above-mentioned methodological rules in order to jump to some "desired" ideological conclusions. If the text is historical though originally divine, its interpretation is necessarily human.

Conclusion

What impedes the development of a new modern Islamic theology that supports the literary approach of the Qur'an? It was 'Abduh who tried in his Risalat al-Tawhid to introduce a modern theology, but his method was neither critical nor creative, but rather eclectic. He decided to select out of the classical theological discourse what is considered "best" and "useful" for modern Muslims. He, therefore, combined together dogmas from different theological schools and synthesized them without being aware of the conflict between some of these chosen doctrines. As mentioned earlier, the choice of a certain classical doctrine carries with it its own implications. It was convenient for 'Abduh, for example, to combine the Mu'tazilite's doctrine of the Divine Justice (al-'adl) with the Ash'arite's doctrine of the Divine unity (al-tawhid) which is not the same as that of the Mu'tazilites. Unable to configure the contradiction and the conflict between the two parts because they are related to two different theological systems, he got confused about which doctrine concerning the nature of the Qur'an is to be the best and most useful choice. In the first edition of the book, 'Abduh adopted the Mu'tazilite's notion of the Qur'an as "created" but retreated in the second edition to that of the Ash'arite's position. (72) Was it the fear of provoking the most influential majority of the scholars of al-Azhar? Or was it the conviction of the Imam that has changed? Nothing is certain about this. But it is certain that the issue that has been politically closed since the ninth century has to be reopened. The discussion is not to be imprisoned in the classical context, though it is essential to critically analyse it following al-Khuli's motto about the first step towards tajdid, namely, to thoroughly research the past. Modern knowledge in all disciplines has developed far beyond the golden age of Islamic theology. In the field of textual analysis, in disciplines such as semantics, semiotics and hermeneutics, modern methodology is by no means comparable with what has been achieved in the history of Islamic thought. This is the real challenge facing the new theology to be formed in order to accommodate the literary study of the Qur'an.

Notes

(1) Cf. Manahij al-tajdidfi al-nahu wal-balagha wal-tafsir wal-adab (Cairo: GEBO, 1995), 97-98 and 124-25.

(2) Cf. Sa'fan, Kamil, Innahum yakrahun al-Islam: Hajma 'almaniyya jadida wa-muhakamat al-nass al-qur'ane (Cairo: Dar al-fadila, 1994), 11-15.

(3) For a detalled discussion about this issue see Yvonne Haddad, Contemporary Islam and the Challenge of History (New York: State University of New York Press, 1982), the fourth chapter, 51-53, in particular.

(4) Cf. J. Jomier, O. P., "Quelques positions actuelles de l'exegese coranique en Egypte: revelees par une polemique recente, 1947-1951," Melanges de l'Institut Dominicain Orientales du Caire 1 (1954): 39-72.

(5) When the early Arabs categorized the Qur'an as 'poetry' and accused the Prophet of composing it, the Qur'anic answer given to such an assertion and accusation is: "We have not taught him poetry; it is not seemly for him" (XXXV:69). When they said that Muhammad is nothing but a soothsayer the Qur'an replies: "By thy Lord's blessing thou art not a soothsayer neither possessed" (LII:29). In the context of that debate the nonbelievers claimed that the Qur'an was nothing but stories forged by Muhammad and falsely claimed to be revealed to him by God. Since it was nothing but a forged text, the non-believing Arabs thought it was easy for them to make a text like the Qur'an. Facing such a challenge, the Qur'an made its own counter challenge by asking them to bring forth "ten forged chapters like it" (II: 13). When the non-believers failed to respond to this defying challenge, the Qur'an--pretending to make it easier for them--decreased the challenge from 'ten' chapters to only 'one'(X:38). The last step was to indicate the absolute failure of the Arabs to challenge the authenticity of the Qur'an: "And if you are in doubt concerning that We have sent down on Our servant [Muhmmad] then bring a chapter like it, and call your witnesses, apart from God, if you are truthful. And if you do not--and you will not--then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and idols, prepared to unbelievers" (II:23-24). All translations in this article, unless otherwise stated, are by the author.

(6) Cf. Shahrastani (Abu al-Fath Muhammad b. al-Qasim), Al-Milal wal-nihal, on the margin of Ibn Hazm, AI-Fisal fi al-milal wal-ahwa' wal-nihal (Cairo: n.p., n.d.), vol. 1, 64; Al-Khayyat, Al-Intisar fi al-radd 'ala ibn alRawindi, ed. Neiburg (Beirut: n.p. 1957), 28-29.

(7) Rasa'il al-Jahiz (Cairo: Matba'at al-Khanji, 1964), vol. I, 262, translation by Margaret Larkin, The Theology of Meaning: 'Abd Al-Qahir Al-Jurjani's Theory of Discourse, (New Haven, Conn.: American Oriental Society, 1995), 33. For more detailed discussion cf. Nasr Abu Zayd, Al-'Ittijah al'aqli fi al-tafsir [The Rational Exegesis of the Qur'an], 4th ed. (Beirut: Dar al-tanwir lil-tib'a wal-nashr, 1998), 71-82.

(8) "Al-ma'ani matruhatun fi al-tariq ya'rifuha al-'arabiyyu wal-'ajamiyyu wal-badawiyyu wal-qarawiyyu" Kitab al-Hayawan, ed. 'Abd al-Salam Muhammad Harun, 2nd ed. (Cairo: Matba'at Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi, 1966), vol. 3, 131.

(9) Al-Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar, Al-Mughni fi abwab al-tawhid wal-'adl [vol. 16: I'jaz al-Qur'an], ed. Amin al-Khuli (Cairo: Wizarat al-thaqafa, 1960), 197.

(10) Cf. 'I'jaz al-Qur'an, on the margin of al-Suyuti's Al-Ittqan fi 'ulum al-Qur'an, 3rd ed. (Cairo: Matba'at Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi, 1952), vol. 1, 43-44.

(11) Al-Suyuti, Al-Ittqan fi 'ulum al-Qur'an., vol. 1, 150-54.

(12) Al-Suyuti, Al-Ittqan fi 'ulum al-Qur'an., vol. 11, 169.

(13) Translation with some alteration is of Arthur Jeffery in his edited Islam: Muhammad and His Religion (New York: The Liberal Arts Press, 1958), 55-57.

(14) Al-Mughni, 200.

(15) Al-Mughni, 247, 264 and 322 ff.

(16) Cf. Kamal Abu Deeb, Al-Jurjani's Theory of Poetic Imagery (Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1979), 59-61.

(17) Dala'il al-i'jaz, ed. Mahmud Muhammad Shakir (Cairo: Maktabat alKhanji 1984), 40-41. Margaret Larkin's translation, will be used, unless mentioned otherwise.

(18) Dala'il al-i'jaz, 8-9.

(19) Dala'il al-i'jaz, 10.

(20) Dala'il al-i'jaz, 8.

(21) Dala'il al-i'jaz, 41.

(22) Dala'il al-i'jaz, 32.

(23) Dala'il al-i'jaz, 8-9.

(24) The issue of Islam and modern knowledge, the basic issue addressed in 'Abduh's writings, was provoked by the French philosopher Ernest Renan (1832-1892) who claimed the absolute incompatibility between Islam and both sciences and philosophy. Whatever is labelled Islamic science or Islamic philosophy is, according to Renan, mere translation from the Greek. Islam is, as all religious dogmas built on revelation are, hostile to reason and freethinking. Against such severe, and rather insulting allegations against Islam, both al-Afghani (1839-1897) and 'Abduh responded in defence of Islam, relating the backwardness of Muslims to the misunderstanding of Islam. If Islam is understood properly and explained correctly, as was the situation in the golden age of Islamic civilization, Muslims would not have been easily defeated and dominated by the European power. The title of a very famous book by 'Abduh, Al-Islam din al-'ilm wal-madaniyyah, tries to prove that. 'Abduh was involved in another dispute against the French politician and historian Gabriel Hanotaux (1853-1944), who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs 1894 to 1898. Again, Hanotaux held Islam responsible for the backwardness of the Muslim world. "Yes indeed," writes 'Ahduh, "the Moslems have become backward compared with the other peoples of this world. They have fallen back into a state inferior even to that before Islam, which liberated them from their paganism. They have no knowledge of the world they live in and they are unable to profit from the resources of their surroundings. Now foreigners have come, who snatch these riches away from under their noses." Quoted and translated by J. G. Jansen, The Interpretation of the Qur'an in Modern Egypt (Leiden: Brill, 1974), 30.

(25) Muhammad 'Abduh, Al-A 'mal al-kamila, ed. Muhammad 'Imara (Beirut: A;-Mu'asasa al-'arabiyya lil-dirasat wal-nashr), vol. 5, 30f.

(26) For a more detailed account of 'Abduh's view about the Qur'anic narrative see Tafsir al-manar, vol. 1, 19-21, 210-11, 215, 229-30, 233-34, 271; vol. 3, 47-48; vol. 4, 7, 42, 92-93.

(27) Tafsir al-manar, vol. 9, 506-11.

(28) Fi al-shi'r al-jahili (Cairo: Al-Nahr lil-nashr wal-tawzi', 1996 [first published in 1926]), 20-26.

(29) Fi al-shi'r al-jahili, 33-35. It was C. Snouck Hurgronje who initially examined all the Qur'anic verses in which Ibrahim was mentioned in their chronological order. He concluded that Muhammad, on the occasion of his controversy with the Jews, pronounced the Old Testament patriarch as a hanafi and the first Muslim. So, it was not until after the Hijra (in 622) that the Qur'an maintained that Ibrahim, together with Isma'il, were the ancestors of the Arabs, built the Ka'ba and introduced the ceremonies of the Pilgrimage. Ibrahim--always according to Snouck Hurgronje-became only at this juncture the most important forerunner of the Arabian Prophet: Islam was able to claim, as being the religion of pure monotheism already propagated by Abraham, priority over both Judaism and Christianity. Hurgronje's theory was criticized by Edmund Beck on the ground that in three suras attributed to the third Meccan period (XIV:3541; XVI:120-3; VI:79, 161) there is already anticipated the role of Abraham which is characteristic of the Medinan period. This thesis of Snouck Hurgronje became more widely known through a supplement, which A. J. Wensinck added to the article "Ibrahim" in the Encyclopedia of Islam (first edition) and which provoked contradiction and denial, especially from Muslims after the appearance of the first volume of the Arabic translation of the Encyclopedia of Islam. It is obvious that the divergence that exists between the opinions of Muslims and non-Muslims over the Qur'anic stories in general, and over the figure of Ibrahim in particular, will remain unsolved: "The former consider that Abraham actually was in Mecca and, together with Ishmael, built the Ka'ba there and spread the pure monotheistic faith. Non-Muslims regard this as merely a religious legend. At the present stage of the dialogue there can be no reconciliation of the two points of view." R. Paret, "Ibrahim," Encyclopedia of Islam (new edition), vol. III, 980-81.

(30) A complete version of the trial report is reprinted in a special issue of the monthly magazine al-Qahira 195 (February 1996): 450-62.

(31) The first volume Fajr al-Islam appeared in 1928, and the second volume Duha al-Islam in 1933.

(32) He wrote, among others, two books about the Prophet's life; Fi manzil al wahy (1937) and Hayat Muhammad (1953).

(33) Jabal Muhammad Buaben, Image of the Prophet Muhammad in the West: A Study of Muir, Margoliouth and Watt (Leicester, UK: The Islamic Foundation, 1996), 317.

(34) Cf. Al-Khuli, Manahij al-tajdid fi al-nahu wal-balagha wal-tafsir waladab, in which he collected his basic papers explaining his method alongside some other papers applying the tajdid method.

(35) Manahij, 219.

(36) Manahij, 185, 195, 265.

(37) Manahi, 82, 128, 180.

(38) Manahij, 143.

(39) Manahij, 188.

(40) Manahij, 97-98, 124-25.

(41) Cf. J. G. Jansen, The Interpretation of the Qur'an in Modern Egypt, 65-67.

(42) Cf. Sayyid al-Bahrawi, Al-Bahth 'an al-manhaj fi al-naqd al-'arabi alhadith (The Search for Methodology in Modern Arabic Criticism) (Cairo: Dar sharqiyyat, 1993), which deals extensively and critically with four major influential books, i.e., Al-Diwan (1920), Fi al-shi'r al-jahili (1926), Muqaddimat Prometheus taliqqan [the Introduction to the Arabic translation of Shelly's "Prometheus"] (1946) and Fi al-thaqafah al-misriyyah (1955).

(43) Manahij, 144, 175, 182, 189.

(44) Manahij, 185.

(45) A title of one of al-Khuli's books first published in Cairo 1947.

(46) Manahij, 203-04.

(47) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an al-karim, 4th ed. (Cairo: Anglo-Egyptian Press, 1972), 14.

(48) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an al-karim, 15.

(49) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an al-karim, 17.

(50) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an al-karim, 2-5.

(51) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an al-karim, 6.

(52) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an al-karim, 56. The classical reference is al Qazwini's Sharh al-talkhis.

(53) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an al-karim, 57.

(54) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur' an al-karim, 60-63.

(55) Al-Khuli uses the term in his introduction to Khalafalla's book Al-Fann al qasasi fi al-Qur' an al-karim.

(56) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an al-karim, 37-40.

(57) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an al-karim, 40-41.

(58) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an al-karim, introduction, pages dal and ha'.

(59) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an al-karim, introduction, pages dal and ha'.

(60) Al-Fann al-qasasi fi al-Qur'an al-karim, 44. Specific reference is made to an Arabic translation of both Henry Smith's The Bible and Islam, first published in New York in 1897, and Richard Bell's The Origin oflslam in its Christian Environment, first published in London in 1926.

(61) Cf. the weekly Egyptian Newespaper Akhbar al-yawm, issues of October 25, November 1, and November 8. 1947. Al-Khuli continued to defend his student's thesis and the freedom of academic research in general, at least till he wrote the introduction to the third edition of Al-Fann al-qasasi fi alQur'an al-karim (1965)--less than one year before his death.

(62) The decision was made in response to a question made by a parliament member to the Prime Minister about the case and the university position. See Sa'fan, 38.

(63) Yawm al-din wal-hisab (Cairo: Dar al-wahda, 1980), 5.

(64) His Ph.D. thesis was about "Aristotle's Poetics and its influence on Arabic Rhetoric" (Kitab al-shi'r li-Aristu wa-atharuhu fi al-balagha al-'arabiyya).

(65) Khalafallah was involved in the Arab Nationalist movement that reached its peak in Egypt during Nasser's era. His political national orientation was colored by a special social ideology (Arab or Islamic socialism). He was one of the founders of the "The National Unionist Progressive Party" (Hizb al-tajammu' al-watani al-taqaddumi al-wahdawi, known as AlTajammu' [The Rally]), established in Egypt after the reintroduction of democracy in the 1970s. He acted as a senior member of the Central Committee of the party until his death.

(66) Other works by Khalafallah include: Drasat fi al-maktabah al-'arabiyyah (Studies in Arabic Bibliography); Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq wa-ara'uhu al-lughawiyyah wal-adabiyyah (Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq and his Linguistic and Literary Thought); Al-Kawakibi: hayatuhuh wa 'ara' uh (Al-Kawakibi: His Life and Writings); Al-Sayyid "Abdullah al-Nadim wa Mudhakkiratuhu al-siyyasiyyah (Al-Sayyid 'Abdullah al-Nadim and his Political Memoirs; 'Ali Mubarak wa atharuh ('Ali Mubarak and his Writings); Al-Qur'an wa mushkilat hayatina al-mu'asirah (Al-Qur'an and the Problems of Our Modern life); Muhammad wal-quwa al-mu'arida f[[ Macca (Muhammad and his Opponents at Mecca); Al-Qur'an wa aldawlah (The Qur'an and the State; Mafahim qur'aniyyah (Qur'anic Concepts); and Al-Qur'an wa 'ulumuh wal-hadith wa 'ulumuh (Qur'an and its Disciplines and Hadith and its Disciplines).

(67) It was the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil (822-861) who settled the dispute favouring the Hanbali's view, thus ending the mihna that was initiated by al-Ma'mun (786-833) who favoured the Mu'tazilite's view. Cf. "mihna," Encyclopaedia of Islam, second enlarged edition, vol. VII, 2ff.

(68) The "creation" of the Qur'an known as "khalq" or "huduth" in the writing of al-Mu'tazila can be found in different works of theirs. See: Al-Qadi 'Abd al-Jabbar, Al-Mughni fi abwab al-tawhid wal-'adl [vol. 7: Khalq alQur'an], ed. Ibrahim al-Ibyari (Cairo: Al-Mu'asasa al-misriyya al-'amma lil-ta'lif wal-tarjama wal-tiba'a wal-nashr, 1961) and J. R. T. M. Peters, God's Created Speech (Leiden: Brill, 1976).

(69) Cf. Nasr Abu Zayd, Al-'Ittijah al-'aqli fi al-tafsir, 70-82.

(70) J. R. M. Peters, God's Created Speech (Leiden: Brill, 1976), 3.

(71) Abu Zayd, N. Mafhum al-nass: Dirasa fi 'ulum al-Qur'an [The Concept of the Text: A Study in the Disciplines of the Qur'an] (Cairo: GEBO, 1990), 11f.

(72) Muhammad 'Abduh, Risalat al-tawhid [Treatise on Monotheism], ed. Mahmud Abu Rayyah, (Cairo: Dar al-Sha'ib, 1977), 13, 52.