reynolds-the-quran-in-its-historical-context-2

120 Hani HayajnehSome general and introductory remarks on exegesis of ·the Qur'an 10The lexicon of the Qur'an and /:ladith have been a focal point for exegetes andcommentators since the time of the Prophet Mul;tammad. Medieval Muslim ·scholars generally understood that language is one of the main sciences that oneshould master before starting any endeavors of Qur' anic exegesis, as it is deemedto be the repository of the collective memory of the community members throughwhich interpretation takes place. Language, as a holistic system~ absorbs theexperience of the predecessors who utilized it and made it productive morphologicallyand semantically . 11Exegetes were of different social, cultural and linguistic backgrounds anddialectal spheres, a fact which sometimes influenced their methods of interpretation.12Ibn Qutayba (d. 276/899) states that not all Arabs are equal in identifyingforeign (ghar'ib) and ambiguous (muiashabih) passages. Certain exegetes haveknowledge of languages or dialects that others lack. 13 I believe that an increasedknowledge of the Arabian and Semitic languages dialects can yield a better understandingof the etymology of certain words in the Qur'an.Qur'anic science is an extremely specialized field of Islamic scholarship. Itrequires mastery and profound knowledge of multiple disciplines and tributarysciences, like exegesis, recitation, script, inimitability, circumstances of revela- ·tion, abrogation, Qur'anic grammar, unusual terminology, religious rulings andArabic language and literature. Scholars ofQur'anic exegesis tried to define somegeneral methodological approaches for explaining the verses of the Qur'an. Oneof them is the exegesis (tafs'ir) of the Qur'an by the Qur'an, followed by the sunnaof the Prophet, reports of his companions, Arabic language and, finally, "opinion,"if this does not contradict the other four sources. Other exegetes have takendifferent approaches, like a!-Tab arT for instance, who argued that the Qur' an mustfirst be interpreted according to /:ladiths of the Prophet. He takes a subtly different·position on the reliability of the Prophet's companions, disapproving of some ofthem and doubting their trustworthiness. In addition, he opposes the use oLpersonal opinion; although he applies his own interpretation in his tqft'ir, he wouldnot call it "opinion." 1410 For a rich and compact survey of exegetical efforts, see C. Gilliot, "Exegesis of the Qur'iin:_Classical and medieval," EQ, 2:99-124. and R. Wieland!, "Exegesis of the Qur'iin: Early modem .and contemporary," EQ, 2:124-42.II See Sizii Qiisim-Dirziir, "Tawii/ud al-nu0z70 wa-ishba' al-di/iila: Ta/biqiit 'alii taftiral-karim," A/if: Joumal of Comparative Poetics. Nr 8: Interpretation and Hermeneutics(al-hermimi{iqii wa-1-ta 'wit), 1988, (30-81) 37.12 See Mul)ammad ZinjTr, "AI-Tajdidfi manhajiyyat al-taftir bayna al-Zamakhshari wa-Sayyid Qufb(diriisa ta/rliliyya ta{blqiyya muqiirina)," Maja//at al-sharl'a wa-1-diriisiit a/-isliimiyya 45, 2001,(21-88) 26.13 See 'Abd al-' AI Salfm Mukarram, Gharib al-Qur 'iin fi 'a0r al-raszil wa-1-oa/riiba wa-1-tiibi 'ln. ·Beirut: Mu 'assasat al-Risiila, 1996.14 A kind remark by an anonymous reviewer of the present paper.Arabian languages as a source for Qur'anic vocabulary 121;;In Islamic tradition, Zamakhshari (d. 538/1144) is distinguished for his study ofexpressions and words in a wide range of Arabian languages. But one should keepmind that most of the lexical and linguistic stock of Arabic has not been docu­What narrators (ntwat) have conveyed of the poetic and prose texts was not.suJt!icJtent to represent the whole linguistic and cultural knowledge of the predecesi.e.the lexica of Classical Arabic in the medieval literature are incomplete. 15usage of the available Arabic lexica in the exegetical attempts has its ownWe have to bear in mind that the vast Arabic lexical inventorycontains, in addition to the normal linguistic applications and usages attested in•different morphological forins, a further category of isolated lexical items that· morphologically unproductive and became secondary. Rippin has rightlystated that in the exegetical literature the latter category is cited but without any.critical analysis of its application in interpreting a' certain Qur'anic verse orword. 16 Our continued lack of a historical etymological dictionary of Arabic. makes it difficult to determine the relevance ofthe lexica of medievalliteratureY.The problem of defining certain words in the Qur' an paved the way for a wide/range of variant explanations and judgments by Qur'an commentators. With the•passage of time, exegetical texts generated further texts and thus in some casesfind themselves at some distance from the original meaning of certainwords. 18 The task of interpretation thus becomes complicated. A commentator, asRichard Martin states, "must necessarily preconceive (vorverstehen) according to. the information he assembles about it and understand it in terms of his ownof understanding." 19 The problem, however, is that this horizon is notfor commentators in all historical stages to be adopted in their exegetical,:att:empts, especially in a case in which Allah is the r~vealer (speaker) (al-mii/:11) oftext and humankind is the addressee. According to Martin, sacredpresents generic symbolic figures (God, prophet, believers, unbelievers, Scholars must also be aware of the question of qirii 'iit ("readings"), which require us to considerthe morphology of words, and can lead us to different meanings ofQur'iinic terminology. On this·see, Sa' d al-Kurdf, "Budhiir al-diriisiit a/-di/iiliyya a/-tilii li-alfli> al-Qur 'iin a/-kar'im," Al-Turiith'arabi66, 1997, 16-34 ... . A. Rippin, "Qur'iin 78/24: A study in Arabic lexicography," JSS, 28:2, 1983, 311-20.· . .On this subject see F. Quinsat, "Le Co ran et Ia lexicographie historique de I' Arabie," in M. Kropp:(ed.), Results ofCol1/empormy Research on the Qur 'iin: The Question of a Historical Critical Textof the Qur'iin. WUrzburg: Ergon, 2007, (175-91) 178ff., and M.Kropp, "Athiopische Arabesken.· 'im'Koran: Afroasiatische Perlen auf Band gereiht, einzeln oder zu Paaren, diffuse verteilt oder an'·;'Glanzpunkten konzentrierf,'!..in M. Gross and K.-H. Ohlig (eds), Schlag/ichter: die beiden ersten: islamischen Jahrhunderte, Berlin: H. Schiller, 2008, (384-41 0) 387.. S. Qiisim ("Tawiilud al-nu0ii0,'' 37) stresses the importance of the collective memory as a dynamic' mechanism, which produced intertextuality, where one text is apt to generate an infinite number oftexts that are variations on it. In her opinion, each added text is an accumulation to the culture andchange a view which preceded it.See R.C. Martin, "Understanding the Qur' an in text and context," History of Religions 21 :4, 1982,(361-84) 363ff.