The Qur’an as Matrix of Islamic Civilization and Society

Abstract

Societies are generally seen as producers of texts. Islam suggests that texts are producers of society, especially texts that record divine revelation from prophets and messengers. In the genre of literature that deals with the miraculous nature (i`jaz) of the Qur’an, various authors have sought to demonstrate the miracle of the Qur’an on various grounds: the compelling and matchless esthetic beauty of the Arabic; the quality of information and knowledge contained in the Book, either “scientific” or “religious”; and its miraculous transformative power, by which a new civilization was created through thework of devout believerswhose souls had been changed. The unprecedented advance in civilization associated with Islam’s spread is offered as sufficient proof. Thus Islamic civilization is seen to have an umbilical relationship with theQur’an as revelation and text. Just as theQur’an itself speaks of the umm alkitab, bringing motherhood fully into the divine economy, Muslims and their societies may be seen as children and progeny of the Qur’an, their mother. Such a sense is heightened when one remembers that themost frequently invoked attribute of God is Rahmah (mercy), whether as al-Rahman or as al-Rahim, and that these attributes share their etymology with the word rahim (womb), a symbol of unconditional and naturally given protection, nourishment, solicitude, and love. This veneration of and dependency on the written word is one of the hallmarks of what Hodgson termed “islamicate societies.” Islamic culture’s textual output is of course impossible to tabulate properly, covering as it it does a vast and heretofore unimaginable range of subjects, genres, and functions. This issue of the journal offers just a glimmer of the kind of truly dazzling variety of intellectual and artistic pursuits that found themselves simultaneously influencing and influenced by their respective social contexts.With Sebastian Günther’s article we are treated to a scholarly exploration of the highest caliber demonstrating, among other things, that impassioned learned debate about Islam’s true nature on the part of pious and devoted believers is not a recent development; rather, it is perhaps in the nature of Islam itself. Nevin Reda’s essay brings the Qur’an’s literary nature to center stage with her examination of the Qur’an’s intertextuality. The diversity with which Islamic texts and societies generate themselves is highlighted in Muhammed Rustom’s study of the work of William Chittick, one of the major scholars of Islamic thought today. Liyakat Takim takes us into the world of Shi`i fiqh, in a substantial analysis of the remarkably durable relationship between text and normative behavior so characteristic of Islam as such and Shi`ism in particular. We are especially fortunate to have the outstanding article by Ingrid Hehmeyer, in which the categories of “water,” “magic,” ...