Ahmad Ahmad Badawi
- Died
- 1384 AH
- Born in
- -
Ahmad Ahmad Badawi (d. 1384 AH / 1964 CE) was an Egyptian scholar of Arabic literature and rhetoric and a lecturer at Dar al-Ulum, known for his works on Quranic aesthetics and classical rhetorical theory, including Min Balaghat al-Quran (From the Eloquence of the Quran).
Early Life and Academic Career
Badawi grew up in a household engaged with Quranic study; his father spent his life teaching and interpreting the Quran to students, and Badawi observed and participated in these discussions from his youth. He later joined the faculty of Dar al-Ulum as a lecturer in rhetoric and literature. He was also an active contributor to literary periodicals, publishing analytical articles and critical essays in journals such as Majallat al-Risala, including a critical review of Ibrahim Mustafa's grammatical treatise Ihya' al-Nahw (The Revival of Grammar).
Rhetorical Method and Scholarship
In his teaching and scholarly writing, Badawi advocated an applied, aesthetic approach to Arabic rhetoric rather than relying on abstract, rigid classifications influenced by formal logic and philosophy. In Min Balaghat al-Quran, he organized his analysis into two principal divisions—devoting the first to diction and stylistic composition, and the second to meanings and rhetorical concepts—while intentionally bypassing scholastic debates to focus on literary reception and taste. He argued that rhetorical figures and embellishments (badi') in the Quran were not superficial ornaments appended to speech, but essential components that directly serve the intended meaning. In his monograph Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani wa-Juhuduh fi al-Balagha al-Arabiyya (Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani and His Contributions to Arabic Rhetoric), he examined the foundational ideas of Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani, utilizing Jurjani's poetry and biographical traces to reconstruct his intellectual contributions to Arabic rhetorical theory.
Answer updated
List of Works
Min Balaghat al-Quran (From the Eloquence of the Quran) is a modern treatise on Quranic rhetoric that examines the literary and stylistic dimensions of the Quran. Rather than relying on the abstract, philosophical classifications found in later rhetorical manuals, the work approaches the text through an applied, aesthetic analysis.