al-Mawsua al-Quraniyya al-Mutakhassisa
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- Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs
al-Mawsu‘a al-Qur’aniyya al-Mutakhassisa (The Specialized Quranic Encyclopedia) is a single-volume reference work on Quranic studies compiled by a committee of scholars and published by Egypt's Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in 1423 AH / 2002 CE .
Background and Preparation
The encyclopedia was produced as part of a broader project initiated by the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs under the Egyptian Ministry of Awqaf to release a planned sixteen-volume series of specialized encyclopedias covering various fields of Islamic thought . Following the project's introductory volume, al-Mawsu‘a al-Islamiyya al-‘Amma (The General Islamic Encyclopedia), al-Mawsu‘a al-Qur’aniyya al-Mutakhassisa was the first specialized work released in the series .
The volume opens with a preface by the Egyptian Minister of Awqaf, Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq . The preparation and editing of the encyclopedia were overseen by Ali Gomaa, with institutional contributions noted from Abd al-Sabur Marzuq and printing supervision by Abu Sulayman Muhammad Salih . Fourteen scholars contributed the encyclopedia's articles, predominantly professors from al-Azhar University, alongside faculty from Cairo University and Ain Shams University, including Ibrahim Abd al-Rahman Khalifah, Ahmad Fuad Basha, Jamal Mustafa al-Najjar, Jawda Muhammad Abu al-Yazid al-Mahdi, al-Sayyid Ismail Ali Sulayman, Abd al-Hayy al-Farmawi, Abd al-Sami‘ Hashim, Abd al-Azim al-Mat‘ani, Abd al-Ghafur Mahmud Mustafa, Ali Gomaa, Muhammad Bakr Ismail, Muhammad Rajab al-Bayyumi, Muhammad al-Sayyid Jibril, and Mustafa al-Shak‘a .
Structure and Scope
The work is organized into fifteen extensive thematic sections (madakhal) composed as detailed essays, aimed at providing documented and referenced treatments of both classical Quranic disciplines and broader thematic subjects . The main subject areas covered include:
- Divine Revelation (al-wahy)
- Occasions of Revelation (asbab al-nuzul)
- General principles and values in the Quran (al-mabadi al-‘amma wa-l-qiyam)
- The Quran and writings concerning it (al-Qur’an wa-ma yuktabu fih)
- Quranic surahs (al-suwar al-Qur’aniyya)
- Exegesis and exegetes (al-tafsir wa-l-mufassirun)
- Variant readings and reciters (al-qira’at wa-l-qurra’)
- The science of tajwid (‘ilm al-tajwid)
- Quranic rhetoric (balaghat al-Qur’an)
- Quranic sciences (‘ulum al-Qur’an)
- Rhetorical, contemporary, and scientific inimitability (al-i‘jaz al-bayani, al-mu‘asir, and al-‘ilmi)
- Quranic vocabulary (mufradat Qur’aniyya)
- Humanity in the Quran (al-insan fi al-Qur’an)
- Divine universal laws in the Quran (al-sunan al-ilahiyya)
- Translations of Quranic meanings into non-Arabic languages (tarjamat ma‘ani al-Qur’an)
The volume concludes with a table of contents and a comprehensive alphabetical index of entries and subjects .
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