al-Qawl al-Mutabar fi Bayan al-Ijaz lil-Huruf al-Muqattaa min Fawatih al-Suwar
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al-Qawl al-Muʿtabar fī Bayān al-Iʿjāz lil-Ḥurūf al-Muqaṭṭaʿah min Fawātiḥ al-Suwar (The Considered Discourse in Clarifying the Inimitability of the Disjoined Letters at the Openings of Surahs) is a study on the linguistic and rhetorical inimitability (iʿjāz) of the Quran by Iyas Muhammad Harb Al Khattab, published in its first edition in 2011 .
Subject and Scope
The book is subtitled A Study in the Linguistic and Rhetorical Inimitability of the Noble Quran (Dirāsah fī al-Iʿjāz al-Lughawī wal-Bayānī lil-Qurʾān al-Karīm) . It investigates the disjoined letters (al-ḥurūf al-muqaṭṭaʿah) that introduce twenty-nine surahs of the Quran, examining the extensive divergence among classical and modern Quranic exegetes (mufassirūn) over their meanings and significance .
The author intended the work to provide researchers with a consolidated assessment of existing interpretations, separating sound opinions from flawed ones and elucidating the causes of scholarly disagreement regarding their exegesis and interpretation . It also aims to demonstrate how these opening letters serve to preserve the Arabic language, maintain Quranic orthography and pronunciation, and provide textual evidence for the divine composition (naẓm) of the revelation and the prophet's unletteredness .
Methodology and Sources
The author bases his investigation on inductive analysis (istiqrāʾ) of Quranic surahs and the prophetic Sunnah, adhering to the foundational principles of Quranic sciences (uṣūl al-tafsīr and ʿulūm al-Qurʾān), Hadith methodology, and Arabic linguistics and rhetoric . He also integrates historical and archaeological material, including comparative linguistics and ancient epigraphy .
In addressing polemical claims, the work employs a two-tier approach: refuting detractors through rational argumentation without initial reliance on the opening letters, followed by demonstrating the intrinsic rhetorical proofs contained within the Quranic text itself .
Structure
The treatise begins with an introductory preface (Bayna Yaday al-Kitāb) and is organized into seven main chapters and two supplementary appendices :
- Chapter One: Purifying minds from misunderstandings regarding the interpretation of the letters, outlining scholarly approaches, imperatives for understanding the Quran, and the root causes of interpretive disputes .
- Chapter Two: The disjoined letters between exegesis (tafsīr) and interpretation (taʾwīl), categorizing two primary positions on their exegesis and nine positions on their interpretation, discussing opening letters specific to certain surahs, and addressing ambiguities in attempts to synthesize divergent views .
- Chapter Three: Signs of inimitability in surah openings, analyzing the historical context of revelation, an inductive reading of the surahs, and how the letters correspond to broader textual indications .
- Chapter Four: Significative dimensions of inimitability, their alignment with exegesis principles, and their role in preserving the Arabic language, Arabic script, and Quranic phonology .
- Chapter Five: Causes of textual alteration (taḥrīf) in prior revealed scriptures, categorizing them into primary underlying causes and secondary apparent causes .
- Chapter Six: Evidences and proofs of inimitability in rhetorical composition (naẓm al-bayān), including attempts to understand the text through compositional order and an inductive derivation of compositional rules in opening-letter surahs .
- Chapter Seven: The reality of inimitability manifested in the unletteredness of the Prophet .
The book concludes with two epigraphic appendices:
- Appendix One: Pre-Islamic inscriptions (Nuqūsh mā qabl al-Islām) .
- Appendix Two: Post-Islamic inscriptions (Nuqūsh mā baʿd al-Islām) .
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