al-Quran wa Naqd Mataain al-Ruhban
- Author died
- 1443 AH
- Editions
- Dar Al-Qalam
al-Quran wa Naqd Mataain al-Ruhban (The Quran and the Refutation of the Monks' Criticisms) is an apologetic work written by the Quranic scholar Salah al-Khalidi (d. 1443 AH / 2022 CE) to defend the Quran against contemporary Christian polemics and demonstrate its freedom from error.
Background and Purpose
The book is the twelfth installment in al-Khalidi's Quranic studies series, Min Kunuz al-Quran (From the Treasures of the Quran). The author composed it as a direct rebuttal to the 259-page polemical book Hal al-Quran Masum? (Is the Quran Inerrant?), attributed to a Christian clergyman writing under the apparent pseudonym "Abdullah al-Fadi". Al-Khalidi noted that al-Fadi's work served as a compilation and summary of various Christian missionary writings questioning the Quran, making a focused rebuttal of it an effective response to missionary polemics as a whole.
Al-Khalidi completed writing the book on Thursday, 28 Shawwal 1426 AH (1 December 2005 CE). He intended the work to provide Muslim readers with grounded answers to doubt-inducing questions actively circulated by missionary organizations in print and over the internet.
Content and Structure
The book addresses the 243 specific objections that al-Fadi framed in the form of questions aimed at alleging errors in the Quran. These criticisms are organized across ten categories:
- Geographical questions
- Historical questions
- Ethical questions
- Theological questions
- Linguistic questions
- Legislative questions
- Social questions
- Scientific questions
- Artistic and literary questions
- Questions regarding the life of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Methodology and Arguments
Al-Khalidi critiques al-Fadi for approaching the Quran with a biased preconception that it is of human origin rather than divine revelation. He also criticizes the polemicist's methodology for conflating the text of the Quran with the interpretations, individual errors, or myths reported by certain Quranic commentators (mufassirun). Al-Khalidi argues that the Quran is accountable solely for its own explicit text, whereas human interpretations remain distinct human understandings.
In responding to individual objections, the text and its editorial annotations draw upon classical and modern exegetical and polemical literature, including Mafatih al-Ghayb by Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, al-Durr al-Masun by al-Samin al-Halabi, Nazm al-Durar by al-Biqai, al-Intisar li-l-Quran by al-Baqillani, al-Rawd al-Unuf by al-Suhayli, Mutarak al-Aqran by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, and works by modern scholars such as Muhammad al-Ghazali and Mahmud Gharib.
Publication
The book was published in a single volume by Dar al-Qalam in Damascus, with its first edition appearing in 1428 AH / 2007 CE.
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