Dirasat fi Ulum al-Quran - Muhammad Bakr Ismail
- Author died
- 1426 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Manār
Dirasat fi Ulum al-Quran (Studies in the Sciences of the Quran) is a treatise on Quranic sciences by the contemporary Egyptian scholar Muhammad Bakr Ismail (d. 1426 AH / 2005–2006 CE), designed to introduce the foundational disciplines essential for contemplating and interpreting the Quran .
Purpose and Composition
Ismail composed the work to provide readers with essential research and analytical discussions concerning the Quran, assisting them in contemplating its meanings, understanding its objectives, and implementing its guidance . In the introduction, he emphasized that contemporary Muslims need to break through the confines of blind imitation (taqlid) into the broad horizons opened by the Quran to derive solutions for complex modern challenges . Recognizing that the sciences of the Quran constitute an expansive domain that cannot be fully encompassed in a single volume, he deliberately restricted the book to core, pressing issues while engaging in independent analysis, verification, and deduction .
Method and Approach
The author established three guiding principles for the composition of the book:
- Refining and simplifying style: Presenting the material in clear, accessible language suitable for contemporary readers of diverse cultural and intellectual backgrounds, while explaining ambiguous terms . He avoided convoluted and artificially embellished texts, choosing either to quote straightforward passages directly with source citations or to paraphrase complex source texts accurately with clear attribution .
- Conciseness and academic precision: Maintaining brevity of expression, focusing on verified scholarly issues, and upholding academic accuracy and integrity .
- Thematic ordering: Arranging topics according to their importance, mutual relevance, and proximity, confining the scope to what is urgently needed .
Structure and Contents
The book is arranged into thirty thematic sections (mabahith), followed by a bibliography and an analytical index :
- Foundational concepts and transmission: The definition of ulum al-Quran and its historical development; names of the Quran; distinguishing the Quran from hadith qudsi and prophetic hadith; descents of the Quran (tanazzulat); piecemeal revelation (tanjim) and its wisdom; the first and last revealed passages; and directions of revelation .
- Textual divisions and compilation: Meccan and Medinan revelations (al-Makki wa al-Madani), their criteria, purposes, and benefits; the arrangement and count of verses, surahs, words, and letters; the revelation upon seven modes (sab'at ahruf); canonical readings and reciters (al-qira'at wa al-qurra'); the compilation of the Quran in memory and manuscripts across the prophetic, Abu Bakr, and Uthman eras; and the orthography of the Mushaf (rasm al-mushaf) .
- Hermeneutics and legal linguistics: Occasions of revelation (asbab al-nuzul); clear and ambiguous verses (al-muhkam wa al-mutashabih); disjointed letters at the opening of surahs (al-huruf al-muqatta'ah); the general and specific (al-'amm wa al-khass); the absolute and qualified (al-mutlaq wa al-muqayyad); the summary and clarified (al-mujmal wa al-mubayyan); homonyms (al-mushtarak al-lafdhi); and abrogation in the Quran and Sunnah (al-naskh) .
- Rhetoric and inimitability: Parables in the Quran (amthal al-Quran); oaths (uslub al-qasam); stylistic characteristics of Quranic discourse; and inimitability (i'jaz al-Quran), including its aspects, scholarly literature on the subject, the refutation of the doctrine of divine deflection (al-sarfah), and the inestimable measure of the text .
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