Mawsuat Ulum al-Quran
- Author died
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- Editions
- Dar al-Qalam al-Arabi
Mawsuat Ulum al-Quran (Encyclopedia of Quranic Sciences) is a modern Arabic reference work on Quranic studies authored by the Syrian scholar Abd al-Qadir Muhammad Mansur, designed to provide a comprehensive and simplified exposition of the various disciplines related to the Quran .
Purpose and Scope
The work was composed by Dr. Abd al-Qadir Muhammad Mansur, who served as the imam and preacher (khatib) of the Sayf al-Dawla Mosque in Aleppo . In the preface, Mansur explains that although Islamic scholars from the early generations (al-salaf al-salih) and later eras produced an extensive corpus of literature deducing and cataloging the sciences of the Quran, the majority of these works were written in a highly specialized academic style that remained difficult for general readers to access . Mansur structured the book as a simplified compendium (mawsuah quraniyyah mubassatah) intended to make the core concepts of Quranic scholarship accessible to a wider audience, resolve technical obscurities, and summarize the broader cultural and religious facets of Quranic studies .
Structure and Content
The author establishes divine revelation (al-wahy al-qurani) as the starting point and foundational pillar of the encyclopedia, asserting that all subsequent Quranic disciplines depend on an understanding of revelation and its mechanisms . The book defines revelation legally and textually, classifying it into four primary modes:
- Direct speech from God without an intermediary .
- Divine inspiration cast directly into the heart of a chosen prophet .
- True and veracious dreams (al-ruya al-sadiqah) .
- Mediated communication through the angel Jibril, termed "explicit revelation" (al-wahy al-jali), which accounts for the entire text of the Quran .
Mansur further analyzes the various physical and spiritual states (hayat) experienced by the Prophet during explicit revelation, detailing instances where the angel appeared in his true angelic form, assumed the likeness of a human, or delivered revelation imperceptibly while producing visible physical strain upon the Prophet .
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