Nahwa Mujam Tarikhi lil-Mustalahat al-Quraniyya al-Marifa
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Nahwa Muʿjam Tārīkhī lil-Muṣṭalaḥāt al-Qurʾāniyya al-Muʿarrafa (Towards a Historical Dictionary of Defined Quranic Terms) is a methodological study and project proposal by Moroccan scholar al-Shahid al-Bushaykhi, outlining the framework, sources, and procedure for compiling a chronological lexicon of definitions given to Quranic terms throughout Islamic scholarship .
Conceptual Framework and Purpose
Al-Bushaykhi defines the proposed work as a specialized lexicon that compiles all Quranic terms defined by scholars over history, arranged lexicographically in classification and chronologically in their definitions . He identifies "Quranic terms" as all abstract nouns (asmāʾ al-maʿānī) and derived qualitative attributes (asmāʾ al-ṣifāt) in the Quran—whether singular or compound, absolute or restricted, and occurring in explicit nominal form or verbal constructs reducible to nouns—along with common non-proper concrete nouns . A "defined term" is broadly considered any term whose concept has received any level of textual explanation or elucidation, rather than strictly requiring a formal definition (ḥadd jāmiʿ māniʿ) .
The author frames this historical dictionary as an essential preliminary step toward creating a holistic conceptual dictionary of the Quran (al-muʿjam al-mafhūmī), which aims to uncover the Quran's integrated conceptual system . The project sets out five core objectives:
- Documenting and encompassing the extensive definitions formulated across more than fourteen centuries .
- Assessing the nature and scale of individual and collective scholarly contributions across different eras and geographical regions .
- Tracing the historical and semantic evolution in the understanding of Quranic terms .
- Facilitating critical evaluation and sound synthesis of classical scholarly insights .
- Establishing a documented foundation for terminological studies of Quranic concepts .
Sources and Methodology
The work identifies five primary textual tiers for extracting historical definitions:
- Exegesis and Quranic sciences: Works of tafsīr, followed by treatises on polysemy (al-wujūh wa-al-naẓāʾir) and general Quranic sciences .
- Hadith commentaries and Hadith sciences: Commentaries on prophetic traditions (shurūḥ al-ḥadīth) and Hadith methodology .
- Other Islamic sciences: Foundational treatises in theology (ʿaqīda), jurisprudence (fiqh), and legal theory (uṣūl al-fiqh) .
- Specialized dictionaries: Terminological glossaries dedicated to Quranic vocabulary, Hadith terminology, or specific religious sciences .
- General Arabic dictionaries: Comprehensive language lexicons .
The proposed organizational structure consists of seven hierarchical principles: alphabetical ordering of root letters across the work; alphabetical ordering of terms within each letter after dropping the definite article (al-); alphabetical ordering of compound expressions (al-ḍamāʾim) under each headword; chronological arrangement of definers under each entry; chronological ordering of sources per definer; chronological ordering of definitions within a single source; and comprehensive indexing .
Stages of Execution
Al-Bushaykhi outlines three distinct practical phases for completing the dictionary:
- Collection and documentation (al-jamʿ wa-al-tawthīq): Surveying the designated source literature, extracting definitions, and verifying textual accuracy and bibliographical metadata .
- Review and auditing (al-murājaʿa wa-al-tadqīq): Verifying textual readings, filling lacunae, defining ambiguities, removing redundant duplicates, and correcting inconsistencies .
- Compilation and coordination (al-taʾlīf wa-al-tansīq): Classifying the audited material, organizing headwords and compounds, assembling the composite entries chronologically, and constructing indexes .
Applied Sample
To demonstrate the application of this methodology, the study includes an initial sample entry for the term al-taghyīr (التغيير; change or alteration), drawn from exegesis literature starting with the commentary of al-Tabari (d. 310 AH) . The sample traces historical commentaries and sub-phrases—such as taghyīr khalq Allāh (altering the creation of God) and taghyīr niʿmat Allāh (altering God's favor)—across figures such as al-Nahhas (d. 338 AH), al-Baghawi (d. 516 AH), Ibn Atiyya (d. 542 AH), Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606 AH), al-Baydawi (d. 791 AH), al-Shawkani (d. 1250 AH), and al-Tahir Ibn Ashur (d. 1393 AH) . The pilot survey highlights semantic development over time, such as how early exegetes predominantly treated taghyīr as a shift specifically from good to evil, whereas later commentators broadened it to denote transition generally, encompassing movement from evil to good as well .
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