The tafsir genre devoted to addressing perceived difficulties in the Qur`an

Abstract

Muslims consider the Qur'an to be the Word of God dictated to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by Angel Gabriel. The Qur'an itself provides a criterion for testing its source, saying, "Will they not then ponder on the Qur'an? If it had been from anyone other than Allah they would have found much inconsistency in it" (al-Qur'an, 4:82). This research focuses upon a type of exegesis known as tafsir mushkil al-Qur'an that developed over the course of Islamic history to respond to perceived inconsistencies and other difficulties in the Qur'anic text. The objective of the research is to identify and evaluate the methodology developed by Muslim scholars to deal with perceived contradictions within the Qur'an itself and between Qur'anic statements and established empirical facts. In order to do so, the concept of contradiction and its implications for propositions was examined from the point of view of logicians and the scholars of usul al-fiqh. Muslim scholars' methodology for dealing with perceived contradictions between Shari'ah texts was examined by reading classical and contemporary works of usul al-fiqh. Three classical and two contemporary tafsirs of the mushkil al-Qur'an genre were studied in detail. It was found that they tended to focus heavily on linguistic issues, which they handled capably. They paid far less attention to perceived contradictions between Qur'anic verses. Their treatment of the latter employed the tools of usul al-fiqh methodology, but some exegetes who wrote more general tafsirs sometimes dealt with the same issues more capably. These works were found to be of little use in addressing contemporary challenges to the empirical accuracy of Qur'anic statements. However, the usul' methodology for dealing with internal contradiction was found to be robust and useful, and it provides a foundation for a methodology of addressing empirical issues. Finally, the importance of this issue calls for the establishment of an institute in the Muslim world to deal with claims of inconsistencies in the Qur'an and challenges to the empirical accuracy of its statements and its incompatibility with so-called universal values.