The New Nation - Internet Edition

Mohammad Khan

Being the fountain-head of the Islamic worldview and the most authoritative source of Islamic principles and practices, it is not surprising that the Qur'an and its teachings have been extensively analysed and dissected by both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars. For example, Bruce Lawrence, professor of Islamic studies at Duke University in his book The Qur'an: A Biography (London, 2006) provides a brief overview of the revelation, compilation and interpretation of the Qur'an as the sacred scripture of Islam. Aimed primarily at lay readers, this book is an accurate and journalistic account of the Qur'an, its teachings and interpretation.

Likewise, Abdullah Saeed's The Qur'an: An Introduction (Abingdon, 2008) covers similar topics, albeit in a more detailed and scholarly way. A professor of Arab and Islamic studies at Melbourne, the author writes largely for a non-Muslim audience. By contrast, Ingrid Mattson's The Story of the Qur'an: Its History and Place in Muslim Life (Oxford, 2008) is a refreshing study of the role played by the Qur'an in the lives of Muslims. As well as explaining the history, compilation and main themes of the Qur'an, the author's analysis and exploration of its role in Muslim thought, culture and daily practices is very informative and enlightening. A professor at Hartford Seminary and a practising Muslim, Mattson's approach to the Qur'an is both scholarly and authoritative.

Unlike the aforementioned works, the book under review has been written by a prominent Italian Islamicist. Translated from Italian into English by Oliver Leaman (who is himself a prominent writer on Islamic philosophy), the book aims "on the one hand to offer a clear exposition of the form and content of the Qur'an, and on the other, to convey an understanding of the methods and directions that interpretation followed in the Islamic world. If we try to see first how Muslims have interpreted the meaning of their sacred text and how the classical science of interpretation may regard that text as open, then we can see in the contemporary world what theoretical possibilities may apply to our understanding of the text." (p11)

Consisting of five short but analytical chapters, the author begins by placing the Qur'an within the wider context of Islam as a religion and way of life. Whilst acknowledging that Muslims consider the Qur'an to be Divine revelation (kalam Allah) vouchsafed to Prophet Muhammad over a period of twenty-three years, the author, being heavily influenced by Alessandro Bausani (who was a prominent Italian Orientalist of the twentieth century), repeatedly questions the traditional Islamic account about the Prophet having been an unlettered Prophet (nabi al-ummi). Like other European Orientalists, Bausani wrongly translated the Arabic word 'ummi' as 'gentile' and this enabled him to question the traditional Islamic account of the Prophet having been unlettered. Campanini's failure to correct this raises as many questions about his own intellectual integrity and authoritativeness as Bausani's.

In Chapter 2, whilst exploring the question of the Qur'an's authorship and composition, the author argues that the Qur'an we have with us today is not considered by the Shi'a Muslims to be an authentic revelation because they have their own version of the Qur'an (p17). He uses this argument to prove the alleged "inconsistency of the Qur'anic text." (p64) This argument is, however, totally unfounded and baseless because both the Shi'a and Sunni Muslims have one and the same Qur'an. Nevertheless, the author is right to say that "The Qur'an is a Book that has to be recited. It is a Book that contains parables and edifying stories, moral suasion and stories of prophets and kings…Muslims, especially if they are Arab, claim that reciting the holy Book is to be suffused with the splendour and rhythmicity of the language. In effect, studying the suras of the Qur'an or at least the brief suras where the verses are concise and follow a real rhyming assonance, it is possible to verify the literary character of the Book." (pp22-23)

Chapter 3 provides a concise but critical analysis of the fundamental themes of the Qur'an. Unlike the 'revisionists' (such as John Wansbrough, Patricia Crone, Michael Cook, etc), the author thinks it is important to engage with the religious themes of the Qur'an in order to ascertain whether there is any variation among the Qur'anic commentators on those topics. Dismissing Francesco Gabrieli's superficial reading of the Qur'an, the author considers the Qur'an to be coherent and identifies many fundamental Qur'anic themes, including the conceptions of God in terms of His essence and actions, prophecy, politics, law and juridical prescriptions, and jihad. Although he briefly interprets these Qur'anic themes by invoking a combination of Muslim and non-Muslim sources, his unconventional reading of certain Qur'anic passages does leave a lot to be desired. For example, he wrongly argues that the first ten verses (ayah) of Surah 'Abasa accuses the Prophet (pbuh) of "having a sin of pride." (p63)

In Chapter 4, the author attempts to survey the vast field of tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) and usul al-tafsir (the science of Qur'anic exegesis). After distinguishing tafsir from ta'wil, he explores the works of classical scholars like Ibn Qutayba, al-Tabari, al-Zamakhshari, al-Ghazali, al-Razi, al-Suyuti and al-Kashi among others. In this chapter the author also takes issue with the 'revisionists' and argues that their unconventional approach to the Qur'an has been 'effectively challenged' by Neal Robinson (see his Discovering the Qur'an, London, 2003). Muhammad Mustafa al-Azami and Muhammad Mohar Ali also produced powerful critiques of the 'revisionist' methodology, although the author does not seem to be familiar with their works.

The last chapter of this book is the longest, consisting of 38 pages. Here the author attempts to analyse the problem of interpreting the Qur'an in the modern age. He believes the emergence of modernity, secularism and nationalism, and their subsequent impact on the Muslim world prompted Muslims to adopt different approaches towards the Qur'an. As such, some Muslims pursued the 'salafi' view; others took a 'literary' or 'scientific' approach, while yet others championed a 'radical' interpretation, not to mention the 'hermeneutic' line of scholars like Fazlur Rahman.

In conclusion, the author argues, "The evolution of contemporary commentary seems to point to the increasingly diffuse necessity for an open reading of the Qur'an. A mystic said: 'progressive revelation of the Qur'an is accomplished through the text, but not through its meaning.' The conquest of meaning is the challenge that presents itself to Muslims who now reflect on their sacred text." (p132-133) Despite its Orientalist slant, this is an interesting and useful book, not least because it provides a thorough overview of contemporary Western as well as Muslim thinking and scholarship on the Qur'an, and its role in the modern world.

(The Qur'an: The Basics, by Massimo Campanini, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp 157. 2007. HB. Muhammad Khan is author of The Muslim 100, Leicester: Kube Publishing)