نشریه قرآن پژوهی خاورشناسان (قرآن و مستشرقان)
سال پنجم شماره 2 (پیاپی 9، پاییز و زمستان 1389)

The present article consists of two parts:Part one is a summary the article, Muhammad (s), authored by Jewish Uri Rubin and published in Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān. The following consist of the main components of his article: A brief introduction on the Prophet (s), analysis of his names and appellations, discourse on revelation and Qur’an, the objectives of the Divine message, dissemination of the Divine message, the creed of the Prophet (s), his status compared to other prophets, his relationship with believers and unbelievers, the Qur’an and the Prophet’s lifestyle in the Meccan and Medinan eras. The author’s methodology in this article is systematic presentation of verses and inferences. Part 2 consists of an analysis of positive and negative points of the article. Some criticisms raised against the article are related to its structure whereas others are related to its content. Content criticisms include misunderstandings of the pronunciation and apparent meaning of verses, errors in interpreting verses, incorrect reasoning, conclusions and critiques on historical evidence. The main problems of the article are use of weak sources, bias and incorrect preconceptions, and unbelief in holiness and spirituality of the Prophet (s). Finally, this issue is elucidated based on authentic Qur’anic, Narrative, exegetic and historical evidence.

The term ummi (unschooled) is applied both in the Qur’an and in Islamic Narrations. In every case, it holds a different meaning. Ummi has been attributed to the holy Prophet (s) twice in the Qur’an. Ummi (unschooled) in the view of lexicographers and exegetes is a person who neither can write nor read. Consequently, it was believed that the Prophet (s), like other Arabs, could neither write nor read. In the first part of the article, the meaning of this term will be discussed based on lexicography books. Then the different views of religious authorities and exegetes on the term ummi are presented and the author’s view in this regard is presented with evidence. Orientalists hold different ideas about the Prophet (s) regarding the concept of ummi. Some posit that he was not unschooled to attribute a non-revelational source to the Quran. Various ideas of orientalists are presented here.

The present article introduces the different views of orientalists about the holy Prophet’s lifestyle. It also seeks to discuss the authenticity, compilation and basis of hadiths attributed to the holy Prophet (s). Orientalists such as Goldziher and Schacht are some of the first ones to have researched and authored books on the Prophet’s lifestyle and hadiths. First, the article examines and critiques their criticisms on the Prophet’s conduct. In addition, the prophet’s individual characteristics and methods of worship are investigated. The article concludes that their criticisms in relation to the Prophet’s conduct, his behavior, and his worship—such as fasting—do not take historical truths and the practical conduct of the Prophet (s) into consideration. Key terms:

This article has been written by Lynda L. Kern and published in Encyclopedia of the Qur’ān. Having analyzed the lexical and idiomatical sense of sahabah (companion), the author analyses the authenticity of the companions’ sayings and virtues. She then examines the word sahabah and its derivatives in the Qur’an, hadith and interpretation contexts and discusses some major companions and the greatness of the Muhajirun (immigrants) and Ansar (helpers). Likewise, she reviews some Shi‘ah and Sunni disputes about the companions and their differences in transmission of the tradition of Thaqalayn. The article has several shortcomings: First, the author has, in passing, mentioned several requisites of discourse on the companions and others she has left out completely. Second, she has focused on unnecessary discourses, which incite religious disunity. Third, she has raised most of the discourses from the Sunni viewpoint, whereas some of the ideas presented in this article are unacceptable to the Shi‘ah.

Diana Steigerwald has written an article titled Twelver Shi‘i Ta‘wil. Her theory is that the Shi‘ah has accepted the present Qur’an based on taqiyyah and believes that the names of the Shi’ah Imams were once mentioned in the Qur’an, but their names are not mentioned now. In order to prove her theory, she analyzes ta‘wil in the view of the Shi’ah. She also seeks to prove that the Shi‘ah hold that the Qur’an has different outward and inward meanings. She believes that the most inward interpretations may be found in Shi’ah belief. Of course, such exegeses revolve around the concept of wilayah (guardianship) and imamate (leadership). She posits that the Shi’ah believe some Qur’anic verses have been revealed regarding the Shi’ah and that understanding them is possible only through inward interpretation. Here, the author seeks to investigate the Steigerwald’s idea and explain Shi’ah beliefs about ta‘wil and the inward meaning of the Qur’an. She seeks to show that the inward meanings of the Qur’an are mentioned in narrations and both the Shi‘a and the Sunni accept them. Some of Steigerwald’s ideas about the Shi‘a and the Qur’an are incorrect or incomplete.

One of the most important historical discourses in the Qur’an is the subject of the Narration of Seven Letters. Muslim scholars and orientalists have raised different views on this subject.Ignaz Goldziher (1921), Regis Blachere (1973) and Theodor Nöldeke (1930) are celebrated orientalists who have expressed their ideas about the Narration of Seven Letters. These ideas are discussed in present article. Some discourses in this regard are “The Link between the Seven Letters and Disorder in the Text at the Time of the Prophet (s)”, “Different Qur’an Readings and the Narration of Seven Letters”, “Symbol of Muslim Salvation from Difficulties”. In retrospection, it is obvious that the Narrations of Seven Letters are questionable in authenticity and controversial in signification.