Theory of Ṣarfa in Sayed Murtaḍā's Al-Mawḍiḥ; A Study on Its Importance, Foundations and Method of Proof

Although in the dominant thought of Islamic theology the theory of Ṣarfa has not been properly considered and not widely accepted as an aspect of the miraculous aspects of the Qur’an, Sayed Murtaḍā ‘Alamulhudā (d. 436 AH), a prominent Imami scholar in the fourth and fifth centuries, was a serious partisan of this theory and proved it in detail in his book Al-Mawḍiḥ ‘An Jahat 'I'jāz al-Qur’an (al-Ṣarfa). The present study, which deals with various aspects of Ṣarfa theory in Murtaḍā's Al-Mawḍiḥ, shows that Sayed Murtaḍā, as a tough advocate of the theory, contrary to common criticism on those support Ṣarfa, did not deny the miraculous aspect of the Qur’an at all. It also argues that he, despite certain attempts to eliminate him from the list of those believing in Ṣarfa, seriously advocated the theory in this book. This implicates to the importance and necessity of a scholarly and precise study on this theory and this book. In this article, Murtaḍā’s general rationalist approach and his detailed arguments are explained and his different foundations in the expression of miracle, challenge (taḥaddī), and conflict (mu'āraḍa) are introduced. It also recognizes his general methodology in proving Ṣarfa theory, which is to reject all other aspects of the miracle suggested by previous Muslim scholars other than Ṣarfa.