Conceptual variation of the term “Quran’ among principlists of the 7th and 8th centuries A.H with an emphasis on the parameter of ‘miracle’

In the field of principlism, the term ‘Quran’ has never had a fixed meaning. So far, the term has been used with different definitions and parameters. In the 5th and 6th centuries A.H, the Quran used to be referred to as ‘widely quoted’ and ‘voluminously recorded’, and these two definitions were preferred over ‘miracle’. In the 7th century, however, the perception of the Book was revised, and ‘miracle’ was raised as its major feature. The present study seeks to elaborate on the reasons as why ‘miracle’ emerged as a replacement for the previously used terms of reference to the Quran. The study is conducted through the paradigm shift method, namely reading history texts on the purpose of detecting the development trend of a concept. As the results indicate, the high frequency of criticism on the features ‘widely quoted’ and ‘voluminously recorded’ in the scientific dialogues of the 7th and 8th centuries was the major factor that made scholars shift to the feature ‘miracle’.