Textual Relations in the Qur'an
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Textual Relations in the Qur’an A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of Ph.D. Degree At the University of London By SALWA MOHAMED SELIM EL-AWA School of Oriental and African Studies University of London ProQuest Number: 10731712 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10731712 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract This is a study of textual relations in the Qur’an which explores the possibility of looking differently at the relations holding between the variety of topics that are usually encountered in the long Qur’anic suras. It adopts principles from linguistic and pragmatic theory, and attempts to explain textual relations in accordance with those principles. The main argument of the thesis is that the study of textual relations may be based on a search not necessarily for unity of theme, but rather for whatever types of relations do exist, how they work, and what linguistic tools can be used in directing the reader towards understanding them. The study is divided into an introduction and five chapters. In the first chapter I discuss the development of the view of textual relations in the field of Qur’anic studies and suggest the need for a new methodology that is more systematic and more theoretically guided. In the second chapter I explain the theoretical framework adopted and its implications for the study of the Qur’an, with particular focus on the role of context in understanding text and textual relations. The third and fourth chapters are devoted to analyzing two sample suras from the Qur’an and discussion of their problematic textual relations in the light of the linguistics and pragmatics of their texts. The discussion of the two sample suras covers many aspects of textual relations that are encountered elsewhere in the Qur’an, and the findings of the analysis are used to propose a generalized solution of the problem and a methodology and guiding mechanisms for further applications. The fifth and final chapter draws conclusions from the study and considers the implications of this research for tafsir in general and in understanding the structure of information and textual relations in the Qur’an in particular. Table of Contents Abstract Table of contents Acknowledgment Introduction 7-17 Chapter 1: Literature Review 18-43 Chapter 2: Textual Relations in Linguistic/Pragmatic Theory 44-68 Chapter 3: Textual Relations in Sura 33, (<al-Ahzab) 69-156 Chapter 4: Textual Relations in Sura 75, ( al-Qiydmah ) 157-247 Conclusions 248-253 Bibliography Tables: A. Chapter 3: 1. Passages of Sura 33 and their Main Content 77 2. Subject-Switch Markers in Sura 33 84-86 3. A Sample of Pronoun Turn-Taking in Su ra 33 91 -92 4. The Pronoun Turn in Passage 2, Indicates Division between the Passages 104-105 5. The Relation between Distribution of Information over the Passages and the Concepts Developed in theSura 132-134 B. Chapter 4: 1. Divisions of the Sura by Different Commentators 166-167 4 Acknowledgement Writing one’s PhD thesis is one of the most difficult experiences in one’s life. Those who contributed to my experience of writing my PhD know a lot about the difficulties involved, and have done a lot to make the process easier for me. I cannot mention them all by name, but I am deeply indebted to all of them. I am grateful to my supervisor, Professor M. A. S. Abdel-Haleem, Director of the Centre of Islamic Studies at SOAS. Professor Abdel-Haleem offered me die best academic guidance and the warmest fatherly support at every stage of this work. The time he gave to discussion of my work and the appreciation he showed to my changing circumstances made the completion of this thesis possible. I would also like to thank the Yamani Cultural and Charitable Foundation for making this research possible and for their generous support to me throughout the different stages of it. I am especially indebted to Thorunn Lonsdale for she has gone beyond her duties in supporting and encouraging me in the worst, as well as the best of times. Without her support I do not think this research could have reached so far. I owe special thanks to Billy Clark, who acted as a co-supervisor for one year, and then continued further to read my drafts, for so many useful insights into my linguistic analysis as well as my academic writing. I am indebted to professors, Neal Robinson and el-Sa‘id Badawy, who have given time and effort to reading some of the draft chapters and commenting on them. I am also indebted to a number of linguists who have contributed to with their ideas this work: Ruth Kempson who introduced me to pragmatics when this research was only a question, Deirdre Wilson who has discussed with me the first plan, and on whose ideas this research is based, Diane Blakemore, Nigel Fabb and Regina Blass whose ideas have largely influenced my understanding of many central issues, and to all the staff of the Department of Linguistics at SOAS, all of whom have been of great help during my first year. 5 I am grateful to Professors Mustafa al-Shak‘a, Salah Fadl, Ibrahim ‘Abdul- Rahman, ‘Iffat al-Sharqawy and to all my colleagues in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Ain Shams for the encouragement and support they provided me with when I was taking my first tentative steps in the study of Modem Linguistics abroad. I deeply regret that I can no longer convey my appreciation to my teachers, Professors ‘Aisha ‘Abdul-Rahman, (Bint al-Shati’), Lutfy ‘Abdul-Badi‘ and Ramadan ‘ Abdul-Tawwab, who first introduced me to the study of linguistics and encouraged me to apply my work to the Qur’anic text. I am also deeply indebted to Alison Barty, Nahed Baba, Rahmah Osman and Nagwa el-Ashmawy for their continuous moral support without which it would have been possible to carry on, and to Maureen O’ Rourke and Carol Bebawy for the hard effort they put into editing my chapters, always at a short notice. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to a great family with which I am blessed. My mother, Asmahan Bakir, the thought of whose life in London when she gave birth to me, and the memory of the last years of her life when she was writing her PhD thesis, were a continuous source of inspiration. My father, Mohamed El-Awa and his wife Amany el-Ashmawy for continuing to be there for me when no one else could help, and my husband Ilir Hida for so much tolerance and understanding at moments I myself thought could not be tolerated. Our son Mohammad Arben, has added to our life much more love and joy than he had to miss out on when I was too busy working on my thesis. Such contributions cannot be described in words. 6 Introduction The analysis of textual relations in the Qur’an, usually regarded as coming under the category of the study of Munasabah or the organic unity of the Qur’an, is an intersection between tafsJr and linguistics. There is considerable debate in the field of Qur’anic Studies as to whether or not the Qur’anic sura exhibits an organic unity. Scholars in the Muslim tradition are divided on this question, in spite of their general agreement on the principal theological and historical issues relating to it: the inimitability of the Qur’an and the authenticity of its text and order as instructed by the Prophet Muhammad. Some, like Mustafa Sadiq al-Raficy, Muhammad Rashid Rida, and more recently Muhammad Rajab al-Bayyumy, are convinced that although the Qur’anic sura may contain a wide variety of topics which are not necessarily related as themes they are unified by the fact that they all serve in conveying the preaching of Islam to mankind, in addition to the physical and spiritual unity that may be expressed in terms of the rhythms and rhymes dominating any particular sura. Other scholars argue that the text of each individual sura does indeed have one central idea to which the whole sura is devoted, and that the variety of topics/themes within the sura are employed to elaborate on this one central idea. Among these are Sayyid Qutb and Amin Ahsan Islahl, and more recently Muhammad Abdullah-Draz and Neal Robinson1. Using the modem methodology of textual analysis to establish their view, the latter two scholars have analyzed the text of Surat al-Baqarcih, the longest in the Qur’an, and have succeeded in identifying a number of major points which they claim are the central ideas around which all the themes in the sura revolve. Scholars from non-Muslim traditions, on the other hand, influenced by the huge loss of style and even meaning as the Qur’an is translated into European languages, approach the problem differently. Their main claim is that the Qur’anic text is generally incoherent, which is a phenomenon difficult to isolate from the doubts raised about the history of the writing down of the Qur’an .