We are pleased to announce the launch of the Journal of the International Qur'anic Studies Association (JIQSA). In support of the association's mission of fostering scholarship on the Qur'an, the journal will publish twice annually. Articles will be rigorously peer-reviewed through a double-blind review process, with reviewers appointed by the Co-Editors and the international Editorial Board. The journal is being launched at a time of particular vitality and growth in Qur'anic Studies, and its primary goal is to encourage the further development of the discipline in innovative ways. Methodologies of particular interest to the journal include historical-critical, contextual-comparative, and literary approaches to the Qur'an. We welcome articles that explore the Qur'an's origins in the religious, cultural, social, and political contexts of Late Antiquity; its connections to various literary precursors, especially the scriptural and parascriptural traditions of older religious communities; the historical reception of the Qur'an in the west; the hermeneutics and methodology of Qur'anic exegesis and translation (both traditional and modern); the transmission and evolution of the textus receptus and the manuscript tradition; and the application of various literary and philological modes of investigation into Qur'anic style and compositional structure.
The Journal of the International Qur'anic Studies Association (JIQSA) is a peer reviewed annual journal published on behalf of the International Qur'anic Studies Association, a nonprofit learned society for scholars of the Qur'an. JIQSA welcomes article submissions that explore the Qur'an's origins in the religious, cultural, social, and political contexts of Late Antiquity; its connections to various literary precursors, especially the scriptural and parascriptural traditions of older religious communities; the historical reception of the Qur'an in the West; the hermeneutics and methodology of qur'anic exegesis and translation (both traditional and modern); the transmission and evolution of the textus receptus; Qur'an manuscripts and material culture; and the application of various literary and philological modes of investigation into qur'anic style, compositional structure, and rhetoric.
The Journal of the International Qur'anic Studies Association (JIQSA) is a peer reviewed annual journal published on behalf of the International Qur'anic Studies Association, a nonprofit learned society for scholars of the Qur'an.
Scriptural Hermeneutics and the Rhetoric of Moral Reform in the Caliphate of al-Ma'ūn
Exploring the subjectivity of the Qurʾān’s meaning in the world, this book analyses Qurʾānic referencing in Muslim political rhetoric. Informed by classical Arabic-Islamic rhetorical theory, the author examines Arabic documents attributed to the ʿAbbāsid Caliph al-Maʾmūn (r. 813-833), whose rule coincided with the maturation of classical Islamic political thought and literary culture. She demonstrates how Qurʾānic referencing functions as tropological exegesis, whereby verses in the Qurʾān are reinterpreted through the lens of subjective experience. At the same time socio-historical experiences are understood in terms of the Qurʾān’s moral typology, which consists of interrelated polarities that define good and bad moral characters in mutual orientation. Through strategic deployment of scriptural references within the logical scheme of rhetorical argument, the Caliph constructs moral analogies between paradigmatic characters in the Qurʾān and people in his social milieu, and situates himself as moral reformer and guide, in order to persuade his audiences of the necessity of the Caliphate and the religio-moral imperative of obedience to his authority. The Maʾmūnid case study is indicative of the nature and function of Qurʾānic referencing across historical periods, and thus contributes to broader conversations about the impact of the Qurʾān on the shaping of Islamic civilization. This book is an invaluable resource for those with an interest in Early Islamic History, Islam and the rhetoric of contemporary Middle East regional and global Islamic politics.
Vanessa De Gifis earned her Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
from the University of Chicago (2008) and is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at Wayne State University. Her research focuses on Qur'a-nic
hermeneutics, ...
