integrated encyclopedia of the qur'ān.pdf

Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur'n (IEQ): Raison d'tre and Project SummaryAuthor(s): MUZAFFAR IQBALSource: Islamic Studies, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Winter 2008), pp. 537-543Published by: Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, IslamabadStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20839144 .Accessed: 06/04/2014 19:43

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Islamic Studies 47:4 (2008) pp. 537-543

Profile

Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur'an (IEQ): Raison d'etre and Project Summary

'

MUZAFFAR IQBAL

'Uthman bin Affan 4* related that the Prophet ft said: 4The best among you is the one who learns and teaches the Qur'an.)

Bukhari, Sahih, Fada'il al-Qur'an

Conceived as a reference work based on fourteen centuries of Islamic

scholarship, The Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur'an (IEQ) strives to bring to the English-speaking world a unique blend of classical and contemporary Islamic scholarship on the Qur'an in an accessible and reader-friendly format.

It is meant for both Muslim and non-Muslim general readers who are looking for an authentic source of in-depth and scholarly knowledge on the Qur'an and its message, as well as academic scholars, whether specializing in the field

of Qur'anic studies or working more generally in other disciplines related to Islam.

The Qur'an, Muslims and IEQ

Today only about 20 percent of all Muslims understand the language of the Qur'an. This inability to directly access the multi-layered linguistic richness of

* General Editor: Muzaffar Iqbal; Associate Editors: Anis Ahmad; Afifi al-Akiti; Mohammad

Akram; Muhammad al-Ghazali; Gibril Fouad Haddad; Language Editor: Muhammad Isa Waley; Assistant Editors: Basit Kareem Iqbal; Zacharia al-Khatib; General Consultant: Adi Setia.


538 MUZAFFAR IQBAL

the original text of the Qur'an is often combined with a lack of sufficient

training in reading the Qur'an?even in translation?especially for those who are schooled through a modern Western-style educational system. Since the

Qur'an remains a fundamental part of their lives at so many levels of

existence, millions of Muslims look for different translations, exegeses, dictionaries, and translations of classical texts on the Qur'an in order to engage with it at a deeper level. These sources are useful to some extent, but since classical texts were not intended to be used without guidance, those readers who lack training in reading these texts are more likely to be confused than

enlightened. For instance, when one encounters thirteen different (and sometimes mutually conflicting) opinions on one verse in Jamic al-Bayan 'an Ta'wll Ayy al-Qur'an> Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari's (d. 310/923) monu mental tafslr, or when one finds seven different sayings of the Prophet H in reference to one verse in Isma'il b. 'Umar Ibn Kathlr's (d. 774/1373) Tafslr al

Qur'an al-Azlm, one needs to have the requisite training in tafslr and hadlth

methodology and scholarship to understand this wealth of material. Thus, The

Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur'an will be an invaluable source as a concise and authentic reference work which presents this vast repository of classical Islamic literature on the Qur'an in a language and manner that is accessible to

modern readers.

The Qur'an, non-Muslims and IEQ If the paths to the Qur'an have become restricted for Muslims due to barriers of language and education, they are almost completely blocked for a vast

majority of non-Muslims. This exclusion is a dual calamity: countless men and women are never really able to come to encounter the Words of the Creator, and also, as a result, a fundamental divide separates those who believe in the Qur'an and those who do not. In a way, this divide has existed ever since the

Qur'an was first revealed some fourteen centuries ago, but the contemporary situation is unlike the past; the rapid shrinking of the globe in so many realms of human existence?geographical, intellectual, political, social, economic?has

made it impossible for any community to live in isolation. Thus those who believe in the final revelation of the Creator and those who do not now live in close proximity to one another in so many dimensions of space and time. This has generated a great deal of friction and simultaneously a rapid growth of interest in the Qur'an by non-Muslims. As a result, the number of non

Muslims who have actually opened one of the many available translations of the Qur'an has increased exponentially in recent years. After reading the first few pages, however, a great many of these readers find it difficult to continue, for they encounter a text unlike any they have ever read.


INTEGRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE QUR'AN 539

They find neither coherence nor logical connections of the kind most familiar to them. Moreover, the imagery of the Qur'an remains utterly foreign to them even in the best of translations, not to speak of its miraculous totum simul?the simultaneous totality (al-wahdat al-mawdii'iyyah)--that creates the whole in every part. In the multi-layered coherence of the Qur'an, all its themes emerge in short passages, creating an inimitable interplay between its

imagery, oaths, parables, chronicles, warnings, and glad tidings. With so many elements of text coalescing, separating, reuniting, and reemphasizing each other at numerous levels, the result can be a total incomprehensibility and confusion.

Often all that a sincere non-Muslim reader gains out of his or her first encounter with the Qur'an is an overall sense of alienation. Those who attempt to understand its message through other books find few representative works in Western languages. Books by non-Muslim scholars are rarely of help, for they often serve only to enlarge the canon of Orientalist writing. Neither has the burgeoning field of contemporary academic studies made a significant positive contribution in this regard. Most Muslim scholarship on the Qur'an, on the other hand, remains inaccessible to non-Muslims as well as to

Westernized Muslims for reasons of language, style, basic premises, format, and content. The paucity of genuine resources available to such seekers

looking for an authentic source to understand the message of the Qur'an will be somewhat alleviated by The Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, which will provide scholarly material in a manner and format familiar to them.

The Qur'an, the Academy and IEQ Non-Muslim academic scholars have yet another dilemma when approaching the Qur'an. They cannot commit themselves to any position about the Divine origin of the Qur'an; their professional obligation is to maintain a certain detachment from the object of their study. Yet, in this case, the object itself makes it impossible to maintain such neutrality, for the Qur'an demands that one must settle the fundamental issue of its authorship before any further

interaction can occur: one must either accept or reject the Qur'anic claim that it is a Divine Revelation.

A corollary of whatever choice they make is their position regarding the

Prophet ^ . Acceptance of the Qur'an as a Divine Revelation simultaneously entails the acceptance of the Prophet Muhammad M as the final Messenger of Allah and the seal of prophecy. If they reject the Qur'anic claim, they simultaneously reject his prophethood and thereby find themselves in the difficult position of questioning his honesty and truthfulness?something that polemical writers have done for centuries. Such scholars, thus, find themselves


540 MUZAFFAR IQBAL

in an irresolvable dilemma: if they commit to a position on the Qur'an, they sacrifice their 'impartiality'; if they do not, they cannot legitimately interact with the text they are studying. This dilemma has been recognized by a number of academic scholars, who further admit that no resolution is available.

Against this historical background, IEQ brings to the academic world a

unique reference work, sharing with its sources the premise that the Qur'an is a revealed text while simultaneously maintaining scholarly norms and standards. Academic scholars will, therefore, welcome a reference work on the

Qur'an that presents, in concise form, fourteen centuries of Islamic

scholarship, even though they might not fully agree with its basic premises. Those who work in the specialized field of Qur'anic studies and have the

linguistic ability to directly access the vast corpus of Muslim scholarship produced over the last fourteen hundred years will also find IEQ appealing, for it makes available in one work materials and resources that are scattered over a vast body of sometimes inaccessible texts.

IEQ will serve as a useful starting point for new dimensions of intensive research, for it brings to the academic world hundreds of well-referenced sources from the reservoir of Islamic scholarship on the Qur'an. Researchers in disciplines other than Qur'anic studies, especially those without the

linguistic skills to directly access the formidable corpus of Qur'anic sciences in the original, will also appreciate IEQ because it fulfils one of their essential needs.

Key Features of IEQ The Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur'an draws its entries from the thematic structure of the Qur'an itself. The editors have striven to cover

all themes of the Qur'an and have assigned proportionate space to articles in relation to their relative importance in the Qur'an. This feature of IEQ becomes apparent from the "Thematic List of Articles" (to be included in Volume 7), which presents an index of articles under Qur'anic themes such as Faith (al-Iman) and its various dimensions; Deeds (al-a'mal); Calling toward Allah (al-da'wah ila 'Hah); Jihad (al-Jihad); Economic Relations [aUaldqat al-maliyyah); Juridical Relations (al-'alaqat al

qada'iyyah); Chronicles and History (alqasas wa 'l-ta'rikh); the Qur'an itself as a theme of the Qur'an (al-Qur'an); Other Religions (al-diyanat al ukhra); Sciences and Arts (al-'uliim wa %funuri)\ and the like. Muslim scholars have built a tradition of exacting scholarship over the past fourteen centuries which explicates each theme in detail, keeping in view its precise relationship with the overall message of the Qur'an. This



internal thematic unity of the Qur'an, often overlooked in works

produced by non-Muslim scholars, also provides a coherent schema for cross-references; it thereby facilitates a broader understanding of the

message of the Qur'an.

IEQ assumes serious engagement, but no prior knowledge of Arabic or of the Qur'an. It employs English-language lemmata with certain modifications and its intensive cross-referencing makes article location

easy.

IEQ integrates a large body of classical scholarship on the Qur'an and makes it available to contemporary readers. This integration takes place at several levels?from the conception of the overall framework to the individual entries?and results in a scholarly work that is simultaneously contemporary and classical.

The editors have identified approximately 650 entries and several hundred cross-references covering all concepts, places, and persons mentioned in

the Qur'an. Entries have been divided into five categories: special, major, medium, minor, and short according to their word count and assigned to Muslim scholars specializing in various fields of Qur'anic studies.

IEQ will bring to the English-speaking world a breadth of knowledge on the Qur'an seldom found in any single work in a Western language. It draws its scholarly acumen from fourteen centuries of Qur'anic

scholarship. It embraces a variety of perspectives present in the Islamic

exegetical literature, and provides a much-needed alternative to works on

the Qur'an by Orientalists as well as by contemporary non-Muslim academic scholars. Muslim and non-Muslim specialists focusing on

Qur'anic studies, scholars and students in all disciplines in academic institutions, and serious readers will discover an illuminating breadth of

knowledge in The Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur'an. Potential readership includes academic specialists in the field of Qur'anic studies, faculty in religious studies departments, researchers engaged with

any aspect of Islam, graduate students, Muslims interested in an in-depth

study of the Qur'an, and non-Muslims seeking specialized knowledge on

concepts, places, and person mentioned in the Qur'an.

Editorial and Organizational Structure

The Project has a two-tiered editorial structure: (i) an International

Advisory Board, consisting of senior scholars who are consulted and relied upon for general guidance and expertise; and (ii) an editorial board consisting of a General Editor, five Associate Editors, three Assistant


542 MUZAFFAR IQBAL

Editors, and one Language Editor. Please see the project website for

biographical notes < www.iequran.com >.

Originally conceived as a project of the Center for Islam and Science

(CIS), Canada, IEQ now enjoys the support of many universities, academic and research institutions from around the world. This growing support is indicative of a broadly felt need for such a work. Please see the

worldwide list of supporting institutions on the project website.

Established in 2000, Center for Islam and Science (CIS) is an independent research center dedicated to the promotion of research and diffusion of

knowledge on all aspects of Islam. CIS operates under an international

advisory board and a local executive committee. It is a registered not-for

profit organization in the province of Alberta and a registered charity with revenue Canada (Charity no. 86447 2899 RR0001). For more details on the work of the Center, please visit < www.cis-ca.org>.

In 2008, the Society for Qur'anic Studies (SQS), Pakistan, was especially formed for collaborating with CIS on this project. Registered under the Societies Act XXI of 1860 (Registration no. KAR-0277 of 2008-09), SQS functions as an independent research organization with its own board of trustees.

Competing Works

IEQ will directly compete with Brill's Encyclopedia of the Qur'an (?Q), which is by far the only other extensive reference work on the Qur'an in English. IEQ, however, differs substantially from EQ in its conception, organization of material, as well as sources. As noted above, IEQ will bring to the English speaking world a substantial amount of source material that is currently unavailable to non-specialists, much of which was not used in EQ. Since IEQ will be written from the perspective of Muslim scholars who affirm the divine

origin of the Qur'an, it will provide a much-needed counterbalance to the

existing non-Muslim scholarship on the Qur'an. From a non-Muslim

perspective, IEQ will be valuable because it will provide unique and valuable

insights into Muslim understandings of the Qur'an as well as a richness of source material largely inaccessible to people who do not know Arabic and other languages spoken in the Muslim world.

Various Editions of IEQ and Translations

Initially published by Al-Qalam Publishing , Canada, in

English, IEQ will also be printed and distributed in various parts of the Muslim world in partnership with local publishers; this will ensure its easy



and affordable availability throughout the Muslim world. Each of its seven volumes will be approximately 550 pages each. We hope to have German, French, Spanish, and Italian translations as well. We are already exploring ways to produce its Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, FarsI, Malay, and Bahasa Indonesian versions. IEQ will also be launched as an online work.

?t6a ttlB

Publication Schedule (Inshd'Allah): Volume 1 (A-B): Ramadan 1432/August 2011

ISBN: 978-1-926620-00-8 Volume 2 (C-E): Ramadan 1433/July 2012

ISBN: 978-1-926620-01-5 Volume 3 (F-H): Ramadan 1434/July 2013

ISBN: 978-1-926620-02-2 Volume 4 (I?O): Ramadan 1435/June 2014

ISBN: 978-1-926620-03-9 Volume 5 (P-So): Ramadan 1436/June 2015

ISBN: 978-1-926620-04-6 Volume 6 (Sp-Z): Ramadan 1437/June 2016

ISBN: 978-1-926620-05-3 Volume 7 (Indices): Ramadan 1438/May 2017

ISBN: 978-1-926620-07-7

Complete Set (7 Volumes): ISBN: 978-1-926620-06-0

Contact Information

Center for Islam and Science, 349-52252 Range Road 215, Sherwood Park, AB T8E 1B7, Canada.

Website: www.iequran.com Email: [email protected]

$ $ $


Article Contentsp. [537]p. 538p. 539p. 540p. 541p. 542p. 543

Issue Table of ContentsIslamic Studies, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Winter 2008), pp. 445-570Front MatterPrecedent in Islamic Law with Special Reference to the Federal Shariat Court and the Legal System in Pakistan [pp. 445-482]Towards Understanding Islamic Architecture [pp. 483-510]Falsifiability of Science and the Transcendentalism of Religion [pp. 511-526]ArchivesMuslim Education [pp. 527-536]

ProfileIntegrated Encyclopedia of the Qur'n (IEQ): Raison d'tre and Project Summary [pp. 537-543]

Book ReviewsReview: untitled [pp. 545-555]Review: untitled [pp. 555-557]Review: untitled [pp. 557-563]Review: untitled [pp. 564-566]

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