Associate Professor of Al-Mustafa International University
Abstract
“Form and Structure of the Quran” is published in the second volume of Quran Encyclopedia of Leiden. Writer of this article, Angelika Neuwirth, has first made some introductory inspections regarding Quran’s arrangement and its formality under the title “methodology dilemma demonstrations”and has mentioned two apparently incongruous points in old and contemporary Quranic research. He then elaborately discusses some important subjects such as: “formality and the query of chapter (surah) as a Quranic unit”, “methodological results”, “Quran’s literal, stylistics and linguistic characteristics”, “classifying Quranic revelation periods”, “rhymes and structures of verses as a criterion for relative dating”, “secondary divisions between verse’s classes”, “rhythmic terms”, “structural elements of a chapter”, “swears”, “eschatology verses”, “genetic verses”, “stories of torment”, “debates”, “religious argumentations”, “injunction verses”, “different kinds of Meccan chapters” and “different kinds of Medinite verses”. At the end of the article, the critic cites and criticizes the writer’s most important statements and reinforces the idea of Quran’s collection during Prophet’s (peace be upon Him) era. He criticizes classification of verses and considers Quran’s resemblance to magician’s sayings to be incorrect.
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