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Understanding the Qurʾanic Miracle Stories in the Modern Age

Isra Yazicioglu author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Pennsylvania State University Press

Published:4th Nov '13

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Understanding the Qurʾanic Miracle Stories in the Modern Age cover

Understanding the Qurʾanic Miracle Stories in the Modern Age explores the ways in which meaningful implications have been drawn from stories of miracles in the Qurʾan. Isra Yazicioglu describes the fascinating medieval Muslim debate over miracles and connects its insights with early and late modern turning points in Western thought and with contemporary Qurʾanic interpretation. Building on an apparent tension within the Qurʾan and analyzing crucial cases of classical and modern Muslim engagement with these miracle stories, she illustrates how an apparent site of conflict between faith and reason, or revelation and science, can lead to fruitful exchange.

A distinctive contribution to a new trend in Qurʾanic studies, this volume reveals the presence of insightful Qurʾanic interpretation outside of the traditional line-by-line commentary genre, engaging with the works of Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, and Said Nursi. Scholars of Islam, philosophy, and the intersection of science and religion will especially want to engage with Yazicioglu’s study.

“A significant contribution to our understanding of how and what scriptures signify.”

—David L. Weddle Journal of Qurʾanic Studies


“Yazicioglu’s monograph should and will be taken, in the years to come, as a reference point hard to be ignored in the interreligious and intercultural debate over the reconciliation of faith and science.”

—Stefano Bigliardi Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective


“An intriguing study not only of the Qurʾan but also of the reception history of the sacred text in light of the challenge of rationalism. Isra Yazicioglu's work serves as a useful reminder of how intellectual trends in each era have shaped our interaction with divine revelation in a way that is timeless—and also timely.”

—Omid Safi, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


“An important book that brings miracle stories from Islam into conversation with philosophy. Isra Yazicioglu takes us on a journey through Ghazali’s defense of miracle stories—and she reframes those stories in terms of modern philosophy, beginning with Hume, developing with Peirce (who reminds us that natural laws are not absolute but who nevertheless recognizes regularities in nature), and ending with Nursi (for whom miracles invite us to rethink our assumptions about natural causation).”

—Gavin Flood, University of Oxford


“A lucidly written volume from which students of philosophy and theology as well as the informed general reader can benefit.”

—Mushegh Asatryan International Bulletin of Missionary Research


“A most worthy and timely project, deftly executed and providing a valuable resource to anyone interested in how a range of philosophers, mediaeval and modern, have approached the miraculous.”

—Damian Howard S.J. Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations

ISBN: 9780271061566

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 23mm

Weight: 499g

232 pages