Vol.: 02 Issue: 01 & 02: Investigating Alleged Linguistic Errors in the Qur’ān: Interpretations and Recommendations

Toha Toriq:

Doctoral Researcher, Princeton University, NJ, United States. Email: [email protected]

A. S. M. Toriqul Islam:

PhD, Professor, Department of Daʿwah and Islamic Studies, Islamic University, Bangladesh. Email: [email protected]

Keywords

Quran, Alleged Linguistic Error, Arabic Grammar, Non-Muslim.

JEL Classification:

I21, Z19

Abstract

The Quran, in its entire history to the present day, was subjected to the constant polemical attack of the Non-Muslim. One of the crucial aspects of those polemics revolves around alleged linguistic errors and inconsistencies in the Quran. Muslim scholars so far have offered some grammatical and linguistic interpretations to disabuse this errenoeus notion. This article questions the linguistic basis of those allegorical and figurative interpretations and demonstrates that undertaking a newer approach by expanding gamut of Arabic grammar could provide a more efficacious answer to those alleged errors. This article also attempts to establish a yardstick of platable and unpalatable interpretation and to what extent figurative interpretation may go without distorting the primary meaning. Finally, this article suggests some revisions in the answer to those questions based on the proposed new approach.