Description
Book SynopsisExplores the implications of Quranic miracle stories for the modern era. Examines the medieval Muslim debate over miracles, and connects its insights with early and late modern turning points in modern Western thought as well as contemporary Quranic interpretation.
Trade Review“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
Table of ContentsContents
Acknowledgments
Note on Transliteration
Introduction: The Qurʾanic Miracle Stories: A Puzzling Motif?
Part 1 A Medieval Muslim Debate
1 In Defense of a Literal Reading of Miracles: Ghazali’s Case for Contingency and Grace
2 A Cautious Approach to Miracle Stories: Ibn Rushd’s Case for Rationalism and Divine Wisdom
Part 2 Reframing the Debate on Miracles in Modern Terms
3 David Hume on Empiricism, Common Sense, and Miracles
4 Charles S. Peirce on Pragmatism, Science, and Miracles
Part 3 Contemporary Connections
5 Said Nursi’s Contemporary Reading of Qurʾanic Miracle Stories
Conclusion: Qurʾanic Hermeneutics in the Modern Age
Notes
Bibliography
Index
