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Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān

Book (6,589 words)

Article Table of Contents

• Kitāb and divine knowledge
• Kitāb and divine authority
• Kitāb and revelation
• Ahl al-kitāb — the people of the kitāb
• Umm al-kitāb — the «mother» of the kitāb
• The Qurʾān as kitāb
• Bibliography

There is probably no word more important to the understanding of the Qurʾān than kitāb and yet its meaning is far more complex than the simple and almost universal translation «book» would seem to imply. The Qurʾān uses the word 261 times, not only in describing itself but also in referring to earlier scriptures and to various other means God employs in dealing with creation (q.v.). The noun comes from the verb kataba (to write) and thus can be applied to written material in any form — it is used for a letter in q 27:28-9 and for a legal document in q 24:33 — or to the act of writing itself. It also has extensive metaphorical uses which lead to the conclusion that in the Qurʾān the term kitāb operates on several levels at once. Since it also carries the force of a verbal noun, in order to understand kitāb it is necessary to examine it together with the verb from which it derives. In qurʾānic usage the word represents a quintessentially divine activity and applies only rarely to human writing. The translation «scripture» does some justice to the connotations of kitāb but runs the risk of reading Jewish and Christian understandings of scripture into the Qurʾān which has its own unique conception of the phenomenon of God’s writing.¶

Kitāb and divine knowledge

It is a commonplace of Near Eastern religions that God keeps both an inventory of everything created as well as a detailed record of all human deeds. The Qurʾān addresses its hearers as though they are quite familiar with these ideas. «Did you not know that God knows all that is in heaven and on earth? Surely it is in a kitāb. That is easy for God» (q 22:70). Nothing is too small or too great to be comprehended by God’s knowledge (q 10:61) and nothing of the unseen remains unaccounted for in the kitāb (q 27:75). The birds and beasts, no less than humanity, have been recorded and nothing has been neglected in this inventory (q 6:38), not even their sustenance or habitation (q 11:6). The important thing to note in these verses about the inventory is the close connection between kitāb and knowledge. The kitāb represents what God alone knows: «And with him are the keys of the unseen (see hidden and the hidden). No one but he knows them, and he knows what is in the land and the sea. Not a leaf falls without his knowing it, not a grain in the darkness of the earth, nothing either wet or dry but it is in a kitāb that makes things clear» (q 6:59). This inventory is characterized as ḥafīẓ (guarding, watchful, remembering, q 50:4) like God (q 11:57; 34:21; see god and his attributes). It is also said to be mubīn (clear or clarifying, q 6:59; 10:61; 11:6; 27:75; 34:3), echoing a term that the Qurʾān uses of itself (q 12:1; 27:1). This adjective is not only very common (119 uses) but also very significant in the Qurʾān: true clarity is something only ¶ God is able to provide, since only God has full knowledge of all things.

Closely related to this inventory is the divine recording of human deeds and thoughts, both good (q 3:53; 5:83; 9:120-1; 21:94) and bad (q 3:181; 4:81; 10:21; 19:79; 43:19, 80; 78:29). Everything said and done by human beings is recorded (q 10:61; 54:52; 82:11) in order that retribution and recompense may be made on the day of judgment (see last judgment): «And the kitāb is put in place, and you see the guilty fearful of what is in it. They say, ‘What kind of a kitāb is this that passes over no matter either small or great without taking account of it?’ And they find all that they did confronting them. Your Lord treats no one unjustly» (q 18:49). «And each soul (q.v.) will be recompensed in full for what it has done» (q 39:70). Good deeds are said to be written «to people’s credit» (lahum, q 9:121; 21:94). This register is sometimes referred to as an imām (leader, example, authority): «Surely it is we who bring the dead to life. We record (naktub) what they send before, and the traces [they leave behind]. And everything we have kept account of in an imām that makes things clear» (q 36:12; see also q 17:71; 36:12). On one occasion (q 54:52) it is called zubur, a word often translated as «psalms» although it is actually a more general word for books, writings or scriptures. It is most often God who is depicted as recording (q 3:181; 4:81; 19:79; 21:94; 36:12; 45:29), but there is also talk of «envoys» (rusul, q 10:21; 43:80; see messenger) who write and of «guardians, noble scribes» (ḥāfiẓīn kirāman kātibīn, q 82:10-1) who know all that is done.

Although the record of deeds is often spoken of as a single entity, the final judgment is pictured as one in which each person will be handed the kitāb detailing his or her deeds. «On the day when we shall summon all people with their record ¶ (imām), whoever is given his kitāb in his right hand — those will read their kitāb and they will not be wronged a shred» (q 17:71; see also 69:19; 84:7). Anyone to be punished will be given the kitāb in the left hand (q 69:25) or behind the back (q 84:10). In another place, there seems to be a separate kitāb for each nation (q 45:29). The image of judgment is a commercial one — a final settling of accounts. Like the inventory of creation the record of deeds is characterized as mubīn (q 10:61; 34:4; 36:12) in that it makes clear precisely the recompense or punishment to be apportioned (see reward and punishment). It is intimately related to God’s knowledge in that it reflects the fact that God is «most aware (aʿlam) of what they have done» (q 39:70) and is a witness (shuhūd) to all actions in which people are engaged (q 10:61). Taken together, these two activities of recording represent the completeness of God’s knowledge of all that exists and all that takes place.

Kitāb and divine authority

The idea of writing is also very much associated in qurʾānic usage with the exercise of divine authority (q.v.; see also fate). The length of one’s life is «in a kitāb» and can neither be shortened nor lengthened (q 35:11). One can neither escape death when it has been «written» (q 3:154) nor hasten it since it comes by God’s permission «as a writ to be carried out later» (kitāban muʾajjalan, q 3:145). No city (q.v.) is punished by destruction without there having been a «known decree» (kitāb maʿlūm, q 15:4; see punishment stories). Such sentences of punishment are said to be «in the kitāb» (q 17:58), as are those meted out to individuals (bi-imām mubīn, q 15:79). «No calamity strikes either on the earth or among yourselves which is not already in a kitāb before we bring it into being — surely that ¶ is easy for God» (q 57:22; see also q 9:51).

It might seem that the use of the word kitāb in connection with these acts of divine authority indicates that they are envisaged as being recorded in some kind of book of decrees. However, the word is also used to apply independently to the decrees themselves (q 2:235; 4:103; 8:68; 13:38; 30:56) suggesting that the usage of the root k-t-b (to write) is largely metaphorical. The verb kutiba (it has been written) is used when speaking of various aspects of law (see law and the qurʾān): retaliation (q.v.; q 2:178), inheritance (q.v.; q 2:180), fasting (q.v.; q 2:183) and warfare (q 2:216, 246; see war). God writes to determine obligations on various individuals and groups (q 4:24, 66, 77; 5:32, 45; 57:27). In an unusual construction God is also said to have written mercy (q.v.) as an obligation for himself (q 6:12, 54); this in effect expresses an element of the divine nature. In several uses of the verb «to write» there is a very close relationship between the decree and the record of people’s deeds. God writes punishments (q 22:4; 59:3; see chastisement and punishment), entitlements (q 2:187; 4:127) and rewards (q 5:21; 7:156; 21:105). Indeed, it is sometimes difficult to make any separation at all between the recording of deeds and the determination of judgment: «This kitāb of ours pronounces against you truly. Surely we caused to be recorded (kunnā nastansikh) whatever you used to do» (q 45:29). The definitive divine judgment against evildoers is inseparable from God’s knowledge of all that they have done. Similarly, the recording of the time of each person’s death is presented both as a matter of knowledge and also as an act of determination — foreknowledge and foreordaining are somehow inseparable. This very ambiguity suggests that the Qurʾān does not so much contain a reference to a heavenly archive with separate registers ¶ and inventories as it does, in a more amorphous sense, to the overarching knowledge and authority of God.

It is common, of course, for qurʾānic commentators to gloss occurrences of the verb kataba with such verbs as amara, ḥafiẓa, ḥasiba or faraḍa and, similarly, for translators to render them "command, " "remember, " "keep account of, " "enjoin, " «prescribe» or «decree.» They are surely right in detecting here a metaphorical usage of the verb «to write.» The question then arises whether the use of the noun kitāb is not likewise more metaphorical than concrete. As long as the kitāb operates only in the heavenly realm it makes little difference. However, the issue becomes more acute when an effort is made to try to understand what the Qurʾān means when it refers to itself as kitāb and when it speaks of the kitāb being «sent down» and given to other peoples through the prophets (see prophets and prophethood).

Kitāb and revelation

One of the most important concepts used in connection with revelation in the Qurʾān is kitāb (see revelation and inspiration). It is several times stated in general terms that whenever God sent prophets and messengers to give good tidings and to warn of judgment, he sent down with them the kitāb (q 2:213; 3:81; 35:25; 40:70; 57:25). The kitāb comes with the truth so that the Prophet may judge according to it (q 2:213). It is specifically mentioned as having been given to Moses (q.v.; q 2:53, 87; 17:2; 23:49; 25:35), to Jesus (q.v.; q 3:48; 5:110; 19:30) and most often, of course, to Muḥammad (e.g. q 5:48; 7:2; 14:1). The Qurʾān also mentions by name several of those to whom God has given revelation: «Indeed we communicate to you just as we communicated (awḥaynā) to Noah (q.v.) and the prophets after him, as ¶ we communicated to Abraham (q.v.) and Ishmael (q.v.) and Isaac (q.v.) and Jacob (q.v.) and the tribes, and Jesus and Job (q.v.) and Jonah (q.v.) and Aaron (q.v.) and Solomon (q.v.), and as we granted to David (q.v.) the zabūr (see psalms)» (q 4:163). This listing marks out one feature of the Qurʾān’s understanding of kitāb: It is thought to have a particularly close association with the lineage of Noah, Abraham and Israel (q.v.; q 4:54; 40:53; 57:26; see also children of Israel). Although attempts have sometimes been made to distinguish between messengers (rusul) and prophets (anbiyāʾ) on the basis of whether they were given a canonical text or merely an oral message, there appears to be no such consistent distinction in the Qurʾān itself. Some canons resulting from God’s sending of the kitāb are mentioned by name: Torah (tawrāt, 18 times; see torah) and Gospel (injīl, twelve times; see gospel); the generic al- ṣuḥuf al-ūlā ("the former pages, " q 20:133; 87:18) are specified as belonging to Moses and Abraham (q 53:36-7; 87:19). It is not clear that Moses' «pages» are thought of as identical to the tawrāt. Although the Qurʾān understands tawrāt to be the revelation given to the Jews, it is most often paired with Injīl and mentioned in connection not with Moses but with Jesus.

The kitāb is said to come to the prophets by waḥy (inspiration, revelation or communication; e.g. q 18:27; 29:45; 35:31). However, more commonly God is said to «send it down» (nazzala, anzala, e.g. q 2:174, 176, 213, 231) or simply to «give» it (atā, e.g. q 2:53, 87, 121, 146). God teaches the kitāb to Jesus (q 3:48; 5:110), gives it as an inheritance to the Children of Israel (q 40:53) and to some chosen servants (q 35:32). The messenger who brings the kitāb (q 3:184, 6:91) in his turn teaches it to the people (q 2:129; 2:151; 3:164; 62:2). The people recite it (qaraʾa, q 2:44, 113, 121; 10:94; 69:19), ¶ learn it (ʿalima, q 2:78, 144, 146), study it (darasa, q 3:79; 34:44; 68:37) and teach it (ʿallama, q 3:79; see knowledge and learning).

In order fully to understand what the Qurʾān means when it speaks of kitāb in the context of revelation, it is necessary to view the word within the whole field of vocabulary with which it is used. The word acts as the focus for some of the most significant concepts in the Qurʾān. Two key terms in this respect (āya and ḥikma) appear with kitāb in something like a credal formula that occurs four times (q 2:129, 151; 3:164; 62:2). The role of the messenger (rasūl) is to recite to the people God’s signs or revelations (āyāt, see signs), to purify them and to make known to them the kitāb and the ḥikma. This latter term is often translated «wisdom» but such a rendering fails to take account of the origins of the word in the verb ḥakama (to judge, to rule, to decide). To the extent that ḥikma is wisdom at all, it is not to be mistaken for the esoteric wisdom of the gnostic but should be understood as the practical wisdom or the wise authority of the experienced ruler (see wisdom; judgment). Kitāb and ḥikma appear ten times together and form a virtual hendiadys. The term āya (pl. āyāt) is used to refer to everything that reveals God’s will and ways, whether in nature (e.g. q 2:266; 16:11-3; 30:46; see animal life), history (e.g. q 46:27), legislation (e.g. q 24:61) or in revelation (e.g. q 24:1). The āyāt of God are intended to prompt people to reason (ʿaqala), to learn (ʿalima), to ponder (tafakkara, tadhakkara) and so to come to faith(āmana). The coming of the kitāb with its āyāt provides insight into what God knows and what God commands. Therefore, far from being clearly distinguished from the above-mentioned registers, the kitāb of revelation is intimately linked with the same divine knowledge and authority¶ that they symbolize. The fundamental pattern (with associated verbal roots) is this: (a) As creator God knows (ʿ-l-m) the truth (ḥ-q-q) of all things and is in command (ḥ-k-m) of all things. The symbol for this knowledge and authority is kitāb. (b) Given close attention and reflection (ʿ-q-l, f-k-r, etc.), it is possible for people to learn (ʿ-l-m) from the āyāt of nature and history much of the truth of what God knows and commands. Yet, they rarely do so. (c) In order to call humanity to such attentiveness and reflection, God sends prophetic messengers (r-s-l, n-b-ʾ) who bring their communities guidance (h-d-y), a privileged insight into God’s knowledge and authoritative decree. They recite (q-r-ʾ, t-l-w) God’s āyāt in order to remind (dh-k-r) the people of them, to make quite clear (b-y-n, n-w-r, f-ṣ-l) precisely what God requires (ḥ-k-m) and to warn (n-dh-r, see warning) of the coming judgment (f-ṣ-l, ḥ-k-m, d-y-n). (d) The symbol of this guidance is the kitāb — God’s sending down (n-z-l) through the Prophet of an authoritative word (q-w-l, k-l-m) to address the current situation and the prevailing issue. This divine/prophetic address bears the name kitāb not because of its form (which remains oral and responsive) but because of its origin and its nature as a communication (n-z-l, w-ḥ-y) of God’s knowledge (ʿ-l-m) and a clear statement (b-y-n) of God’s commands (ḥ-k-m). (e) The community (see community and society in the qurʾān) addressed by God accepts the relationship of guidance first by accepting (ʾ-m-n) that what the Prophet recites has a divine origin, then by committing themselves (s-l-m) to following (t-b-ʿ, ṭ-w-ʿ) the divine will manifested in the prophetic word and, finally, by reciting (q-r-ʾ) it in their turn. In this way, they become a people who are identified and defined by their having been granted the kitāb.

It is the phenomenon of the kitāb that ¶ unifies this whole schema while itself remaining somewhat elusive. It is often referred to in the plural, the indefinite or the partitive form so it remains unclear from the Qurʾān whether anyone can be understood to be fully in possession of the kitāb. In this respect, the Qurʾān does not present the kitāb as a closed and definable corpus of text, but rather as an ongoing relationship of guidance.

Ahl al-kitāb — the people of the kitāb

It is the kitāb relationship that defines the Christians (naṣāra), the Jews (yahūd, Banū Isrāʾīl) and the Sabians (ṣābiʾūn). All of these groups are referred to in the Qurʾān as ahl al-kitāb or alladhīna ūtū l-kitāb (those who have been granted the kitāb; see people of the book; christians and christianity; jews and judaism; sabians; magians). The Qurʾān calls for belief not only in the kitāb sent down to Muḥammad but also in the kitāb (or the plural kutub) sent down before him (q 2:285; 4:136). It is precisely because they have already been recipients of God’s revelation that the ahl al-kitāb are expected to recognize in Muḥammad a genuine messenger of God and to acknowledge in what he brings the same kitāb (q 5:83; 13:43; 29:47) — not precisely the same text but the same message of God, the same guidance to humankind.

It is recognized that the Jews put «the kitāb that Moses brought as a light and a guidance for humanity» on papyri (qarāṭīs, sing. qirṭās, q 6:91) yet it is not their possession of physical books that constitutes the ahl al-kitāb. If it had been, one might have expected an earlier attempt to have a written version of the Qurʾān. As it was, a standardized written text was not produced, according to Muslim tradition, until perhaps as late as twenty years after the death of the Prophet during the caliphate ¶ of ʿUthmān (r. 23-35/644-56; see collection of the qurʾān). The ahl al- kitāb seem to be thought of primarily as — like Muslims — reciters of the word of God rather than as writers and readers of books (see recitation of the qurʾān; readings of the qurʾān). Ahl al-kitāb should probably be understood as those who have been given not possession of but rather access to and insight into the knowledge, wisdom and sovereignty of God for which the very fluid term kitāb serves as a symbol. «Those who have been given the kitāb» are also called «those who have been given knowledge» (alladhīnaʿūtū l- ʿilm, e.g. q 16:27; 17:107; 22:54). They have learned to read the «signs» (cf. q 45:2-7), yet it is clear that they do not actually possess all knowledge. They have rather been given access to the divine knowledge through God’s initiative in addressing humanity through the prophets (cf. q 20:110-114).

Umm al-kitāb — the «mother» of the kitāb

Three times the Qurʾān refers to the umm (literally «mother» hence «essence» or «source») of the kitāb (q 3:7; 13:39; 43:4). The latter two cases are traditionally read as referring to a heavenly archetype of the kitāb, a text that constitutes the source of all the particular versions given through Muḥammad and the other prophets. The commentary literature has developed what might be termed a «topography» of revelation that begins with the archetypal kitāb on the Preserved Tablet (lawḥ maḥfūẓ, q 85:22; see preserved tablet) and involves the noble scribes (safaratkirām, q 80:15-6) who are said to have revealed the text to Gabriel (q.v.) over twenty nights and who, in his turn, revealed it to Muḥammad over twenty years. Yet the term umm al-kitāb can just as well be read in the symbolic way that has been suggested above. To God alone belongs the essence ¶ of authority and knowledge, so whatever authoritative guidance is given through God’s messengers comes from that source. In q 3:7 this term seems clearly to refer to part of the text of the Qurʾān: «It is he who has sent down to you the kitāb, some of whose verses are decisive — they are the essence (umm, lit. „mother“) of the kitāb — and others that are ambiguous.» In this famously controversial verse the Qurʾān distinguishes between those verses that are considered muḥkamāt (defined, fixed, firm, decisive, straightforward) and those that are mutashābihāt (lit. «resembling one another» possibly meaning «ambiguous» or «metaphorical»; see ambiguous). Since the Qurʾān does not specify which verses are which, this pair of terms has been interpreted in many different ways. It is the muḥkamāt that are said to constitute the essence or substance of the kitāb. Qurʾānic commentators often understand this to mean that such verses lay down the principles of Islam; they contain the basis of creed and law; they outline all the duties, punishments and commandments (q.v.) that are essential to Islam (see boundaries and precepts). The muḥkamāt are sometimes thought to be the abrogating (nāsikh) verses because they remain firm and fixed whereas the mutashābihāt, although they resemble the others, are in fact without legal force due to their having been abrogated (mansūkh, see abrogation). Other commentators distinguish the muḥkamāt, those verses that can stand alone and so require little or no interpretation, from the mutashābihāt, those that can only be fully understood in relationship to other verses treating the same matter. The exegetical tradition has often identified the first sūra of the Qurʾān (Sūrat al- Fātiḥa; see fātiḥa) as umm al-kitāb since it is thought to contain the essential content of the Qurʾān. So also the so-called mysterious letters (fawātiḥ) at the beginning of some sūras have been ¶ thought to contain in some mystical way the essence of the Qurʾān. (See letters and mysterious letters.)

The Qurʾān as kitāb

One of the most complex questions about the Qurʾān is what it means when it refers to itself as kitāb. Western scholars have, by and large, taken the use of the word kitāb as an indication that Muḥammad intended to provide his community with a written canon of scripture parallel to those possessed by the Christians and the Jews. G. Widengren draws on Near Eastern religious history to propose that the Prophet saw himself primarily as the bringer of a written corpus. Nöldeke- Schwally (gq, ii, 1-3) argue that, given Muḥammad’s understanding that his revelations were to serve in place of the Bible as the definitive document of the divine will, he must also have intended to safeguard them in written form. R. Bell takes al-kitāb to refer to a document originally conceived of as distinct from al-qurʾān and which ultimately replaced it. He suggests that what the text calls al-qurʾān is a collection of recitations that was probably closed about the time of the battle of Badr (2/624; see badr). The kitāb was never actually completed and if it ever had any logical framework its organization was constantly intruded upon by the vicissitudes, both internal and external, of communal life. Bell understands the kitāb to have been intended to be the complete record of revelation; it was to comprise, in a slightly re-worked form, all the elements Bell previously distinguished as characterizing the stages in the development of the Prophet’s revelations: «signs» passages, stories of punishment, Qurʾān. It was also intended to include the material — the appeals, regulations and exhortations demanded of him as a leader — unsuitable for a collection meant for recitation. Bell is largely followed in this approach by W.M. ¶ Watt and A.T. Welch. For A. Neuwirth, the term kitāb functions as a symbol of the shared prophetic heritage, the common memory of salvation history which Muslims now share with the Christians and Jews. Neuwirth believes that only certain parts of the Qurʾān are to be understood as belonging to the kitāb — the pericopes excerpted from the heavenly book, i.e. the dhikr or recalling of prophetic history.

Perhaps the weakest part of all these scenarios is the idea that the task of producing a book of scripture was left undone because of other responsibilities and demands which pressed upon Muḥammad. If one understands the verses about the kitāb to indicate that it was the Prophet’s defining function to produce such a canonical text, then it becomes difficult to see how Muḥammad could have placed any duty above this one.

Muslim tradition has long understood that the Prophet intended the written codification of the Qurʾān; yet, the traditions about the collection and writing down of the text are at cross purposes (see codices of the qurʾān). On the one hand, some traditions seek to assure those who trust written texts that there exists an unbroken manuscript tradition, authenticated not only by the Prophet but by the angel Gabriel. On the other, many traditions represent the writing down of the text as an act of doubtful piety and they portray the manuscript tradition as in some respects deficient and as dependent on an oral tradition codified only after the Prophet’s death. Neither strand of the tradition represents the text at the time of the Prophet’s death as having existed in a physical form that would indicate that Muḥammad had all but finished preparing the definitive document of revelation. The scraps of wood, leather and pottery, the bones and the bark on which the revelations were apparently written down seem to indicate that the ¶ Prophet did not have in mind producing the kind of scroll or codex that was characteristic of Jewish and Christian use in other places. Furthermore, given the limitations of the Arabic script (q.v.) at the time, such written material as did exist could serve as not much more than an aide-memoire to those who knew that part of the text by heart.

Given all this, there remains considerable doubt as to whether the Prophet thought of the word kitāb as defining either the form in which the Qurʾān was revealed or the form in which it was to be propagated and perpetuated. Both Western and Muslim approaches seem to read into the Qurʾān what they know of the Christian and Jewish use of scripture in other contexts outside Arabia. However, in order to understand the meaning of the qurʾānic kitāb as fully as possible, such preconceptions must not become the sole basis for its interpretation.

At the beginning of what might be called the text proper (q 2:1-2) the Qurʾān speaks of the kitāb: «Alif. Lām. Mīm. That is the kitāb about which there is no doubt, guidance for the God-fearing.» Qurʾānic commentators were rather puzzled to find dhālika («that») rather than hādhā («this») in q 2:2, but the majority of exegetical traditions opted to equate the two and in this they are generally followed by translators. Others, recognizing that dhālika logically refers to something absent or already complete, took it to refer variously to the mysterious letters of q 2:1 or to the sūras of the Qurʾān that had thus far been revealed or even to the Gospel and the Torah. The issue was in effect side-stepped at this point yet the question remains: what is this kitāb that the kitāb is always talking about? What is the recitation (Qurʾān) about which verses are constantly being recited? The abiding enigma of the text is that, along with verses that are to be construed as timeless divine pronouncements, it also ¶ contains a large amount of commentary upon and analysis of the processes of its own revelation and the vicissitudes of its own reception in time. One wonders how the two genres can exist not just side by side but interwoven within a single document; how the Qurʾān can so constantly refer to itself in the third person and at the same time be considered a unity; how it can define and defend itself even as it is being revealed.

The Qurʾān is both itself and about itself; both hādhā and dhālika. Even in its final form it seems still a work-in-process, carefully observing and commenting upon itself. This is what makes it so enigmatic as a canonized, codified text. What is to be found «between the two covers» remains a surprise because it does not behave as though it were a completed volume nor, indeed, as the copy of a pre-existent heavenly document.

The Qurʾān actually rejects certain common conceptions of kitāb. It is reiterated several times that in the ministry of the Prophet there comes to the Arabs (q.v.) «a kitāb from God» (e.g. q 6:19, 114). However, it is also clear that Muḥammad does not consider that the lack of any written text invalidates this claim in any way. When the Prophet is challenged to produce a writing from heaven as proof (q.v.) of his authenticity (q 17:93; see belief and unbelief), he is told to reply that he is merely a human messenger. In q 6:7 God says, «Even if we had sent down a kitāb on papyrus and they were to touch it with their hands, those who disbelieve would have said, ‘This is clearly nothing but sorcery.’» So when the Qurʾān speaks of itself as kitāb, it seems to be talking not about the form in which it is sent down but rather about the authority it carries as a manifestation of the knowledge and command of God.¶

This is borne out in another situation of challenge where the Prophet’s critics demand to know why the recitation he claims is from God is being given to him only piecemeal rather than «as a single complete pronouncement» (jumlatan wāḥidatan, q 25:32). To Muḥammad’s interlocutors, a divine pronouncement must, almost by definition, be complete. Yet the Qurʾān comes only, as the commentators like to say, responsively (jawāban li-qawlihim), in installments (munajjaman) according to situations and events in order that the Prophet will be able to address God’s response to whatever objection is being raised, whatever question is being asked (q 25:33). In this context they quote q 17:106: «…and in the form of a recitation that we have divided up (faraqnāhu) that you might recite it to the people at intervals (ʿala mukthin), and we have indeed sent it down.» In rejecting the claim that it should be sent down «as a single complete pronouncement» the Qurʾān is asserting its fluidity and its responsiveness to situations. It is refusing to behave as an already closed and canonized text but insists on being the authoritative voice of God in the present.

This immediate and responsive quality of the Qurʾān is illustrated again and again in one of its most characteristic rhetorical devices: the imperative, «Say!» (qul, the singular addressed to the Prophet is used 323 times, and it appears in other forms 26 times). This is not merely one among several literary forms (see language and style of the qurʾān) but rather demonstrates the Qurʾān’s fundamental sense of itself: it «comes down» as the divine response placed on the lips of God’s Prophet. In the ministry of Muḥammad, the kitāb comes not as a finished tome in which to search for the divine wisdom and will but as a wise and commanding voice to be heeded.

The term kitāb, then, does not indicate that the Qurʾān is to be understood as a ¶ closed corpus of text, codified in writing; it used that language of itself long before it was either closed or written. The Muslim community used the same term while at the same time preserving the text primarily in oral form. The word kitāb rather expresses a claim as to the origin of the words on the Prophet’s lips: they are kitāb because they come from God, from the realm of God’s knowledge and authority, as these are symbolized by writing. Writing, of course, is a process of engagement with an audience. It involves re-writing and re-phrasing, emendation and development. This is what the Muslim interpretative tradition has recognized in the phenomenon of abrogation(naskh): that elements of God’s word are conditioned by time and circumstance and so God exercises the prerogative of amending the text, removing the force of some earlier pronouncements and perhaps even their wording as well. The Qurʾān is God’s writing in the sense that it is God’s definitive and authoritative word. Yet it is not the sum total of God’s word but rather a token of it and a guarantee of continuing guidance. See also scripture and the qurʾān .

Bibliography

---

H. Berg, Ṭabarī's exegesis of the Qurʾānic term al-kitāb, in jaar 63 (1995), 761-74

Burton, Collection, passim

Graham, Beyond, 79-115

id., «Book, writ, and word.» Scripture and the history of religion, in Bulletin of the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University 16 (1989-90), 2-15

id., The earliest meaning of "Qurʾān, " in wi 23-4 (1984), 361-77

id., Qurʾān as spoken word: an Islamic contribution to the understanding of scripture, in R.C. Martin (ed.), Approaches to Islam in religious studies, Tucson 1985, 23-40

A. Jeffery, The Qurʾān as scripture, New York 1952

D. Künstlinger, «Kitāb» und «ahlu l-kitābi» im Kurān, in Rocznik Orjentalistyczny 4 (1926), 238-47

D.A. Madigan, The Qurʾāns self-image: books, writing and authority in Muslim scripture, Princeton 2001

T. Nagel, Vom ¶ «Qurʾān» zur «Schrift.» Bells Hypothese aus religionsgeschichtlicher Sicht, in Der Islam 60 (1983), 143-65

A. Neuwirth, Vom Rezitationstext über die Liturgie zum Kanon: zu Entstehung und Wiederauflösung der Surenkomposition im Verlauf der Entwicklung eines islamischen Kultus, in Wild, Text 69-105

Nöldeke, gq

J. Pedersen, Review of Ursprung und Geschichte der Mormonen: mit Exkursen über die Anfänge des Islams und des Christentums by Eduard Meyer, in Der Islam 5 (1914), 110-5

W.C. Smith, The true meaning of scripture. An empirical historian’s nonreductionist interpretation of the Qurʾan, in ijmes 11 (1980), 487—505

id., What is scripture? A comparative approach, Minneapolis 1993

Watt-Bell, Introduction, 132-41

G. Widengren, The ascension of the apostle and the heavenly book, Uppsala 1950

id., Holy book and holy tradition in Islam, in F.F. Bruce and E.G. Rupp (eds.), Holy book and holy tradition, Manchester 1968, 210-36

Cite this page

Madigan, Daniel, «Book», in: Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān, General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC. Consulted online on 07 January 2017 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1875-3922_q3_EQCOM_00027>

Iequran

Book[s]
(kitāb, kutub, ṣuḥuf)

This article comprises the following sections: i. Definitions, Morphology, Usage: kitāb, imām, zubur; asfār, ṣuḥuf, qirṭās, sijill; ; ii. The Twenty-Three Meanings of Kitāb; iii. The Book as Inimitable (Muʿjiz); iv. Bibliography.

• Definitions, Morphology, Usage
• The Twenty-three Meanings and Contexts of Kitāb
• The Book as Inimitable (Muʿjiz)
• Bibliography

Definitions, Morphology, Usage

Books are a major theme of the Qurʾān, which uses seven nouns to refer to them: kitāb (x232) and its plural kutub (x6); imām (x4, plural aʾimma); zubur (x7, singular zabūr); asfār (once, singular sifr); ṣuḥuf (x8, singular ṣaḥīfa); qirṭās and its plural qarāṭīs (once each); and sijill (once).

Kitāb

The root k-t-b denotes gathering up and collating, whence the infinitive nouns (i) katb for “sewing together two pieces of leather and, by convention, joining together letters with calligraphy” (Rāghib, Mufradāt, sub k-t-b; cf. al-Shahrastānī, Mafātīḥ 1:128)—the latter meaning specifically synonymous with “copying” (naskh) (al-ʿAskarī, Furūq p. 290, Bāb 28); (ii) katība, “batallion” (Farāhīdī, ʿAyn, sub k-t-b); and (iii) kitāb(a), which refers to the act of writing (see Pen and Writing) and to any written record or literal scripture, whether of a few words or of book length. The latter is also used metonymically in the sense of a categorical religious obligation or farḍ (Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs, sub k-t-b; Saraqusṭī, Afʿāl 2:151; e.g. Q 2:183) and the Divine Decree(Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr, sub Q 57:22; Ibn ʿĀshūr, Tafsīr, sub Q 9:36) among other meanings which are detailed below.

Imām

The noun imām stems—like umm, ummī, and umma—from the root ʾ-m-m of which the verb amma means (i) to be in a forward position and lead (taqaddama); (ii) to head somewhere (qaṣada); and (iii) to bring someone (amma-l-rajula: shajjahu maʾmūmatan) (Saraqusṭī, Afʿāl 1:82). In the Qurʾān, imām denotes a human leader (Q 2:124, 9:12[pl], 21:73[pl], 25:74, 28:5[pl], 28:41, 32:24[pl]), a book (Q 11:17, 17:71, 36:12, 46:12; see below, section on kitāb as the complete record of one’s deeds), or a road (Q 15:79), hence it is defined as “that by which one is led, whether a human being in speech and deed, or a book, or other than that, whether rightly or in falsehood” (Rāghib, Mufradāt; cf. Fayrūzābādī, Baṣāʾir). Thus, like a road, an imām is a book meant to lead down a path of guidance. The term was notably used in the literal sense of “guiding book” by the third Rightly-Guided Caliph, ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān (d. 35/656)—Allah be well-pleased with him—in the historic speech in which he urged the Companions (q.v.) to compile the Qurʾān as a standardized codex: “In my view you all differ and misspeak (takhtalifūn wa-talḥanūn). Those far from me in the various city centers differ the most and misspeak the worst. So, gather together, O Companions of Muḥammad, and write down an Imām for the people!” (Ibn Abī Dāwūd, Maṣāḥif 1:203-204 §74; supported by other similar reports, cf. Ibn Ḥajar, Fatḥ al-Bārī, Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān, jamʿ al-Qurʾān). Indeed, that textual archetype and master muṣḥaf became universally known as al-Muṣḥaf al-Imām.

Zubur

Zubur is the plural of the noun zabūr, book, from the root z-b-r of which the verb zabara denotes the act of writing (Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs). As a proper noun Zabūr refers to the Book of the Prophet Dāwūd—upon him peace(Rāghib, Mufradāt). Zubur is variously glossed by al-Zamakhsharī (467-538/1074-1143) as (i) “the Leaves” (al-ṣuḥuf) in the verse indeed other Messengers before you were belied who came with clear proofs, and the Zubur, and the Illuminating Book (Q 3:184); (ii) “various Books” (kutuban mukhtalifa) in reference to the many religious sects in the verse but they split their affairs into pieces (zubur), each rejoicing in their own (Q 23:53); (iii) the entirety of heavenly Books before the Qurʾān in the verse Truly it is in the Scriptures of the ancients (Q 26:196, also 54:43), synonymously with the earlier ṣuḥuf (Q 20:133); and (iv) “the chronicles of the recorders” (dawāwīn al-ḥafaẓa) in the verse Everything they do is noted in their records (Q 54:52).

Asfār

Asfār occurs in the sense of books only once in the Qurʾān (Q 62:5)—as the plural noun of sifr—and refers to “huge tomes” according to al-Farrāʾ (Maʿānī al-Qurʾān 3:155, sub Q 62:5), of which the writers are called the safara, another Qurʾānic term: In the hands of scribes (Q 80:15). The same word also serves as the plural of safar, “travel” (cf. Q 4:43 among others), both stemming from the verb safara which means to uncover and vacate, respectively because a book is meant to uncover the truth and a traveler has vacated the place from which he left (Rāghib, Mufradāt, sub s-f-r). Al-ʿIrāqī (725-806/1325-1404) exploited this duality with “perfect paronomasia” (jinās tāmm) in the title of his work documenting the hadiths in Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-Dīn, al-Mughnī ʿan ḥaml al-asfār fīl-asfār (The Exempter from the Travails of Bearing Tomes while on Travels).

Ṣuḥuf

Ṣuḥuf is the plural of (i) ṣaḥīfa, which denotes (a) a piece of white hide (adam abyaḍ), vellum (raqq, a Qurʾānic term mentioned in Q 52:2-3: and by a Book inscribed in a parchment unrolled!), or papyrus (qirṭās) used to write on and, by extension, the text written therein, whence muṣḥaf (plural maṣāḥif), the collection of such pieces between two covers; also (b) skin complexion, particularly that of the human face; or (ii) ṣaḥīf, the face of the earth (Farāhīdī, ʿAyn; Ibn Durayd, Jamharat; Ibn Sīda, Muḥkam; all sub ṣ-ḥ-f). Ṣuḥuf is mentioned in the Qurʾān in reference to

the Leaves of Ibrāhīm and the Torah (Q 53:36-37; 87:19), as well as all the other Books that preceded the Qurʾān (Q 20:133; 87:18).

a hypothetical heavenly book freshly written and miraculously brought down by the angels in the verse Nay, every man of them desires to be given scrolls unrolled (ṣuḥufan munashshara) (Q 74:52).

the Leaves of the Qurʾān being recited by the Messenger of Allah—upon him blessings and peace—in the verse a Messenger from Allah, reciting pages purified (ṣuhufan muṭahhara) (Q 98:2).

the Preserved Tablet(al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ) in the verses pages high-honored, uplifted, purified, by the hands of scribes noble, pious (Q 80:13-16).

the records of one’s deeds: when the Pages are opened up (Q 81:10).

Qirṭās

Qirṭās (parchment)—also read qurṭās and, in a much rarer form, qarṭās (al-Khaṭīb, Muʿjam, sub Q 6:7)—occurs twice in the Qurʾān, once in the singular: Had We sent down on you a Book on parchment (qirṭās) and so they touched it with their hands (Q 6:7), and once in the plural: You put it into parchments (qarāṭīs), revealing them, and hiding much (Q 6:91). It has been claimed that it is an Arabized loanword (al-Jawāliqī, Muʿarrab 4:324).

Sijill

The singular noun sijill is an Arabized lexeme according to the majority view, probably from Ethiopic, and occurs once (Q 21:104), stemming from sajala which means to pour in abundance or, metonymically, to grant a big gift, perhaps originally denoting a stone used for inscriptions after which it came to mean any written record (kitāb), paper (rijl), or writer (kātib) (Rāghib, Mufradāt; Khafājī, Shifāʾ; al-Suyūṭī, Mutawakkilī).

The Twenty-three Meanings and Contexts of Kitāb

The word kitāb is by far the most important in terms of frequency and polysemy, most notably as a self-referential name, both in absolute and qualified terms, for the Qurʾān itself. Twenty-three meanings for kitāb occur in the Qurʾān in the following contexts: (i) the Qurʾān; (ii) the Torah; (iii) the Injīl(Evangel); (iv) both the Torah and the Injīl; (v) the Torah, the Injīl, and the Psalms (Zabūr); (vi) the entirety of Abrahamic dispensations; (vii) a hypothetical heavenly book; (viii) a pseudo-scripture; (ix) an identifying marker for the Jews and Christians (with ahl or in the phrase al-ladhīna ūtū-l-kitāb); (x) the genus of Scripture; (xi) obligatory rulings; (xii) a creature’s term of existence; (xiii) the foreordained terms of sustenance, reward and punishment; (xiv) a foreordained decree in the Preserved Tablet; (xv) the Preserved Tablet itself; (xvi) the record of one’s deeds—in which latter two senses the singular noun imām is also used; (xvii) a manumission contract; (xviii) a written message; (xix) schooling; (xx) textual contents; (xxi) the book copied from the Preserved Tablet for the angels; (xxii) the volumes of the Qurʾān; and (xxiii) the arts of writing.

The Qurʾān—whether as the definite al-Kitāb (Q 2:2, 121, 129, 151, 176-177, 231; 3:3, 7, 164; 4:105, 113, 127, 136, 140; 5:15 and 48; 6:114; 7:52 and 196; 10:1; 12:1; 13:1; 13:36 according to Baghawī, Tafsīr, cf. Ibn ʿAbd al-Salām, Tafsīr; 13:43 according to Abū Ḥayyān and al-Ālūsī; 16:64 and 89; 18:1 and 27; 19:16, 41 51, 54, 56; 21:10; 26:2; 28:2 and 86; 29:45, 47, 51; 31:2; 32:2; 35:31-32; 39:1-2 and 41; 40:2 and 70; 42:14 and 17; 43:2; 44:2; 45:16; 46:2), the construct kitāb Allāh (Q 35:29), or the indefinite kitāb (Q 2:89; 6:92 and 155; 7:2; 11:1; 14:1; 27:1 according to al-Ṭabarī, Baghawī, and Ibn ʿAṭiyya, Muḥarrar; 38:29; 39:23; 41:3 and 41; 46:12 and 30; 52:2 according to al-Nasafī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn ʿAjība, and al-Shinqīṭī)—as in the verse That is the Book (dhālika al-Kitāb), there is no doubt in it (Q 2:2), regarding which al-Bayḍāwī (d. 708?/1308?) wrote:

Dhālika is a demonstrative [pronoun] pointing to alif lām mīm (Q 2:1) if the latter is interpreted as the composites of these letters or explained as the sura or the Qurʾān... Or it points to al-kitāb as its demonstrative adjective, meaning the Book that was promised to be revealed—either with the like of His saying Behold, We shall cast upon you a word of weight (Q 73:5) or in the ancient Books—kitāb being an infinitive noun by which the object (mafʿūl) was named for intensiveness (mubālagha) [i.e., instead of the objective form maktūb; as in ʿadl, “justice,” instead of ʿādil, “just,” in the expression rajul ʿadl, “a just man”]. It has also been said that it is a fiʿāl form in the sense of the object as in libās (garment); then it was used for a literary composition before its writing, as it is the stuff of writing. Katb originally means a multitude, whence katība (batallion)... It is the work that is perfect in its composition, reaching the apex of pure style and top levels of eloquence... it is the perfect book—one that truly deserves to be called a book... there is no doubt in it is a third sentence [after alif lām mīm and dhālika al-Kitāb] that witnesses to its perfection, in that it is the Book that is characterized as the summit of perfection, since nothing possesses greater perfection than truth and certitude.

Bayḍāwī, Tafsīr, and al-Qūnawī, Ḥāshiyat Anwār al-Tanzīl, sub Q 2:2

Thus the Qurʾān is perfection made Book and the Book par excellence, since it is characterized by perfection from every angle possible: Divine in both authorship and subject-matter; containing uncreated speech of unalloyed truth, clarity, and guidance; a style of miraculous inimitability; timeless relevance; and incorruptible text. These last three attributes are unique to the Qurʾān, to the exclusion of every preceding heavenly Book.

The Torah (Q 2:44, 53, 78, 85, 87, 101, 159, 174; 3:23 and 100; 4:44 and 47; 5:44; 6:91 and 154; 7:169; 10:94 per Baghawī, Tafsīr, and al-Samarqandī, Baḥr; 11:17 and 110; 17:2 and 4; 19:12; 23:49; 25:35; 28:43; 32:23; 37:117; 40:53; 41:45; 45:16; 46:12; 52:2 according to al-Naysābūrī, Gharāʾib; and al-Kalbī as cited in the commentaries). It is referred to as kitāb Allāh in some of those verses (Q 2:101; 3:23; 5:44).

The Injīl in the declaration of ʿĪsā—upon him peace: Truly I am the servant of Allah; He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet (Q 19:30).

Both the Torah and the Injīl (Q 2:113, 146; 3:48, 184, 187; 5:5, 15, 57; 6:20, 114, 156; 7:170; 13:36 according to al-Bayḍāwī and al-Nasafī; 13:43 according to al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, and al-Shinqīṭī; 28:52; 45:16 according to al-Ṭabarī; 57:16).

The Torah, the Injīl, and the Zabūr according to al-Zamakhsharī glossing the Illuminating Books (al-kitāb al-munīr) in the verse indeed other Messengers before you were belied who came with clear proofs, and the Records, and the Illuminating Book (Q 3:184), while he glosses the Records (zubur) as “the Leaves” (al-ṣuḥuf) although he glosses the same term as the historical chronicles in Q 54:52 as already mentioned. The three Books are also meant by “the Book” in the verse Indeed, We gave the Children of Israel the Book, the Judgment, and the Prophethood (Q 45:16) according to al-Samarqandī (Baḥr).

The Leaves of Ibrāhīm and Mūsā, the Zabūr, and the rest of the Books that Allah Most High gave the House of Ibrāhīm—upon him blessings and peace—in Q 4:54: For We bestowed upon the house of Ibrāhīm the Scripture and Wisdom as well as Q 6:89 and 29:27 (al-Ṭabarī, Tafsīr, sub Q 4:54, 6:89, 29:27; 57:26). The Qurʾān also uses the expressions zubur al-awwalīn (“the Scriptures of the ancients” Q 26:196), the unmodified al-zubur (Q 54:43), and al-ṣuḥuf al-ūlā (“the earlier Scriptures” Q 20:133) in the same sense as already mentioned.

A hypothetical heavenly book (Q 6:7 and 157; 17:93; 28:49), as in the verses Had We sent down unto you writing upon parchment (kitāban fī qirṭās) (Q 6:7); we will not believe in your going up till you bring down on us a book that we may read (Q 17:93); We have not given them any Books to study (Q 34:44); Or have We given them a Scripture so that they act on clear proof therefrom? (Q 35:40); Bring your Scriptures, if you are telling the truth (Q 37:157); Or have We given them a Book before this to which they hold? (Q 43:21); and Bring me a Scripture before this one or some vestige of knowledge (in support of what you say), if you are truthful (Q 46:4).

A pseudo-scripture: Therefore woe be unto those who write the scripture with their hands and then say, “This is from Allah,” that they may purchase a small gain therewith (Q 2:79).

In construct with ahl, a reference to the Jews and Christians (Q 2:105 and 109; 3:64-65, 69-72, 75, 98-99, 110, 113, 199; 4:123, 153, 159, 171; 5:15, 19, 59, 65, 68, 77; 29:46; 33:26; 57:29; 59:2 and 11), and in the phrase al-ladhīna ūtū al-kitāb in the same sense (Q 2:101 and 144-146; 3:19-20, 100, 186-187; 4:47 and 131; 5:5 and 57; 9:29; 29:47; 74:31; 98:4).

Revelation and Divine Scripture in a generic sense, including “the Torah, the Injīl, and all other Divinely-revealed Scriptures” (Baghawī, Tafsīr, sub Q 4:131; cf. al-Zamakhsharī, Kashshāf, sub Q 5:48 and 110), as in the verses There is a party of them who distort the Scripture with their tongues, that you may think that what they say is from the Scripture, when it is not from the Scripture (Q 3:78); and you believe in all the Scripture (Q 3:119); and others (Q 2:285; 3:79 and 81; 4:51, 131, 136; 5:48 and 110; 15:1; 22:8; 27:40; 29:48; 31:20; 42:15; 52:2 according to Abū Ḥayyān; 57:25; 66:12).

Belief in all the heavenly Books is a categorical obligation (farḍ) for every legally-responsible person. Such belief is both in general terms—covering all the Books, those we know of and those we do not—and specific, covering the five Books mentioned by name in the Qurʾān—the Ṣuḥuf or Leaves of Ibrāhīm (Q 87:19), the Zabūr or Psalms, the Torah, the Injīl, and the Qurʾān itself. The object of such belief, of course, is the Books in their pristine form, not what the first four have become through tampering, the actuality of which is revealed exclusively by the incorruptible Qurʾān as the Criterion(furqān)—one of the Names of the Qurʾān—and the trusted ward or guarantor (muhaymin, Q 5:48) of truth concerning all Divine revelation for all time.

The Qurʾān essentially defines itself as a continuation and culmination of the process of Divine Guidance initiated with the genesis of humankind, a process coterminous with the latter’s destiny on earth—hence the distinctness of this Book as a final manifestation of Divine Guidance encompassing all previous dispensations. This aspect is discussed as part of the final abrogation of previous Scriptures and dispensations by Islam.

Obligatory rulings, such as the prescribed post-widowhood waiting period of celibacy in the verse And do not resolve on the knot of marriage until the book has reached its term (Q 2:235); or prescribed beliefs and obligations as a whole, in the verses but it is a confirmation of that which was before it and an exposition of the Decree (kitāb) (Q 10:37) and you knew not what the Book was, nor belief (Q 42:52; cf. al-Ṭabarī and Bayḍāwī, Tafsīr sub Q 10:37, and Baghawī, sub 42:52) among other legal prescriptions (Q 4:24 and 103).

The foreordained terms (i) of existence (Q 3:145 and 6:38 according to al-Māwardī in al-Nukat wal-ʿuyūn; 13:38; 15:4; 35:11), as in the verse No soul can ever die except by Allah’s leave and at a term appointed (kitāban muʾajjalan) (Q 3:145) or (ii) of tarrying in the graves before Resurrection, called kitāb Allāh: But those who have been given knowledge and faith shall say, “You have tarried in the Book of Allah till the Day of the Upraising” (Q 30:56).

The foreordained terms of sustenance or reward and punishment, as in the verse Those—their portion of the Book shall reach them (Q 7:37, cf. Samarqandī, Baḥr; Māwardī, Nukat; Zamakhsharī, Kashshāf).

Various foreordained decrees in the Preserved Tablet (Q 8:68 and 75; 9:36; cf. Baghawī, Tafsīr, sub Q 8:68 and 9:36), also called kitāb Allah in the verse Blood relations have a greater right upon one another in the Book of Allah than the Believers and the Emigrants (Q 33:6).

The usage of kitāb as a writ-like edict in this and the previous three sections stresses the same over-arching aspects of importance, priority, and inevitability as the concept of “prescribing” (kataba) in such verses as He has prescribed for Himself (kataba ʿalā nafsih) mercy (Q 6:12) and Fasting is prescribed for you (kutiba ʿalaykum), even as it was prescribed for those before you (Q 2:183). The North African linguist Yaḥyā b. Sallām al-Baṣrī (124-200/742-815) in his work on Qurʾānic polysemy entitled al-Taṣārīf counted four different meanings for the verb kataba: “He made obligatory” (faraḍa); “He decreed” (qaḍā); “He placed” (jaʿala); and “He commanded” (amara) (Taṣārīf pp. 237-239). Addressing the first of those four senses, al-Farrāʾ (d. 207/822) states that whenever the expression kutiba ʿalaykum occurs in the Qurʾān it always means furiḍa ʿalaykum (Maʿānī 1:110, sub Q 2:178). Hence kutiba ʿalaykum is among the thirty-five so-called “absolute expressions characterized as invariable in their meanings” (kulliyyāt al-alfāẓ al-wārida ʿalā maʿnā muṭṭarid) whenever they occur in the Qurʾān, such as “the tales of the ancients” (asāṭīr al-awwalīn), “the lie” (ifk), “or” (aw), “the stars” (al-nujūm), “goodness” (al-khayr), etc. (Qaranī, Kulliyyāt 2:513-525).

The Preserved Tablet itself (Q 6:38 according to Ibn ʿAjība; 6:59 according to Abū al-Layth al-Samarqandī, al-Ṭabarī, and al-Māwardī; 10:61; 11:6 according to al-Qurṭubī and al-Jalālayn; 13:39; 13:43 according to al-Nasafī; 17:58; 20:52; 22:70; 23:62 according to Baghawī; 27:1 according to Bayḍāwī, al-Nasafī, and Abū Ḥayyān; 27:75; 33:6; 34:3; 50:4; 56:78; 57:22).

The term imām has also been understood in this sense in Sūrat Yāsīn (Q 36:12), as has the Qurʾānic phrase Umm al-Kitāb—literally, the Mother of the Book—which has been glossed both as the Origin of the Book (Aṣl al-Kitāb) and as the Preserved Tablet, since these two senses are one and the same (Zamakhsharī, Kashshāf; Nasafī, Tafsīr; Ibn ʿAjība, Baḥr, all sub Q 3:7, 13:39, and 43:4; Qushayrī, Tafsīr, 3:234-236). Al-Qurṭubī (d. 671/1273) in his commentary on Sūrat al-Fātiḥa mentions that Umm al-Kitāb is one of the names of Sūrat al-Fātiḥa according to the vast majority of the scholars, as stated in the Prophetic hadith: “Al-ḥamdu lillāh is the Mother of the Qurʾān and the Mother of the Book and the Seven Oft-Repeated” (Tirmidhī, Tafsīr, Sūrat al-Ḥijr, ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ; Abū Dāwūd, Ṣalāt, Fātiḥat al-Kitāb; cf. Bukhārī, Tafsīr, wa-laqad ātaynāka sabʿan min al-mathānī wal-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm). In this sense, the expression “Mother of the Book” suggests encompassment. Al-Bayḍāwī said:

It [the Fātiḥa] is also named the Mother of the Qurʾān because it is its inception and starting-point—as if it were its origin and birthplace—hence it is also named a foundation; or because it encompasses the Qurʾānic contents of the praise of Allah Most High and Exalted, His worship through His commands and prohibitions, and the exposition of His promise and threat; or because it contains the aggregate of its meanings of reflective wisdoms and practical rulings, which is to walk on the straight path and behold the stations of the elect and the homes of the wretched.

Tafsīr, sub 1:1

Jalāl al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Bakr al-Suyūṭī (849-911/1445-1505) comments: “To elaborate [on al-Bayḍāwī’s sentence], it [the Fātiḥa] encompasses four categories of sciences which are the pivot of the Religion: the principles (ʿilm al-uṣūl), the branches (ʿilm al-furūʿ), Sufism (ʿilm al-taṣawwuf), and history (ʿilm al-qaṣaṣ wal-akhbār)” (Nawāhid, 1:39-40, sub Q 1, preamble).

Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Muḥammad b. Ḥabīb al-Māwardī (364-450/974-1058) had cited six possible meanings for Umm al-Kitāb (Nukat, sub 13:39; cf. Tafsīr Ibn ʿAbd al-Salām): (i) the licit and the prohibited; (ii) the entirety of the Book; (iii) the Divine knowledge of all creation past and future; (iv) the Remembrance; (v) the unabrogable [parts of the] Book; (vi) the Origin of the Book, which is the Preserved Tablet.

Other meanings yet: it presupposes two Books: one Book from which Allah Most High erases what He wishes and in which He reaffirms what He wishes, and the Original Book which is with Him (al-Ṭabarī from Ibn ʿAbbās, Tafsīr, sub 13:39); it refers to the unambiguous verses (see Ambiguous and Unambiguous Verses), which form most of the Qurʾān (Ibn ʿAṭiyya, Muḥarrar, sub Q 3:7).

The record of one’s deeds: Umm al-Kitāb may also signify the complete record of one’s deeds (Q 17:13-14 and 71; 18:49; 23:62 according to Ibn Kathīr and Ibn ʿAjība; 39:69; 45:28-29; 52:2 according to al-Farrāʾ, al-Wāḥidī, and al-Alūsī), as in the verses On the day when We shall summon all men with their record (imām), and whoever is given his book (kitāb) in his right hand—those shall read their book, and they shall not be wronged a single filament (Q 17:71) and the Book was laid open (Q 39:69). The Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, glossed the terms imām and kitāb identically in the latter verse:

Each of them shall be summoned and be given his book in his right hand; his body shall be expanded to sixty cubits, and his face shall shine, and a glimmering diadem of pearl shall be placed on his head...

al-Tirmidhī, Tafsīr, wa-min Sūrat Banī Isrāʾīl; ḥasan gharīb

The Qurʾān also refers to the Judgment-Day records of one’s deeds as a bird—ṭāʾir, a word the Arabs also used for auguries and omens (cf. Ṭabarī, Tafsīr, sub Q 17:13 and 50:17; Qurṭubī, Tafsīr, sub Q 6:38 and 17:13-14)—collaring him: And for every man We have fastened to him his portent upon his neck; and We shall bring forth unto him on the Day of Judgment a book he shall find spread wide open. Read your book! (Q 17:13-14). That book will actually take flight in the Hereafter before landing in its owner’s right or left hand, as alluded to in the verses Then as for him who is given his book in his right hand, he shall say, “Here, take and read my book! I counted on meeting my reckoning.” …But as for him who is given his book in his left hand, he shall say, “Would that I had not been given my book and not known my reckoning!” (Q 69:19-26); when the Pages (ṣuḥuf) are opened up (Q 81:10); and As for him who is given his Book in his right hand… (Q 84:7-12), in addition to the verses of Sūrat al-Isrāʾ already cited (al-Qurṭubī, Tadhkira 2:36-45; al-Suyūṭī, Budūr p. 262-264). Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (d. 44/665), Ibn Masʿūd (d. 32/652), ʿĀʾisha (d. 58/678), and ʿAbd Allah b. ʿAbd Qays—Allah be well-pleased with them—all reportedly described this scene as the “flight of the leaves” (taṭāyur al-ṣuḥuf), when the records shall scatter in all directions and then back into their respective owners’ right or left hand:

People shall be reviewed three times on the Day of Resurrection. The first two reviews will consist in dispute and pretexts; at the third review the record-leaves will fly off and into their hands. There will be those that grasp theirs with the right hand and those that do so with the left.

Tafsīrs of al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, and Baghawī, sub Q 69:18; Ibn al-Mubārak, Zuhd p. 117 §395; Abū Nuʿaym, Ḥilya 2:94; a sound Companion-report from Abū Mūsā according to al-Dāraquṭnī, ʿIlal 7:251 §1331, unlike its marfūʿ form as a Prophetic report, cf. Aḥmad, 32:486 §19715. Note, however, that such utterances by the Companions and Successors, if sound, have the status of Prophetic hadiths, since they are not inferable other than by way of revelation.

A freedom and emancipation contract, as in the verse Those of your slaves who seek emancipation (kitāb), contract with them (kātibūhum) accordingly, if you know some good in them (Q 24:33). This revelation gave all slaves the inalienable right to buy their freedom, either on payment of an agreed sum or on completion of service for an agreed period. The legal term for this is mukātaba and the slave party to such a written contract was called a mukātab. Furthermore, Allah Most High instituted two additional ways to help the aspiring mukātab to meet his financial goal: by making him a legitimate recipient of zakāt , as referred to as “captives and debtors” in the verse enumerating the eight categories of zakāt recipients (Q 9:60), and by making it an act of worship and a righteous deed to help them voluntarily: Righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Scripture and the Prophets; and gives his wealth, for love of Him, to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free (Q 2:177).

A written message, as in the reference to the Prophet Sulaymān’s letter to the queen of Sabaʾ in the verses Take this letter of mine, and cast it unto them, then turn back from them and see what they shall return. She said, “O Council, see, a letter honorable has been cast unto me” (Q 27:28-29).

Schooling and book learning, as in the verse And you did not recite (tatlū) before it any book, nor did you transcribe (takhuṭṭ) one with your right hand (Q 29:48).

Textual contents, as in the precious texts mentioned in the verses On the day when We shall roll up heaven as a scroll is rolled for writings (ka-ṭayy al-sijill lil-kutub) (Q 21:104) and a Messenger from Allah, reciting pages purified containing precious writings (kutubun qayyima) (Q 98:2-3). The term kutubun in both instances shows use of the word for books to refer to their contents, i.e. kutub for maktūbāt, according to al-Zamakhsharī and al-Shinqīṭī (Kashshāf, sub 98:3; Aḍwāʾ al-Bayān, sub Q 21:104).

“The book copied from the Preserved Tablet for the angels so that they can know by reading it what they must do and their disposal of the universe” (Ibn ʿAṭiyya, Muḥarrar, sub Q 52:2-3: and by a Book inscribed in a parchment unrolled!).

Copies of the Qurʾān, according to some interpretations of Truly it is a Glorious Qurʾān in a well-protected Book (Q 56:77-78) (Ibn ʿAṭiyya, Muḥarrar and Abū Ḥayyān, Baḥr, sub Q 56:77-78; cf. Qurṭubī, Tafsīr, sub Q 52:2).

The writing arts (al-khaṭṭ bil-qalam) according to Abū al-Layth al-Samarqandī’s gloss of al-kitāb in the verse how I taught you scripture and wisdom, the Torah and the Injīl (Q 5:110); cf. also al-Māwardī, sub Q 62:2: to recite His signs to them and to purify them, and to teach them scripture and wisdom.

The Book as Inimitable (Muʿjiz)

Al-Bayḍāwī at the beginning of his commentary on Alif Lām Mīm (Q 2:1) points out that the Qurʾān’s “unjoined letters” (al-ḥurūf al-muqaṭṭaʿa) (see Opening Letters), because they are the most basic elements of the Arabic language, stand for the entire Qurʾān’s proof of incapacitation of any would-be challenger or imitator of its style—all the more so when the Book was conveyed by someone unlettered:

Since they [the Opening Letters] form the constituents of speech and the basic elements from which it is constructed, the sura was opened with a group of them as a stimulus to those who defy the Qurʾān and a notification that the substance of what is being recited to them is speech composed of the same substance of which they compose their own speech. Hence, if it were not from Allah, they would not have remained, to the last one of them, unable—despite their mutual abetment and the power of their pure style—to produce anything approaching it. The very first thing heard was meant to stand out on its own with a kind of incapacitation (iʿjāz): the uttering of the nouns of letters is the province of one who has written and studied much; but from an illiterate who never sat at the feet of preceptors it is completely unexpected, strange to behold, against all norms—as are writing and recitation—particularly since he has complied, in that, with rules beyond the power of even the most accomplished man of letters who surpasses all others in his art!

Tafsīr, sub Q 2:1

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