The Suras of the Torah: Experiments with the Voice of God Amidst Muslim-Christian Polemical Cycles in Mughal-Safavid Courts
How can a cycle of interreligious exchange and polemic offer us new understandings of early modern conceptions of revelation, language, and the miraculous inimitability of the Qurʾān (iʿjāz al-qurʾān)? This article approaches the polemical cycle of Jesuits and Muslims in Mughal and Safavid courts as...
| Subtitles: | Indo-Persian Missions and Their Interreligious Challenge |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Mission studies
Year: 2025, Volume: 42, Issue: 3, Pages: 451-479 |
| Further subjects: | B
Jesuit mission
B Safavid Empire B Revelation B Scripture B Interreligious Encounter B Taḥrīf B Shiʿi Islam B Mughal Empire B Qurʾān B iʿjāz al-qurʾān |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | How can a cycle of interreligious exchange and polemic offer us new understandings of early modern conceptions of revelation, language, and the miraculous inimitability of the Qurʾān (iʿjāz al-qurʾān)? This article approaches the polemical cycle of Jesuits and Muslims in Mughal and Safavid courts as a means to trace the evolution of iʿjāz al-qurʾān in the early modern period by attending to the epistemological "pressures" felt by figures such as ʿAli-Quli Jadid al-Islam (d. 1734). In response to Jesuit claims, Jadid al-Islam articulated key concepts of the Islamic revelatory imagination in new ways, such as his remarkable foray into inscribing pre-Qurʾānic revelation with its "original" purity by providing a translation into Persian of ʿAli ibn Abi Talib’s "uncorrupted" recension of forty suras from the Torah. These forty suras of the Torah demonstrate an evolution in iʿjāz al-qurʾān wherein the "inimitable" character of the Qurʾan is refocused upon doctrinal perfection rather than aesthetic quality. In turn, the example of Jadid al-Islam’s suras reveal how the interreligious exchange becomes a generative form of self-knowledge rather than just polemic or apology. ¿Cómo puede una serie de intercambio interreligioso y polémica añadir nuevas perspectivas a las concepciones modernas iniciales sobre la revelación, el lenguaje y la inimitabilidad milagrosa del Corán (iʿjāz al-qurʾān)? Este artículo aborda el ciclo polémico entre jesuitas y musulmanes en las cortes mogoles y safávidas como un recurso para rastrear la evolución del iʿjāz al-qurʾān en el periodo moderno temprano, prestando atención a las «presiones» epistemológicas que sintieron figuras como ʿAli-Quli Jadid al-Islam (m. 1734). En respuesta a los reclamos de los jesuitas, Jadid al-Islam formuló conceptos clave de la imaginación reveladora islámica de nuevas maneras, como su notable incursión en la inscripción de la revelación precoránica con su pureza «original», al proporcionar una traducción al persa de la revisión «incorrupta» de ʿAli ibn Abi Talib de cuarenta suras de la Torá. Estas cuarenta suras de la Torá demuestran una evolución en el iʿjāz al-qurʾān, en la que el carácter «inimitable» del Corán se replantea en torno a la perfección doctrinal en lugar de la calidad estética. A su vez, el ejemplo de las suras de Jadid al-Islam revela cómo el intercambio interreligioso se convierte en una forma productiva de autoconocimiento, en lugar de una mera polémica o apología. zhai yao yi lun kua zong jiao jiao liu yu bian nan de xun huan, ru he bang zhu wo men zhong xin li jie jin dai zao qi guan yu qi shi､yu yan yi ji 《gu lan jing》 bu ke mo fang xing (iʿjāz al-Qurʾān) de guan nian? ben wen tong guo fen xi ye su hui shi yu mu si lin zai mo wo r yu sa fa wei gong ting zhong zhan kai de bian lun xing hu dong, tan tao 《gu lan jing》 qi ji xing bu ke mo fang guan nian zai jin dai zao qi de fa zhan, te bie guan zhu zhu ru ʿ a li-ku li·jia di de·yi si lan (ʿAli-Quli Jadid al-Islam, zu yu1734nian) deng ren wu suo gan shou dao de zhi shi lun ya li. zai hui ying ye su hui shi de lun bian zhong, jia di de·yi si lan yi xin de fang shi chan fa le yi si lan qi shi xing xiang xiang de guan jian gai nian. ta de yi ge yin ren zhu mu de chang shi, shi jiang qian 《gu lan jing》 de qi shi——ji zai qi"yuan chu chun zheng"zhuang tai xia de jing dian——zhong xin shu xie jin yi si lan chuan tong. ta wei ci ti gong le yi fen bo si yu yi ben, ju cheng yuan zi a li·yi ben·a bi·ta li bo dui 《tuo la》 zhong si shi zhang de"wei bei cuan gai"de ban ben. zhe si shi zhang"tuo la jing wen"de li zi zhan shi chu yi zhong iʿjāz guan nian de zhuan bian: yu qi qiang diao 《gu lan jing》 de yu yan zhi mei he wen ti zhi jue lun, bu ru jiang qi bu ke mo fang xing zhong xin ju jiao yu jiao yi de wan bei xing he qi shi de chun cui xing. zhe zhong zhuan xiang xian shi,《gu lan jing》 de du te xing bu jin shi yi zhong mei xue xian xiang, geng shi yi zhong zhen li de wan mei ti xian. zui zhong, jia di de·yi si lan de yi wen li zheng biao ming, kua zong jiao de jiao liu bu jin shi bian nan huo hu jiao de guo cheng, ta geng ke cheng wei yi zhong sheng cheng xing de zi wo ren zhi xing shi, zai zong jiao chuan tong nei bu ji fa chu xin de quan shi ke neng he shen xue zi sheng. 摘要一轮跨宗教交流与辩难的循环，如何帮助我们重新理解近代早期关于启示、语言以及《古兰经》不可模仿性（iʿjāz al-Qurʾān）的观念？本文通过分析耶稣会士与穆斯林在莫卧儿与萨法维宫廷中展开的辩论性互动，探讨《古兰经》奇迹性不可模仿观念在近代早期的发展，特别关注诸如ʿ阿里-库利·贾迪德·伊斯兰（ʿAli-Quli Jadid al-Islam, 卒于1734年）等人物所感受到的知识论压力。在回应耶稣会士的论辩中，贾迪德·伊斯兰以新的方式阐发了伊斯兰启示性想象的关键概念。他的一个引人注目的尝试，是将前《古兰经》的启示——即在其"原初纯正"状态下的经典——重新书写进伊斯兰传统。他为此提供了一份波斯语译本，据称源自阿里·伊本·阿比·塔利卜对《妥拉》中四十章的"未被篡改"的版本。这四十章"妥拉经文"的例子展示出一种iʿjāz观念的转变：与其强调《古兰经》的语言之美和文体之绝伦，不如将其不可模仿性重新聚焦于教义的完备性和启示的纯粹性。这种转向显示，《古兰经》的独特性不仅是一种美学现象，更是一种真理的完美体现。最终，贾迪德·伊斯兰的译文例证表明，跨宗教的交流不仅是辩难或护教的过程，它更可成为一种生成性的自我认知形式，在宗教传统内部激发出新的诠释可能和神学自省。 |
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| ISSN: | 1573-3831 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Mission studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15733831-12342050 |
