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Drs Omar Alí-de-Unzaga,ÌýStephen BurgeÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýNuha al-Sha‘arÌýof theÌý²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic Studies UnitÌýpresented a panel entitledÌýCitations of the Qur’an in Islamic LiteratureÌýat the Inaugural Conference of theÌýÌýin Edinburgh on 10–11 April, 2014.

The panel explored the use of citations of theÌý²Ï³Ü°ù’a²ÔMuslims believe that the Holy ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ô contains divine revelations to the Prophet Muhammed received in Mecca and Medina over a period of 23 years in the early 7th century CE. More, with the aim of gaining some understanding of how citation is used in different genres of Muslim literature: classical ArabicÌý²¹»å²¹²úÌýliterature and exegesis of theÌý²Ï³Ü°ù’a²ÔÌý(tafsir). Illustrating that the meaning of ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic verses can be used for literary effect, or to advocate particular philosophical and religious views, the panel also discussed how this method has been used to lend authority to an idea, concept or interpretation. In some circumstances, the act of taking a ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic verse and placing it in a new context can have a profound influence on its meaning. This phenomenon was explored in detail, generating discussion on the nature of theÌý²Ï³Ü°ù’a²ÔÌýand what it means to cite it.

Dr Nuha al-Sha‘ar presented a paper entitledÌýThe Citation of theÌý²Ï³Ü°ù’a²ÔÌýand Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih’s al-‘Iqd al-Farid. She discussed the chapter that Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih (d. 328 AH / 940 CE) devoted to the concept of governance and authority (sultan) and examined the ways in which he uses ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic quotations, both complete and partial, to articulate views of governance that were important in the context of the political and religious environment of 4th AH / 10th CE century al-Andalus.

Dr Omar Alí-de-Unzaga discussed the use of ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic quotations in theÌýÌýEpistles of the Brethren of PurityÌýin a paper entitled,Ìý‘Over it are nineteen’ (Q. 74:30): ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic Citations,Referentiality and Deixis: The Case of the Rasa’ilÌýIkhwan al-Safa’.ÌýThe paper explored challenges that the readers may encounter regarding the relevance of ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic verses cited with a matter being discussed.

Besides this issue of relevance of ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic citations, another issue is exegesis: are citations mere transpositions of textual units or is there an embedded exegesis in the act of citation? The paper analysed specific ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic citations from theÌýRasa’ilÌýIkhwan al-Safa’Ìýwhich require a referential explanation. While texts ofÌýtafsirÌýhave other interpretative techniques,ÌýadabA word of many meanings usually connoting courtesy, etiquette, rules and manners, civilisation, culture and literature.Ìýtexts tend to have implicit strategies to clarify verses that need to be ‘explained’ as referring to a specific person or concept. Thus, the implicit interpretation of ‘Over it are nineteen’, as given by theÌýIkhwan al-Safa’, is that over the earth there are seven planets and twelve constellations.

Lastly, Dr Stephen Burge examined the use of quotations inÌýtafsir, in a paper entitledÌýThe Use of ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic Citations in Medieval and Modern Tafsir: A Case ¾Ã¾Ã¾Ã¸£Àû¹ú²ú of the Verses on Fasting (Q. 2:183–185). He raised the point that when interpreting a particular verse of theÌý²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ô, exegetes often cite other verses in support of a particular position; however, whilst this phenomenon is widely acknowledged, the actual process remains largely unstudied.

Using the verses on fasting (Q. 2:183–185) as a case study, this paper looked at the different ways in which a range of exegetes have utilised and deployed ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic citations in their interpretations of a verse. First, an individual verse may need to be interpreted according to the verses that precede and follow it. This enables an exegete to isolate a specific pericope within aÌýsuraÌýand to explain issues, such as syntax, over multi-verse textual units, rather than in single verses. Second, ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic verses are used to provide comparative lexical and syntactic evidence for particular word forms and structures. Third, ²Ï³Ü°ù’a²Ôic citations are used to provide interpretative material.