Understanding the Qurʾanic Miracle Stories in the Modern Age

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“This is 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). Yazicioglu’s pragmatic hermeneutics raises highly relevant philosophical questions and makes us rethink our assumptions about Qur anic miracle stories, showing how we must read them as relevant scriptural texts that question our assumptions about the world. This is a wellwritten and engaging book on an important topic. It deserves to be widely read and discussed.” —Gavin Flood, University of Oxford “Isra Yazicioglu’s Understanding the Qur anic Miracle Stories in the Modern Age is an intriguing study not only of the Qur an but also of the reception history of the sacred text in light of the challenge of rationalism. Meandering from the Qur an itself to Ghazali and Ibn Rushd as well as Peirce and Hume and Nursi, 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 The Qur an contains many miracle stories, from Moses’s staff turning into a serpent to Mary’s conceiving Jesus as a virgin. In Understanding the Qur anic Miracle Stories in the Modern Age, Isra Yazicioglu explores the ways in which meaningful implications have been drawn from these apparently strange narratives in both the premodern and modern eras. She fleshes out a fascinating medieval Muslim debate over miracles and connects its insights with early and late modern turning points in Western thought and with contemporary Qur anic interpretation. Building on an apparent tension within the Qur an and analyzing crucial cases of classical and modern Muslim engagement with these miracle stories, Yazicioglu illustrates how an apparent site of conflict between faith and reason, or revelation and science, can become a site of fruitful exchange. This book is a distinctive contribution to a new trend in Qur anic studies: it reveals the presence of insightful Qur anic interpretation outside of the traditional line-by-line commentary genre, engaging with the works of Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, and Said Nursi. Moreover, while it focuses on the case of miracle stories, the book also goes beyond these specific passages to reflect more broadly on the issue of Qur anic hermeneutics. It notes the connections between literal and symbolic approaches and highlights the importance of reading the Qur an with an eye to its potential implications for everyday life. Isra Yazicioglu is Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Joseph’s University. signifying (on) scriptures / vol. 3 The Pennsylvania State University Press University Park, Pennsylvania www.psupress.org ...