Qur’anic Doublets and the Hypothesis of the Later Redaction of the Canonical Qur’an (A presentation and criticism of Gabriel Reynolds’ hypothesis)

Document Type : Scholary

Author

Department of Quranic Studies Devision, Faculty of Quranic Studies, University of Religions and Denominations, Qom, Iran

Abstract

Qur’anic scholars who disbelieve the Qur’an have long studied its codification and canonization. In his recent hypothesis, Gabriel Said Reynolds generalizes New Testament’s modern research methods and applies them to Qur’an. Thus he focuses on Qur’an’s “doublets”, and considers Qur’an’s present codex as a result of the later redaction of a written text provided from two previous Meccan and Medinan written material. This article- which is the outcome of analyzing Reynolds’ article, two of his speeches and a series of scientific correspondences with him - explains his hypothesis and research method, clarifies his methodological mistakes and violation of his own scientific criteria and falsifies the validity of his idea. This study questions Reynods’ presuppositions and foundations of his view, and discusses the incompatibility of Qur’an and New Testament and thus the invalidity of generalizing the research methods of New Testament and applying them to Qur’an, and the intentionality of repetition in the expressive style of Qur'an and considering repetition as one of Qur’an’s features. This article also shows that Qur’an is oral and readable and transmitted from one heart to another heart through permitted recitations, discloses the scientific flaws of Reynolds’ proposal resulted from neglecting Muslim Qur’anic scholars’ views, and explains the inaccuracy of his evidences due to interpretational misunderstandings; and shows the necessity of inspecting the idea.

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References

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Classical and Contemporary Islamic Studies (formerly known as Journal of Contemporary Islamic Studies)
Volume 5, Issue 2
Summer & Autumn
July 2023
Pages 219-229

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