Controversial and paradoxical theological approaches to the issue of ‘Descent of the Qur’ān’

Controversial and paradoxical theological approaches to the issue of ‘Descent of the Qur’ān’

In Islam, there is a belief that Allah has a ‘throne’ [al-ʿArsh, the highest level of the heavens] in the sky and that Allah sent the Qurʾān directly from that throne or through an angel. According to this belief, the Qurʾān descended from the seventh level of the heavens to the first level and then...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hüseyin Halil
Format: Article
Language:Afrikaans
Published: AOSIS 2020-04-01
Series:HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
Subjects:
qurʾān
descent
space
heaven
throne [al-ʿarsh]
ʾinzāl
tanzīl
Online Access:https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/5387
id doaj-3dc523edf6c249ae9b94325f3bce86c5
record_format Article
spelling doaj-3dc523edf6c249ae9b94325f3bce86c52020-11-25T02:54:06ZafrAOSISHTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 0259-94222072-80502020-04-01761e1e1110.4102/hts.v76i1.53874684Controversial and paradoxical theological approaches to the issue of ‘Descent of the Qur’ān’Hüseyin Halil0Faculty of Theology, Bursa Uludag University, BursaIn Islam, there is a belief that Allah has a ‘throne’ [al-ʿArsh, the highest level of the heavens] in the sky and that Allah sent the Qurʾān directly from that throne or through an angel. According to this belief, the Qurʾān descended from the seventh level of the heavens to the first level and then completed its descent to the earth in pieces over 23 years. Accordingly, the Qurʾān descended from a certain place with determined borders, namely from the throne [al-ʿArsh] of Allah. However, theological books [the literature and sources of ʿılm al-Kalām] contend that Allah is free from space and time and that a specific space cannot be attributed to Allah. The verses of the Qurʾān even suggest that Allah is not only above in the heavens but everywhere. Therefore, the main question of our article is why Allah wanted to send the Qurʾān specifically from the heavens if Allah is free from space. We show that the descent of the Qurʾān from the heavens to the earth is not realistic but is a symbolic and metaphorical narrative.https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/5387qurʾāndescentspaceheaventhrone [al-ʿarsh]ʾinzāltanzīl
collection DOAJ
language Afrikaans
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Hüseyin Halil
spellingShingle Hüseyin Halil
Controversial and paradoxical theological approaches to the issue of ‘Descent of the Qur’ān’
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
qurʾān
descent
space
heaven
throne [al-ʿarsh]
ʾinzāl
tanzīl
author_facet Hüseyin Halil
author_sort Hüseyin Halil
title Controversial and paradoxical theological approaches to the issue of ‘Descent of the Qur’ān’
title_short Controversial and paradoxical theological approaches to the issue of ‘Descent of the Qur’ān’
title_full Controversial and paradoxical theological approaches to the issue of ‘Descent of the Qur’ān’
title_fullStr Controversial and paradoxical theological approaches to the issue of ‘Descent of the Qur’ān’
title_full_unstemmed Controversial and paradoxical theological approaches to the issue of ‘Descent of the Qur’ān’
title_sort controversial and paradoxical theological approaches to the issue of ‘descent of the qur’ān’
publisher AOSIS
series HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
issn 0259-9422
2072-8050
publishDate 2020-04-01
description In Islam, there is a belief that Allah has a ‘throne’ [al-ʿArsh, the highest level of the heavens] in the sky and that Allah sent the Qurʾān directly from that throne or through an angel. According to this belief, the Qurʾān descended from the seventh level of the heavens to the first level and then completed its descent to the earth in pieces over 23 years. Accordingly, the Qurʾān descended from a certain place with determined borders, namely from the throne [al-ʿArsh] of Allah. However, theological books [the literature and sources of ʿılm al-Kalām] contend that Allah is free from space and time and that a specific space cannot be attributed to Allah. The verses of the Qurʾān even suggest that Allah is not only above in the heavens but everywhere. Therefore, the main question of our article is why Allah wanted to send the Qurʾān specifically from the heavens if Allah is free from space. We show that the descent of the Qurʾān from the heavens to the earth is not realistic but is a symbolic and metaphorical narrative.
topic qurʾān
descent
space
heaven
throne [al-ʿarsh]
ʾinzāl
tanzīl
url https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/5387
work_keys_str_mv AT huseyinhalil controversialandparadoxicaltheologicalapproachestotheissueofdescentofthequran
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