390

Journal of the American Oriental Society 133.2 (2013)

An argument can be made, I believe, that much of the Qurans discourse about signs, about scripture, about recitation, though it has come to be read particularly within the believing community as being self-referential, can also be construed quite fruitfully as having a referent beyond the text itself. In his closing exhortation to the study of the Quran in the light of its biblical subtext, Reynolds claims that with this method it emerges that Qurn and Bible, far from being incompatible or in opposition, are very much in harmony. It may be just that the hortatory mood of the peroration has got the better of him, but such a claim would risk undercutting his other affirmations about the distinctiveness of the Qurans voice in preaching the biblical tradition, and the challenge it poses to other communities and their readings. This is a significant contribution to contemporary Quranic studies. In the breadth of its reading and the linguistic skills on which it calls, it models the virtues and abilities it recommends for all students of the Quran. Daniel A. Madigan Georgetown University

Revelation and Falsification: The Kitb al-qirt of Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Sayyr. Edited by Etan Kohlberg and Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi. Texts and Studies on the Qurn, vol. 4. Leiden: Brill, 2009. Pp. viii + 363 + 201 (Arabic). $259. The author or compiler, or better, the name to which this beautifully edited collection of traditions is traced, is Abd Allh Amad b. Muammad b. Sayyr, known chiefly in the literature as al-Sayyr after his grandfather, or, by turns, as al-Ifahn, al-Bar, al-Qumm, and al-Ktib. He was active during the imamate of the eleventh Twelver leader al-asan al-Askar (254260/868873) and is thought to have lived and worked as a scribe for the hirids in Nshpr. He had important and strong connections with the ninth- and tenth-century proto-Twelver center in Qumm. We have no precise birth or death dates. Some authorities claim that he did not live into the fourth/tenth century (e.g., gh Buzurg ihrn), though this is clearly debatable. It is pointed out that he was held to be part of a diverse group of extremists (ghult), so designated by later Twelver Shiite authorities in particular historical circumstances (about which more below). The editors of this text are to be congratulated. They have provided a valuable resource and a model of textual scholarship. Through their painstaking efforts they have also supplied in the process a luster of credibility to this collection of the authors troublesome views, or rather, the views of those hadiths that the author collects, which until now have been accessible directly only in rare post-afavid transcriptions of a ninth-century work. It must be added, however, that identical (if not even more pronounced) views about the corruption of the Uthmnic muaf have been widely available since the time of the afavids in those well-known compendious and encyclopedic works of Twelver doctrinal consolidation, including hadith collections and Quran commentaries. This book consists of several parts. The section of most interest to readers of this journal is probably the edition itself. Printed in a beautiful Arabic font with exemplary care, intelligence, and unparalleled knowledge of the pertinent sources, the edition runs to 201 pages. The apparatus could not be more valuable, keyed to four manuscripts fully described in the English introduction (pp. 4650), together with a tree serenely postulating the transmission of the text, their dates 1076/1666 (M), unknown (L), 1311/18934 (T), and 1319/1901 (B). Two of these manuscripts are connected with the notorious al-Nr al-abars (d. 1902), author of the incendiary Fal al-khib f tarf kitb rabb al-arbb and the slightly more moderate Mustadrak al-wail. The first title is in fact an extended indictment of the Uthmnic muaf and was the topic of an important article written by Kohlberg over thirty-five years ago. The edited text is a collection of 725 separate akhbr or hadiths, complete with asnd. Each report is given its own numbered paragraph and this number is keyed to further invaluable and exhaustive informationbibliographical and otherwiseoffered in Notes, the other major section

Reviews of Books

391

(pp. 53289). Given the dates of these manuscripts, one may also postulate that had it not been for the afavids, this book would have been lost forever. The text preserves a number of variant readings (qirt) of the Uthmnic muaf, some more dramatic in their implications than others. Kohlberg (pp. 4142) characterizes these variants as including five distinct types: (1) a change in vocalization; (2) a substitution of one or more words by another word or words; (3) a change in the order of the words; (4) an addition of one or more words; (5) a combination of elements from categories (1) to (4). As regards their content, the readings may be divided into two main categories: (I) readings carrying an Imm message. These ... termed pro-Imm, are further divided into two kinds ... (a) explicit ... in which one of the following is mentioned: Al (by his name or by one of his epithets ...); the Imams, the Prophets family; the walya; enemies of the Prophets family (by their name or by a pejorative appellation); terms of Imm law, doctrine, etc. (b) implicitly pro-Imm readings ... readings whose Imm character appears only in the interpretation given to them by the Sh exegetes. (II) neutral readings. [...] with no [discernible] explicit or implicit Imm message.... Readings from category (Ia) are almost never cited outside Imm literature (except for polemical purposes); readings from category (II) and sometimes from category (Ib) are also found in non-Imm works. The edition is preceded by a title page and a table of contents; the exquisite irony of this derives from the fact that we have here a highly marginalized and rare work presented to the scholarly public in a format that simply could never have been imagined, either by its author or by those sympathetic to its authors views. As Kohlberg himself allows (p. 45), it is extremely unlikely that these corrections to the putatively corrupt Uthmnic recension were ever meant to be read in liturgy. But here we have the book presented through the efforts of the two leading scholars of Twelver (or what is unfailingly referred to here as Imm) Shiism in a series on Quranic Studies edited by Gerhard Bwering and Jane Dammen McAuliffe. All this combines to give an impression of the very opposite of the marginal. One can hear al-Sayyr chuckling to himself in barzakh. The table of contents does not take into account the brief introductory matter (pp. ), rather it begins with the first chapter (bb) which is on the basmala (pp. ) followed by a chapter on the Ftia (pp. ) after which the rest of the chapters of the Uthmnic Quran are presented. The longest chapter, on al-baqara, covers pp. , while several chapters combine in one or two pages a treatment of several suras; e.g., chapter 54 (pp. ) treats al-aff (Q 61), al-jumua (Q 62), and al-munfiqn (Q 63). The text opens with a refutation of the tradition that the Quran was sent down in seven different readings, maintaining that it was revealed in one, from the One to one prophet, adding, however, that the Quran does have four distinct subject categories: One-fourth concerning our enemies, onefourth concerning us [the Imams], one-fourth made up of lessons, and one-fourth composed of laws and ordinances (a report also familiar to scholars of afavid Shiism). This section closes with the equally well-known statement from the fifth Imam Muammad al-Bqir (d. 735), if it were not for the fact that the Quran has been both amplified and diminished [by our enemies], our right (aqqun) would not be hidden from anyone. When our qim arises he will recite the Quran as it was really revealed. The compiler then adds that the originally revealed Quran comprised 17,000 verses (instead of the 6,000 plus in the Uthmnic recension) and that originally there were seven separate names [of miscreants] mentioned in the text, but the Quraysh removed six of them, leaving only the name of Ab Lahab (pp. ). This opening salvo is followed by the section on the basmala in which it is asserted that all divine books have been revealed with a basmala opening them, and that the basmala is the noblest verse in the Quran (this is part of a wider intramural argument in exegesis about whether or not the basmala should be counted as a separate verse). Then numerous reports are presented that argue that Q 17:46 is actually referring to the basmala as the verse that upon recitation causes the unbelievers to turn their backs upon Thee in aversion. This section closes with two reports found widely distributed in the tafsr literature regardless of sectarian orientation although not always on the same authority: al-Bqir was asked for a tafsr of the basmala and he responded, the b represents the luminous beauty of God

392

Journal of the American Oriental Society 133.2 (2013)

(bah Allh), the sn represents the splendor of God (san Allh), the mm represents the dominion/ kingdom (mulk) (or in a variant mentioned here, the glory [majd] of God); verily God is the god of all created things, He is al-ramn to His entire creation and al-ram exclusively to the believers. A few other reports wish to identify the Ftia with the cryptic reference to the saba min al-mathn (Q 15:87) for the purpose of asserting once again that the basmala is the noblest verse of that sura. But this is also found in a wide variety of exegesis. There are no variants offered for the basmala. The variantsor better put, the corrections offered for the Ftia properare three: instead of ihdin al-ir al-mustaqm in verse 6, it should read ihdin ir al-mustaqm; instead of ir al-ladhna anamta alayhim in verse 7, it should be ir man anamta alayhim; and instead of wa-l lln in verse 7.3, reports assert that the original revelation read wa-ghayri al-lln. A brief look at the chapter on al-baqara will give a better picture of the nature of this hadith collection. At 2:1, dhlika l-kitb is corrected to tanzl al-kitb. Then in a characteristic violation of the standard order of the yt of a given sura, the next verse to be addressed is 2:255, the Throne verse. In this, however, there is no indication that the commentary is suggesting that 2:255 actually follows 2:1 in the original revelation. A long clause is said to have been removed from the celebrated verse in its Uthmnic recension stating that in addition to whatever is in the heavens and the earth, also belonging to God are what is under the ground, the world of the seen and the unseen, the Merciful the Compassionate is the originator (bad) of the heavens and the earth, owner of glorious and noble might, lord of the mighty throne. Several other reports speak to changes in the Throne verse, one adding that the proper end of the verse is may God bless Muammad and the people of his house. At 2:87 it is not clear whether al-Bqir is identifying an instance of tarf or is merely providing tafsr. Accordingly the careful edition indicates in rubrics only a single word. The Imam is presented as saying Muammad came to you, with what your souls did not desire, namely, the walya of Al, and you waxed prouda party of the family of Muammad (l Muammad) you denied and another party you killed. The variant here is identified as fa-stakbartum, which should replace the Uthmnic istakbartum. Yet the strong implication is that this verse can only be understood as referring directly to the ahl al-bayt. There is complete lack of any possible ambiguity in the next paragraph. Here, at 2:91, it is clearly claimed that the verse was originally revealed as, And when it is said to them, Believe in what Allah has revealed concerning Al, they say, We believe [only] in what was revealed to us. At 2:102 we find a similar report: the Uthmnic And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon was originally read as And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited about the walya of the devils during the reign of Solomon. At 2:90, the name of Al was expunged from the verse, which Gabriel actually brought to Muammad as follows (nazala Jabrl bi-hdhihi l-ya hkadh): Evil is that for which they sold themselvesthat they would disbelieve in what Allah has revealed about Al so grudgingly (baghiyan).... The editors have warned us that the order of verses within the tafsr is sometimes anomalous (as we saw above in the jump from 2:1 to 2:255). Here the text leaps backwards from 2:90 to 2:6 without apology or comment. Thus this verse is presented in its pristine form by al-Bqir as, Indeed, those who disbelieve in the walya of Al it is all the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn themthey will not believe. Next, at 2:59, Gabriel is said to have originally come down with, Those who substituted a word that had been told them for another did wrong against the family of Muammad and we sent down upon them the family of Muammad as their condign punishment. For emphasis the compiler inserts here an exegetical verse (20:115) demonstrating that the family of Muammad was originally mentioned in such specific words elsewhere in the Quran: And indeed we made a covenant of old with specific words concerning Muammad and Al and al-asan and all the Imams from their descendants (dhurriyyatihim) but they forgot. This is cited on the authority of Jafar al-diq, who adds immediately after the verse: Thus, by God, did it descend to Muammad, upon him peace! An example of an apparently neutral restoration is found in the comment on 2:214 where a believer relates that he actually heard al-diq recite They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken then shaken again until [even their] messenger and those who believed with him said, When is the help of God? Unquestionably the help of God is near. However, in the next verse we are returned to the problem of a specifically Shiite agenda in a question to al-diq about the middle prayer (al-alt al-wus) mentioned in 2:238the

Reviews of Books

393

answer comes when the sixth Imam recites the verse, Maintain with care the prayers and the middle prayer, and the ar prayer, and stand before God, devoutly obedient. Then he said, the middle prayer is the noon prayer, this is the way Muammad recited it. Whether or not this is to be connected to the well-known tradition about the eschatological significance of the declining day (ar) as a time for the advent of the twelfth Imam is not indicated by the editors. Five hadith in succession, including one ascribed to al-Bqir and one traced to none other than Ibn Abbs himself, are cited upholding this identification of the middle prayer as the ar prayer. The next verse is 2:106 where the correction is simply to be read one better than it like it rather than one better than it or like it. Skipping to 2:132 we encounter a substantial correction. Where the Uthmnic text reads, ... indeed God has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except as musallimn [instead of muslimn] to the walya of Al ibn Ab lib. Similarly 2:159 is said by al-diq to have been originally revealed as, Verily those who hide what has been revealed and explained about Al after We have explained this to people in the Book ... those whom God does curse.... The comment on 2:97 and 2:98 simply serves to supply the original vowelling for the name of the angel: Jabral. There is some repetition in the next few reports, but going ahead to 2:23, al-Bqir tells us that Gabriel originally came down with the verse as, And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant about Al, then produce a sura the like thereof.... At 2:177 an exegetical comment from the Imam simply clarifies that ubbihi means ubb Al. At 2:269 the ul l-albb those who understand are identified as the sha of Al, may God bless him, and Al is the gate (al-bb). At 2:275 it is said that the words Day of Resurrection were left out of the Uthmnic text. The chapter closes by revisiting a verse already discussed repeatedly, namely, 2:234. The concern with it here is to demonstrate beyond doubt that it actually precedes 2:240 and its present position is thus an example of tarf. Along with the edition, its apparatus, and the English notes, we are also given a very interesting and valuable introduction. The first part (pp. 130), written by Amir-Moezzi, provides a survey of Western scholarship on the question of the textual corruption of the Quran, a survey of the treatment of similar problems in Islamic sources, and a focus on specifically Twelver views on the question. Kohlbergs section of the introduction (pp. 3053) deals with the life and works of al-Sayyr, the structure and contents of the book at hand, and technical information pertinent to the editing of the present work. There is also a useful (if not always consistent in its choice of entries) general index (pp. 32554) and an index of Quranic verses (pp. 35563). A very full bibliography will also serve the reader well, despite a couple of omissions: the recently published al-Durr al-thamn f khamsmiat ya nazalat f mawln amr al-muminn bi-ittifq akthar al-mufassirn min ahl al-dn by the fifteenth-century Arab Shiite scholar Rajab al-Burs (Beirut: Muassasat al-Alam li-l-Mabt, 2003) and an important if brief article by Rainer Brunner, The Dispute about the Falsification of the Qurn between Sunns and Shs in the 20th Century, in Studies in Arabic and Islam: Proceedings of the 19th Congress, Union Europenne des Arabisants et Islamisants, Halle 1998, ed. S. Leder et al. (Leuven: Peeters, 2002), pp. 43746. The more recently published work by al-Burs, Mashriq al-amn wa-lubb aqiq al-mn (Beirut, 2009) and the new print of an abridgement of the above-mentioned Fal al-khib (Cairo, 2010) were obviously unavailable when the book was in production. In 873-4 two events of lasting impact were afoot in the heartlands of Islam and especially Shiite Islam. The first was the efflorescence of the Isml dawa, radiating throughout the lands of Islam to finally achieve an impressive victory (qhira) in Egypt from where Sunni Islam was to feel threatened to its core. The second was the disappearance of the twelfth Imam recognized by the later theoreticians of Twelver Shiism to usher in precisely the opposite: the accommodation to central, Baghdadi Sunni Islam and its power structure. Both movements may be referred to as Imm Shiism, but such a terminological coincidence disguises profoundly distinct pietistic, scriptural, hermeneutical, and religious orientations. It is of some interest to this story and the story of tanzl wa-tarf (cf. tanzl wa-tawl) that Shiite voices against Shiite charges of tarf were not raised until well after Kulayn (oddly always referred to here by the rarer vowelling Kuln), one of the three Muammads recognized as founding Twelver orthodoxy and who himself preserves copious evidence for this same charge in his foundational al-Kf. In the later part of the tenth through the thirteenth centuries, leading Twelver scholars condemned their ancestors for such heresies. It is surely no accident in the history of

394

Journal of the American Oriental Society 133.2 (2013)

this doctrinal development that the Fimids did finally occupy Baghdad for over a year during the lifetime of the renowned Twelver anti-tarf scholar Ab Jafar al-s (d. 1067). Certainly, politics was involved and just as surely it was not only the politics of the seventh century that has left its imprint on this problem. In such a context, it could almost be imagined that al-Sayyr had been invented in order that the true Twelvers could emerge ever more Sunni-friendly in such troubled times. How else do we account for the rather oxymoronic formula mainstream Shiism? In any event, with this edition what was once a secret, clandestine source for malcontents and other marginaux is now widely available through a publisher of central importance to mainstream Islamic scholarship. Todd Lawson University of Toronto

The Perfect Guide to the Sciences of the Qurn (al-Itqn f Ulm al-Qurn), by Imm Jall-al-Dn Abd al-Ramn al-Suy, vol. 1. Translated by amid Algar, Michael Schub, and Ayman Abdel aleem; reviewed by Osman S. A. Ismal A. al-Bl. The Great Books of Islamic Civilization. Reading, UK: Garnett Publishing, 2011. Pp. xxxiii + 301. 60. Al-Itqn f ulm al-Qurn by Jall al-Dn al-Suy (d. 911/1505) provides a detailed reference summary of the subject commonly known as the sciences of the Quran, which stands at the foundation of Muslim understanding of scripture; it is undoubtedly the most famous work of its type. The material ranges through eighty categories/chapters (sg. naw) that include the chronology of the Qurans revelation, the modes of revelation, the collection and transmission of the text, prosody, lexicology, syntax, semantics, style, exegesis, and the merits of the Quran. Each category is a scholastic subject in itself and often did result in an additional stand-alone work in the hands of al-Suy. Mohammed Arkouns classic article, Introduction: Bilan et perspectives des tudes coraniques, in his Lectures du Coran (Paris, 1982; Eng. tr. in The Quran: Style and Contents, ed. A. Rippin [Aldershot, 2001]), summarizes al-Suys accomplishment: The appearance of being exhaustive, the care for detail, the casuistry, and the taxonomy give the feeling of a confident erudition that is complete, convenient of access, and couched in contemporary usage (trans., p. 302). In sum, says Arkoun, the work is the orthodoxy and orthopraxy in connection with the Qurn (p. 303) as it had evolved by that point in history. As well, in al-Itqn we have a record of a fifteenth-century library of Quranic sciences; al-Suys bibliographical records are of immense importance in understanding the scholastic world and the educational system of the time. Further, we see the impact of adth modes of transmission and the valorizing of the epistemology that came to the fore with Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1327) and Ibn Kathr (d. 774/1373). Finally, al-Suys system of analysis as represented by the categories of information he provides underpins much of nineteenth- and twentieth-century scholarship on the Quran, a point to which Arkoun also draws attention. All this is to say that in al-Suys work we have a monument that is foundational and well deserving of translation. This particular translation of al-Itqn has been planned for many years. It was one of the first books to be announced when the Great Books of Islamic Civilization series was launched many years ago. In the meantime, other attempts to translate the work have been commenced and planned. The translation of excerpts from the first twenty naws can be found at www.muneerfareed.com/itqan/; and the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (altafsir.com) has announced its intention to produce a translation as volume eight of its Great Commentaries on the Holy Qurn series. The translation under review covers the first thirty-five naws, that being the first part of the fourpart, two-volume edition of Muammad Ab Fal Ibrhm (Cairo, 1967). Criticizing a book for what it is not is obviously a pointless exercise. When it comes to translations of classical texts, the very appearance of the work must always be acknowledged and welcomed. That this translation will allow more readers to have access to the medieval world of Quranic interpretation in its broadest sense is to be celebrated. That said, I could compose a long list of regrets about this translation, detailing the