In In the latest installment of the Review of Qur’anic Research (Vol. 7, no.7), Devin J. Stewart (Emory University) reviews Sarah R. bin Tyeer’s The Qur’an and the Aesthetics of Premodern Arabic Prose (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).
In the review, Stewart writes “I have attended several presentations by Islamic art historians in which they purported to present an Islamic theory of aesthetics that drew on the Qurʾān. These talks were characterized by sweeping generalizations about the qurʾānic text, an appalling absence of concrete examples, and great leaps from the text to rather vague aesthetic principles. In contrast, Sarah R. bin Tyeer, writing from the perspective of comparative literature, has produced an antidote of sorts: a good-faith effort to detect a theory of aesthetics in the Qurʾān and to apply it to concrete examples of Arabic literature. In this complex book the author adopts a bold approach, shows a willingness to take some risks, and undertakes a lively engagement with the material, and these merits more than make up for a few technical issues and some heavy-handed opinionating…”
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An entire surah of the Qurʾan bears her name. She is the only woman mentioned by name in the Qurʾan. After Moses, Abraham, and Noah, Mary is also the person most frequently named in the Qurʾan; in other words, her name appears more frequently than those of either Muhammad or Jesus. She is portrayed in the Qurʾan with great respect and reverence, both as the mother of Jesus and as the equal of the male prophets who are found in its pages. The history of Islam is also replete with examples of Mary being seen in a positive light. From the earliest times to the present day, Mary has continued to be held in high regard by Christians and Muslims alike. Thus, one would think that Mary would be a bridging figure to promote dialogue between these two world religions, but in fact she has been the cause of much rancour and tension. She has even been turned into a protagonist for imperialist policies and something like a goddess of war.
The International Qur’anic Studies Association offers a variety of traditional resources to further its mission, including academic journals, book reviews, and collected works; but did you know that IQSA also has a collection of