Quran and Hadith Studies

Quran and Hadith Studies

Review and Critique of the Encyclopedia of Qurʾanic Sciences With Special Reference to the Entries on the Inimitability of the Qurʾan

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
Tahereh Noori 1
Mohammadreza Hajiesmaeili Hosseinabadi 2
Mohammadreza Sotoudehnia 3
Davod Esmaeili 4
1 PhD Student of Qur’anic Sciences and Hadith, Faculty of Theology and Ahl al-Bayt Studies, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
2 Professor, Department of Qur’anic Sciences and Hadith, Faculty of Theology and Ahl al-Bayt Studies, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
3 Associate Professor, Department of Qur’anic Sciences and Hadith, Faculty of Theology and Ahl al-Bayt Studies, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
4 Assistant Professor, Department of Qur’anic Sciences and Hadith, Faculty of Theology and Ahl al-Bayt Studies, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
10.22067/jquran.2026.94772.1868
Abstract
The Encyclopedia of Qurʾanic Sciences, compiled by a group of scholars under the auspices of the Islamic Information and Documentation Center, represents the only specialized Persian encyclopedia in this field. Its significance, the availability of a free online edition, and its recognition as a “Book Worthy of Commendation” motivated the present review and critique. Employing a descriptive–critical approach and aiming at the scholarly improvement of the work, this study is organized into three sections. The first section introduces the encyclopedia and its overall structure, while the second evaluates its formal aspects; the findings of these two sections indicate a satisfactory level of coherence and standardization. The third section is devoted to a content-based critique of the entries related to the inimitability (iʿjāz) of the Qurʾan.
The findings of the content analysis reveal significant shortcomings, including a lack of logical coherence in the allocation of content, weak or insufficiently rigorous arguments, inconsistency between the definition of “miracle” and the proposed aspects of inimitability, unsystematic referencing, inadequate coverage of related concepts, absence of diverse scholarly perspectives, and limited engagement with recent international research. Overall, the results suggest that in order to attain the status of a reliable academic reference work, this encyclopedia requires substantial revisions in both methodology and content.
Keywords
Inimitability (iʿjāz) of the Qurʾan
Encyclopedia of Qurʾanic Sciences
aspects of Qurʾanic inimitability
book review
Subjects
Qurān-i Karīm.
al-Bāqalānī, Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ṭīb.  Iʿjāz Qurān. Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1997/1418.
ʿAllāmah Ḥillī, Ḥasan ibn Yūsuf. Kashf al-Murād fī Sharḥ Tajrīd al-Iʿtiqād. Qum: Mūʾassisa al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 2009/1430.
Baḥrānī, Ibn Miytham. Qawāʿid al-Marām fī ʻIlm al-Kalām.  Qum: Maktaba Āyat Allāh al-Marʻashī al-Najafī, 1986/1406.
Balāghī, Muḥammad Jawād. Ālāʾ al-Raḥmān fī Tafsīr al-Qurān. Qum: Wujdānī, s.d.
Fāḍil Miqdād, Jamāl al-Dīn. Irshād al-Ṭālibīn ilā Nahj al-Mustarshidīn. Qum: Kitābkhānih-yi Āyat Allāh Marʻashī, 1985/1405.
Ḥusaynī, Sayyid Ḥusayn. Ulgūy Naqd. Tehran: Naqd Farhang, 2022/1400.
Ibn Ḥajar Haythamī, Aḥmad Shahāb al-Dīn. al-Fatāwā al-Ḥadīthīya. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Tūrāth al-ʻArabī, 1999/1419.
Ibn Ḥazm Andalusī, ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad. al-Fiṣal fī al-Milal wa al-Hawāʾ wa al-Niḥal. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyya, 1995/1416.
Ibn Khaldūn, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān. al-Tārīkh Ibn Khaldūn. Beirut: Dār al-Fīkr, 1988/ 1408.
Iqbāl, Ibrāhīm. Farhangnāmah ʿUlum Qurān (ʿUlum va Taʾlīfāt). Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 2011/1389.
Jamʻī az Muḥaqiqān. Markaz-i Iṭilāʿāt va Madārik-i Islāmī. . Farhangnāmah-yi ʿUlum Qurānī. Qum: Pazhūhishgāh-i ʿUlūm va Farhang-i Islāmī, 2016/1394.
Jamʻī az Muḥaqiqān. Markaz-i Iṭilāʿāt va Madārik-i Islāmī. Farhangnāmah-yi Uṣūl Fiqh. Qum: Pazhūhishgāh-i ʿUlūm va Farhang-i Islāmī,  2011/1389.
Jamʻī az Muḥaqiqān. Markaz-i Iṭilāʿāt va Madārik-i Islāmī. Iṣṭilāḥnāmah ʿUlum Qurānī. Pazhūhishgāh-i ʿUlūm va Farhang-i Islāmī, 1998/1376.
Jamʻī az Muḥaqiqān. zīr nażar  ʻAlī Akbar Rashād. Dānishnāmih vaʿUlūm Qurān. Qum: Pazhūhishgāh Farhang va Andīshih-yi Islāmī, 2017/1396.
Jurjānī, Mīr Sayyid Sharīf. al-Taʿrīfāt. Tehran: Nāṣir Khusrū, 1992/1412.
Juvaynī, Ibī al-Maʻālī. al-ʿAqīda al-Niẓāmīya fī al-Arkān al-Islāmīyya. Beirut: Dār Sabīl al-Rashād, 2003/1424.
Mufīd, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad. al-Masāʾil al-ʻUkbarīya. Qum: al-Muʾtamar al-ʿĀlamī li-li-Shaykh al-Mufīd. 1993/1413.
Mūsawī, Narjis. "Dalāyil Iṣālat Vaḥy Qurānī az Manẓar Qurān: Bāzandīshī dar Tafsīr Qaṭaʿāt Taḥadī". Partū Vaḥy. yr. 2, no. 1 (2015/1394): 101-132.
Nūrī, Ṭāhirih. Taḥlīl Intiqādī Taʿrīf Muʿjizih va Vujūh Iʿjāz Qurān-i Karīm dar Āsār ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāyī. Risālah Dukturī, University of Isfahan, 2025/1404. 
Qāḍī ʿAbd  Jabār,  Abū al-Ḥasan. al-Mughnī fī Abwāb al-Tawḥīd wa al-ʿAdl. Cairo: Dār al-Miṣrīya, 1965/1384.
Rāmyār, Maḥmud. Tārīkh-i Qurān. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1990/1369.
Sayyīd  Murtaḍā.  ʻAlī  ibn Ḥusayn ibn Mūsā. al-Mawḍaḥ an Jaḥat Iʿjāz al-Qurān. Mashhad: Bunyād-i Pazhūhish-hā-yi Islāmī. Āstān-i Quds, 2003/1382.
Ṭabāṭabāyī, Sayyīd Muḥammad Ḥusayn. al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr al-Qurān. Beirut:  Mūʾassisa al-Aʻlamī li-l-Maṭbūʻāt,  1970/1390.
Ṭabāṭabāyī, Sayyīd Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Iʿjāz az Naẓar ʿAql va Qurān. Qum: Markaz Barrisī-hā-yī Islāmī va Nashr Fākhtih, s.d.
Ṭabāṭabāyī, Sayyīd Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Majmūʿah al-Rasāʾil (ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāyī). Qum: Būstān-i Kitāb, 2008/1387.
Ṭayib Ḥusaynī,  Sayyid Maḥmud, ʻAlī Khurāsānī, Muḥammad Akbarī Kārmuzdī, ʻAlī Mudabar Islāmī. Dānishnāmih vaʿUlūm Qurān. Qum: Pazhūhishgāh ʻUlūm va Farhang Islāmī, 2018/1397.
Ṭūsī, Khwājah Naṣīr al-Dīn Muḥammad. Tajrīd al-Iʿtiqād. Qum: Daftar Tablīghāt-i Islāmī, 1987/1407.
Yaʿqūbnizhād, Muḥammad Hādī.  "Farhangnāmah-yi ʿUlum Qurānī". Āynih Pazhūhish. Yr. 26, no. 5 (2015/1394): 43-48.
Zū al-Faqār Ṭalab, Muṣṭafā, Muḥammad Jamālī. Farhangnāmah-yi ʿUlum Qurānī (Pazhūhishī dar Muṣṭalaḥāt va Mafāhīm ʿUlum Qurānī). Tehran: Rāshidīn: 2017/1395.
 
Send comment about this article
Enter Name.
Enter a valid email address.
Enter a vaid affiliation.
Enter comments (At leaset 10 words)
CAPTCHA Image
Enter Security Code Correctly.
Quran and Hadith Studies
Volume 57, Issue 2 - Serial Number 115
Autumn & Winter 2025-2026
February 2026
Pages 329-358

  • Receive Date 05 August 2025
  • Revise Date 18 November 2025
  • Accept Date 02 February 2026