Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This article discusses the usage and semantic function of the apodotic wāw in Qurʾānic Arabic. It takes as its starting point the usage of the same particle in the Hebrew Bible, and goes on to survey the discourse about it in the classical treatises of Arabic grammar. It then analyses a number of Qurʾānic passages where the exegetical literature discussed whether a wāw is (or could be) marking an apodosis. By demonstrating the interpretive options enabled by the apodotic wāw, the article argues—pace the classical Arabic grammarians and Qurʾān exegetes, many of whom denied its existence outright—that this particle is not simply superfluous. Rather, the article contends that the apodotic wāw creates a space for ambiguity, and thereby expands the range of hermeneutical possibilities. In presenting this argument, the article suggests that the function of the apodotic wāw in the Qurʾān closely resembles its function in the Hebrew Bible.
Source: Journal of Islamic Studies
DOI: 10.1093/jis/etae056
Author: Tareq Moqbel
Institution: University of Oxford
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,098
OpenAlex ID: W4403482523