Metaphors of Death and Resurrection in the Qur'an: An Intertextual Approach with Biblical and Rabbinic Literature

Description

Through extensive textual analysis, this open access book reveals how various passages of the Qur'an define death and resurrection spiritually or metaphorically. While the Day of Resurrection is a major theme of the Qur'an, resurrection has largely been interpreted as physical, which is defined as bones leaving their graves. However, this book shows that the Qur'an sometimes alludes to death and resurrection in a metaphoric manner - for example, rebuilding a desolate town, typically identified as Jerusalem, and bringing the Israelite exiles back; thus, suggesting awareness and engagement with Jewish liturgy. Many times, the Qur'an even speaks of non-believers as spiritually dead, those who live in this world, but are otherwise zombies. The author presents an innovative theory of interpretation, contextualizing the Qur'an within Late Antiquity and traces the Qur'anic passages back to their Biblical, extra-biblical and rabbinic subtexts and traditions. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

Abdulla Galadari is an Associate Professor at Khalifa University of Science & Technology, United Arab Emirates. He is the author of Qur'anic Hermeneutics: Between Science, History, and the Bible (Bloomsbury, 2018).

This innovative and thought-provoking work uses the method of "intertextual polysemy" to uncover the richness of the Qur'an's references to death and resurrection. Abdulla Galadari carefully analyses the Qur'an's Biblical subtext and its theological strategies. He thereby uncovers new meanings in Islam's scripture. A must-read for students and scholars of the Qur'an and the Bible. * Gabriel Said Reynolds, Crowley Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology, University of Notre Dame, USA * In both method and content, this important book reads the Qur'an within its broader religious background, both diachronically and synchronically. It will set new standards and fresh challenges to comparative research, for both Qur'anic and late antique studies. * Guy G. Stroumsa, Martin Buber Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religion, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and Professor Emeritus of the Study of the Abrahamic Religions, Oxford University, UK * This is the first detailed monograph study of death in the Qur'an. Galadari has done Qur'anic studies a great service. This book is a must-read. * Walid Saleh, Professor, University of Toronto, Canada * Abdulla Galadari treats a well-known topic through a new and innovative lens that opens up a fresh approach to reading the Qur'an. * Reuven Firestone, Regenstein Professor in Medieval Judaism and Islam, Hebrew Union College, USA *