The Miraculousness Thought: Context and Evolution up to the Third Century AH

The I‘jāz (miraculousness) thought has witnessed some stages before the fourth century AH when it achieved its pinnacle. At the first stage in the first and second centuries AH, the men of letters and orators indicated their inability to rival the Qur’ān, and the scholars and interpreters disregarded the issues tied to miraculousness without much effort and did not discuss it. At the later stage, the theological contention among various religions and within Islamic denominations posed some challenges against the Qur’ān as the evidence for the prophethood of Prophet Muḥammad (s) and Islam, and led to an emphasis on the miraculousness discussions. The efforts of scholars such as Naẓām, ‘Alī b. Rabban Ṭabarī, Jāḥiẓ, Ibn Qutayba, and Wāsiṭī about I‘jāz represent some of the concerns which existed at that time.