Islamic Heritage and Contemporary Challenges

Islamic Heritage and Contemporary Challenges

A Critical Re-Examination of John Wansbrough’s Theory on the Origin and Codification of the Qur’an through the Lens of the Shia Qur’anic Charter

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mohammad Ali Rezaei Esfahani 1
Abdullah Jebreili Jelodar 2
Jamiu Amao Saliu 3
Abbas Karimi 4
1 Full Professor, Higher Education Complex of Quran and Hadith, Al Mustafa International University, Qom, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Higher Education Complex of Quran and Hadith, Al Mustafa International University, Qom, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Exegesis (Tafsir), Higher Education Complex of Quran and Hadith, Al Mustafa International University, Qom, Iran
4 Corresponding Author, Member of the Association of Quran and Orientalists, Islamic Seminary of Qom, Qom, Iran.
10.48309/ihcc.2026.253322
Abstract
This study offers an epistemological, philological, and text critical assessment of John Wansbrough‘s revisionist thesis concerning the origins, composition, and canonization of the Qur‘an. It evaluates Wansbrough‘s thesis through the theoretical framework of the Qur‘anic Charter from the Perspective of the Shia of the Ahl al Bayt (2025), alongside contemporary codicological and epigraphic evidence pertaining to the seventh century. In his seminal works, Quranic Studies (1977) and The Sectarian Milieu (1978), Wansbrough argued that the Qur‘an developed as an anthology of circulating ―prophetic logia‖ within a broader interconfessional Jewish Christian polemical milieu, particularly in Mesopotamia, and that its canonical formation was not completed until approximately the turn of the third Islamic century (c. 800 815 CE). He further characterized early Islamic historiography as a retrospective form of salvation history (Heilsgeschichte).
Employing a three tiered methodological framework, this study identifies several critical weaknesses in Wansbrough‘s revisionist paradigm such as: the uncritical transfer of biblical source and form criticism to the Qur‘anic corpus; the assumption that shorter or simpler textual forms necessarily predate more developed formulations; the neglect of the syntactic and rhetorical integration of recurrent Qur‘anic formulae, including the Qul imperatives and Mā adrāka mā construction; and insufficient engagement with early physical evidence. Particular attention is given to the Ṣanʿāʾ palimpsest, the Birmingham and Tübingen folios, and the 692 CE Dome of the Rock inscriptions, which collectively support the existence of a substantially stabilized Qur‘anic textual form by the mid seventh century.
In contrast to revisionist approaches, the Shia Qur‘anic Charter proposes a four dimensional epistemological model encompassing the divine ontology of revelation (waḥy), the integrity of Qur‘anic transmission through tawātur and the doctrine of ʿadam al taḥrīf, multilayered semantics expressed through the categories of ẓāhir and bāṭin, and authoritative hermeneutical continuity grounded in the Prophetic lineage through Ḥadīth al Thaqalayn. The study argues that this framework can facilitate dialogue between classical Islamic textual sciences and contemporary historical critical Qur‘anic studies
Keywords
John Wansbrough,The Sectarian Milieu,historical critical method,Shia Qur&‌lsquo
anic Charter,Qur&‌lsquo
anic canonization,early Qur&‌lsquo
anic manuscripts,Ṣanʿāʾ palimpsest
Dome of the Rock inscriptions

Article Title Persian

بازخوانی نقادانه نظریه جان ونزبرو درباره خاستگاه و تدوین قرآن در پرتو منشور قرآنی شیعه

Authors Persian

محمدعلی رضایی اصفهانی 1
عبدالله جبرئیلی جلودار 2
جامع آمائو صالح 3
عباس کریمی 4
1 استاد تمام جامعه المصطفی العالمیه،مجتمع عالی قرآن وحدیث،قم،ایران
2 استادیار جامعه المصطفی العالمیه،مجتمع عالی قرآن وحدیث،قم،ایران
3 استادیار ،گروه تفسیر،جامعه المصطفی العالمیه،مجتمع عالی قرآن وحدیث،قم،ایران
4 نویسنده مسئول،عضو انجمن قرآن ومستشرقان حوزه علمیه قم،قم،ایران
Abstract Persian

هدف: هدف این پژوهش، سنجش معرفت‌شناختی، زبان‌شناختی و متن‌شناختی نظریه تجدیدنظرطلبانه جان ونزبرو درباره خاستگاه، صورت‌بندی متنی و تدوین نهایی قرآن کریم با کاربست چارچوب نظری منشور قرآنی شیعه امامیه و بهره‌گیری از دستاوردهای نوین نسخه‌شناسی کهن سده نخست هجری است.
روش‌شناسی: این مطالعه از روش‌شناسی تحلیلی، انتقادی و تطبیقی سه سطحی بهره می‌برد؛ سطح نخست به ساختارشکنی درون‌متنی و نقد فرمالیستی می‌پردازد، سطح دوم ساختار استنتاجی و کاربست نقد کتاب مقدس در مطالعات قرآنی را ارزیابی می‌کند، و سطح سوم الگوی نظری ونزبرو را با اصول چهارده‌گانه منشور قرآنی شیعه و شواهد کهن مادی مقایسه می‌نماید.
یافته‌ها: یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد تسری مکانیکی نقد منبع و صورت‌گرایی کتاب مقدس به ساختار بیانی قرآن دچار خلط معرفتی و قیاس مع‌الفارق است. پیش‌فرض تکاملی انگاشتن صورت‌های کوتاه‌تر، نادیده گرفتن انسجام بلاغی و نحوی فرمول‌هایی چون امرهای بیانی و سازه‌های انذاری، نادیده انگاشتن جایگاه تواتر، و تقلیل روایت‌های تاریخی به تاریخ رستگاری، بنیان فرضیه تکوین دیرهنگام در بین‌النهرین را مخدوش می‌سازد. در مقابل، کهن‌ترین اسناد مادی و پدیدارشناسی وحیانی منشور، پایداری ساختار متنی در سده نخست را اثبات می‌کنند.
نتیجه‌گیری: منشور قرآنی شیعه با تفکیک معرفت‌شناختی میان ثبات بنیادین نص و پویایی اجتهادی فهم، مدل چهاربعدی پیوند وحی، تواتر، لایه‌های بطونی و مرجعیت تبیینی اهل بیت را عرضه می‌دارد. این الگو تبیین می‌کند که پویایی تفسیری محصول تکامل فهم است نه تلوّن و دیرزایی متنی، و بدین‌سان بستری استوار برای گفت‌وگوی دانش‌های اصیل اسلامی با مطالعات تاریخی-انتقادی معاصر فراهم می‌آورد.

Keywords Persian

جان ونزبرو
محیط فرقه‌ای
روش تاریخی-انتقادی
منشور قرآنی شیعه
قانون‌شناختی و تدوین قرآن
نسخه‌های خطی کهن قرآن
دست‌نوشته کهن صنعا
کتیبه‌های قبة الصخره
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