RECONSTRUCTING SAID NURSI’S ARGUMENT FOR QUR’ANIC INIMITABILITY: A STUDY OF “ISHĀRĀT AL-IʿJĀZ FĪ MAẒĀN AL-ĪJĀZ”

Abstract

This article examines the argumentative structure of Said Nursi’s conception of Qur’anic inimitability through his exegetical work Ishārāt al-Iʿjāz fī Maẓān al-Ījāz, approaching it as a text that integrates rhetorical inquiry, linguistic analysis, theological reasoning, and logical demonstration. It proceeds from the premise that argumentation is not merely an auxiliary feature of Islamic intellectual discourse, but a methodological framework through which meaning is constructed, evidence is organized, and persuasion is achieved. The article argues that Nursi’s treatment of Qur’anic inimitability extends beyond the conventional enumeration of evidences and aspects of iʿjāz. Rather, it is founded upon a coherent argumentative system that establishes connections between the linguistic structure of the Qur’anic text, its theological objectives, and its educational and spiritual functions. Within this framework, rhetoric is not reduced to an aesthetic embellishment of language; it operates as an epistemic and persuasive instrument that generates meaning, reinforces proof, and guides the reader from premise to conclusion. The analysis further demonstrates that Ishārāt al-Iʿjāz offers an interdisciplinary model for engaging with the Qur’anic text. Nursi draws upon Arabic grammar, morphology, and rhetoric, as well as Qur’anic exegesis, theology, legal theory, and logic, integrating them into a unified argumentative framework characterized by systematic inquiry, synthesis, analysis, deduction, and the careful arrangement of premises. The work therefore provides a productive case for examining the interrelationship between language, argumentation, and Qur’anic inimitability as mutually constitutive dimensions of meaning-making. The article also maintains that Nursi’s interpretive insights remain firmly grounded in the Qur’anic text and do not impose external meanings upon it. Instead, they emerge from close engagement with its linguistic organization, rhetorical coherence, semantic density, and moral guidance. Ultimately, Nursi’s model offers a valuable foundation for renewing contemporary approaches to dialogue, persuasion, and the presentation of Islamic teachings in ways that address modern intellectual challenges while preserving the normative principles of Sharia and the integrity of the Islamic scholarly tradition.