Scripture as Literature: The Bible, the Qurān, and Amad Fāris al-Shidyāq

Abstract

This article explores Amad Fāris al-Shidyāq's treatment of Christian and Islamic dogma in his linguistic and literary works, al-Sāq alā al-sāq fī mā huwa al-Fāryāq and Mumāakāt al-tawīl fī munāqaāt al-injīl, among others. A convert to Islam, al-Shidyāq is a notorious critic of Christian doctrine and scripture. I draw parallels with his Bible critique to show how he thwarts the Qurān's stronghold on the Arabic language. Borrowing from Mutazilah doctrines, al-Shidyāq proposes that language is a human creation - and meaning a human relation - and blames Arabic philologists for conflating language with submission to the divine. Through the technique of iqtibās, al-Shidyāq perforates the scriptural authority of the Bible and the Qurān by treating them as literary texts. Al-Shidyāq underscores the scriptures as products of the human, and not the divine, mind. His parodic play with iqtibās underscores literary rigor against authoritative discourse. Al-Shidyāq provides us with exquisite examples of how radicalness may be diffused, asserted, curtailed and covered up through word choice as well as conditions of book production, to affect a critique of authority that would long outlast his time. © 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.