Table of Contents

ContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on TransliterationIntroduction: The Qur'anic Miracle Stories: A Puzzling Motif?Part 1 A Medieval Muslim Debate1 In Defense of a Literal Reading of Miracles: Ghazali's Case for Contingency and Grace2 A Cautious Approach to Miracle Stories: Ibn Rushd's Case for Rationalism and Divine WisdomPart 2 Reframing the Debate on Miracles in Modern Terms3 David Hume on Empiricism, Common Sense, and Miracles4 Charles S. Peirce on Pragmatism, Science, and MiraclesPart 3 Contemporary Connections5 Said Nursi's Contemporary Reading of Qur'anic Miracle StoriesConclusion: Qur'anic Hermeneutics in the Modern AgeNotesBibliographyIndex

About the Author

Isra Yazicioglu is Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Joseph's University.

Reviews

"A significant contribution to our understanding of how and what scriptures signify."

-David L. Weddle, Journal of Qur'anic Studies

"Yazicioglu's monograph should and will be taken, in the years to come, as a reference point hard to be ignored in the interreligious and intercultural debate over the reconciliation of faith and science."

-Stefano Bigliardi, Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective

"An intriguing study not only of the Qur'an but also of the reception history of the sacred text in light of the challenge of rationalism. Isra Yazicioglu's work serves as a useful reminder of how intellectual trends in each era have shaped our interaction with divine revelation in a way that is timeless-and also timely."

-Omid Safi, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"An important book that brings miracle stories from Islam into conversation with philosophy. Isra Yazicioglu takes us on a journey through Ghazali's defense of miracle stories-and she reframes those stories in terms of modern philosophy, beginning with Hume, developing with Peirce (who reminds us that natural laws are not absolute but who nevertheless recognizes regularities in nature), and ending with Nursi (for whom miracles invite us to rethink our assumptions about natural causation)."

-Gavin Flood, University of Oxford

"A lucidly written volume from which students of philosophy and theology as well as the informed general reader can benefit."

-Mushegh Asatryan, International Bulletin of Missionary Research

"A most worthy and timely project, deftly executed and providing a valuable resource to anyone interested in how a range of philosophers, mediaeval and modern, have approached the miraculous."

-Damian Howard S.J., Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations