Preserving the Semantic Structure of Islamic Key Terms and Concepts: Izutsu, al-Attas, and al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī

Abstract

This article compares the elucidation of the seman- tic structure and fixity of a number of key terms and concepts of the Qurʾān by two contemporary scholars, Toshihiko Izutsu (1914-1993) and Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas (1931—), with that of al-Rāghib al- Iṣfahānī (d. ca 443/1060), the author of the celebrated Kitāb al-mufradāt fī gharīb al-Qurʾān. By ‘key terms and concepts’ are meant those words used by the Qurʾān which play a decisive role in making up the basic conceptual structure of the Qurʾānic worldview. The article shows how the Qurʾān profoundly changed and subsequently fixed the meaning of Arabic terms, particularly those key terms relating to religion and ethics, and it highlights the fact that the contem- porary semantic analysis of the Qurʾānic vocabu- lary has its precedent in the fifth/eleventh century.