The Theory of Sarfah and Sayyid Murtada’s Viewpoint

Concerning the Qur’an as a miracle, Sayyid Murtada has referred to its eloquence and fluency and he believes that this superiority is not a miraculous feature for the Qur’an. Furthermore, he considers the meter in the Qur’an unprecedented among the Arabs. However in his view, this feature alone is not the miraculous aspect of the Qur’an; rather, he considers the eloquence and meter in the Qur’an both a miracle and a means of challenge.

This article is a study on Sayyid Murtada’s view about the miraculous aspect of the Qur’an. In this regard, he believes in the theory of Sarfah (i.e. the external interference of God in order to prohibit the confrontation of the opponents from enmity against the Qur’an); and through numerous reasons, he has defended his unique view in his book, Al-Mawdih ‘an Jahah ‘Ijaaz al-Qur’an. This article, through a descriptive and library method, clarifies Sayyid Murtada’s view about the miraculous aspect of the Qur’an. The article concludes that in Sayyid Murtada’s view there is a considerable difference between the miracle and non-miracle; and since there is not such a difference between the text of the Qur’an and the Jaahili Arab poetry, he concludes that in this way God has prevented the people from producing any work like the Qur’an; i.e. he has deprived the people from the sciences which they needed.

Keywords: Sayyid Murtada, miracle, Sarfah theory

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*. Assistant Professor, Faculty of Islamic Sciences and Theology, Sistan and Baluchestan University

**. M.A. Candidate in the Qur’anic and Tradition Sciences, Qom University