The article “God and His Attributes,” written by Gerhard Böwering, is one of the entries of Brill Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān, which despite its scholarly merits, has some weaknesses. This research tries to analyze specific weak points with a descriptive-analytical method, based on authentic Islamic sources so that the doubts are identified and answered. Some of the shortcomings of this article include a lack of thorough and genuine attitude toward the concept of God, His Attributes, His Best Names, and certain Qur᾽ānic concepts such as the meaning of al-raḥma, the formation of the skies, and the Prophet’s ascension (miʿrāj) to heaven. The writer shows that Bowering’s attitude toward the topics mentioned above is influenced by his probing about the peri-Islamic milieu, his view about the Qur’ān as a text written and edited by the Prophet, and early Sunni exegeses and hadith collections without analysing their authenticity or their compatibility with scientific findings. Bowering’s attitude towards the Qur᾽ān has resulted in certain judgments about the content and form of this Divine book which are distant from the sublime spirit of the Qur᾽ān which is a revelation both in concepts and wordings. As long as the orientalists such as Bowering are not enlightened to the revelatory nature of the Qur᾽ān, one should not expect a thorough and realistic attitude towards the Qur᾽ān and its teachings.
مشهدی, بابک و رضایی اصفهانی, محمد علی . (1401). A Critique of the Article “God and His Attributes”
in the Encyclopedia of the Qur᾽ān (EQ). قرآن: مطالعات معاصر, 1(2), 6-20. doi: 10.22034/qns.2023.7682
MLA
مشهدی, بابک , و رضایی اصفهانی, محمد علی . "A Critique of the Article “God and His Attributes”
in the Encyclopedia of the Qur᾽ān (EQ)", قرآن: مطالعات معاصر, 1, 2, 1401, 6-20. doi: 10.22034/qns.2023.7682
HARVARD
مشهدی, بابک, رضایی اصفهانی, محمد علی. (1401). 'A Critique of the Article “God and His Attributes”
in the Encyclopedia of the Qur᾽ān (EQ)', قرآن: مطالعات معاصر, 1(2), pp. 6-20. doi: 10.22034/qns.2023.7682
CHICAGO
بابک مشهدی و محمد علی رضایی اصفهانی, "A Critique of the Article “God and His Attributes”
in the Encyclopedia of the Qur᾽ān (EQ)," قرآن: مطالعات معاصر, 1 2 (1401): 6-20, doi: 10.22034/qns.2023.7682
VANCOUVER
مشهدی, بابک, رضایی اصفهانی, محمد علی. A Critique of the Article “God and His Attributes”
in the Encyclopedia of the Qur᾽ān (EQ). قرآن: مطالعات معاصر, 1401; 1(2): 6-20. doi: 10.22034/qns.2023.7682
)