Abstract

This paper brings to the attention of the reader some examples of how the words of the Qur’an, when examined in their literal sense, appear to connect with languages or cultures other than those acknowledged by traditional Muslim apologetics. As such, they may be echoing origins that these apologetics have dismissed from their discourse. In fact, whereas traditional exegesis has generally tended to limit the Qur’an exclusively to the Arabic language as sufficient guarantee by itself of its authenticity, the words of the text reveal a linguistic and cultural multiplicity which demonstrates the richness of its roots. In pursuing this repression exerted on outside contextual influences, the author focuses on three avenues: the pre-Islamic culture of the nomadic Arabs, the Judeo-Christian culture and the Hellenic culture. Those languages which go wilfully unrecognized, those practices whose recollection is passed over, prove to be of great assistance to understanding the sense of certain verses of the Qur’an