This paper takes a literary approach to Suras 50-56, analyzing them in terms of structure and theme. Whereas the prominent modern Qur'anic scholar Amin Islahi finds Suras 50-66 as constituting a group, this paper rather identifies Suras 50-56 as constituting a group, one which is enclosed by the two corresponding groups of Suras 47-49 and 57-66. It furthermore shows that the central suras of 50-56 are themselves arranged according to concentric symmetry. The first part of the paper differentiates Suras 50-56, which deal with the hereafter, from the groups of 47-49 and 57-66. The latter two are thematically similar, being legislative, and correspond rhetorically, such as by prominent reference to the Prophet's identity (in the title of Sura 47; and in the verses 47:2, 48:29, and 61:6) and to victory in the struggle against the pagans (in the title of Sura 48 and in 57:10). The correspondences between 47-49 and 57-66 structurally enclose 50-56. The second part of the paper analyzes 50-56 as a coherent group. One appreciates in them a thematic progression (thus Sura 56, for example, follows 55 by elaborating on the description of heaven and hell). At the same time, one notes rhetorical correspondences between 50-53 and 56. Thus 51:6 and 52:7 ("inna . . . la-waqi'a) anticipate the title of 56 ("Al-Waqi'a); and 56 (verses 75-76, towards the end of this sura) returns to the style of the declarative oaths used at the beginnings of Suras 50-53. The structural correspondences within this group have the effect of embedding 54-55. The last part of the paper discusses 54-55 as a pair. Especially prominent is the connection between the last verse of 54 and the first of 55, which is the exact center of the pair (and of the group, by extension). In the two verses are highlighted the two fundamental attributes of God, which will be manifest to all on Judgment Day. The Qur'an speaks here of being in the presence of an Omnipotent Sovereign . . . the Merciful. This paper thus identifies the arrangement of seven central, eschatological suras, and their enclosure by two corresponding sura groups. It finally suggests that the pattern of concentric symmetry--evident here in the arrangement of the core group, and in the presence of corresponding outer groups--may well obtain for the Qur'an as a whole.

Over the last century, translations of the Qur'an into English have multiplied dramatically and become increasingly important as a means of transmitting meaning to expanding audiences. The increasing involvement of Muslim translators suggests new voices in the interpretive tafsir tradition. English translations function as a highly influential mode of qur'anic interpretation that not only add to or replace the canon of classical interpreters but that relocate mufassirs into the commentary footnotes so that they are brought into conversation with each other, reckoned with, agreed upon and explicitly refuted. While select classical mufassirs are reduced to phrases employed by translators to elucidate their translations and interpretive decisions, they are afforded space in a text where the audience often does not have the Arabic language skills to read the Arabic tafsir. This study contributes to the burgeoning literature on English language translations of the Qur'an by examining how two twentieth century English translations of the Qur'an by 'Abdullah Yusuf 'Ali and Muhammad Asad, employ the Gospels in their translation and interpretation of the final twelve verses of surah al-Ma'ida. The analysis illustrates different exegetical approaches that reveal how a Muslim Jesus is interpreted from the Qur'an as well as Gospel scriptures. While both Yusuf 'Ali and Asad refer to the Gospels in a style that may be characterized as polemical, they do so in a drastically different way and to different ends. Both refer to text critical perspectives of the Bible to refute its authenticity as Revelation. In Yusuf 'Ali we find a tension between the refutation of the Gospels as authentic and in relying on them to understand the ma'ida pericope, while with Asad we encounter a more traditional polemic with the Gospels that does not seek to understand the Qur'an through biblical references. The different hermeneutical approaches illustrate not only divergent methodologies of employing the Gospels as source material, but also underscore the typological reading of prophecy found in Yusuf 'Ali's translation. This reading binds him to a hermeneutic strategy of the Christian reading of the Hebrew Bible, while at the same time distancing himself from any theological or doctrinal commitments of the New Testament. Meanwhile, Asad is dedicated to situating the qur'anic verses within an exclusively Islamic tradition through tafsir works, hadith and a focus on how the verses relate to an Islamic law that is an extension of an original sacred law.

Relations between Islam and the so-called "religions of the book" have always been a delicate issue. In classical times, the poll-tax (jizya) as prescribed by the Qur'an was the symbol for this ambivalence. Although it was de facto cancelled everywhere in the Islamic world by the beginning of the 20th century, and formally abolished in 1923, the topic was revived in the wake of the increasing Islamist tendencies in the past decades. The aim of this paper is to show how a classical Islamic concept is adjusted to (and defended in) the modern Islamist discourse. The debate takes place in the broad stream of Islamist writings on the alleged nature of an Islamic state as well as in modern Qur'anic commentaries; some authors (e.g. Sayyid Qutb or Maududi) are active in both genres. Modern Qur'an commentators (Fadlallah, Ibn Ashur, etc), on the one hand, tend to argue in a rather traditional way. The jizya is defended as a just punishment for the non-Muslims' unbelief, and the latter's unequivocal submission to Islamic domination is demanded as a necessary precondition for cohabitation. Often the jizya verse is directly related to the seemingly contradictory verse 2,256 which rejects coercion in religion. The contradiction is usually solved by the prohibition of coercion being related only with regard to inner faith, not regarding submission to the political system of Islam. By contrast, writings of a more political character are marked by a more pragmatic and modern approach. Instead of the classical concept of dhimma and its negative connotations, the frame of reference is usually the question of "citizenship" (jinsiyya). In this context, the jizya may be renamed so as to make it more acceptable, and it may even be suspended under certain circumstances, e.g. by the non-Muslims participation in the country's defence or the inability of the Islamic state to guarantee the minorities' safety. As to the question of tolerance, there is no unanimity: whereas Qaradawi praises the jizya as a model of Islamic tolerance towards non-Muslims, the Syrian scholar Buti emphasizes the mutually binding legal security of the system, explicitely rejecting tolerance as arbitrary. Both exegets and political writer agree, however, on the character of Islam as a comprehensive "system", and in this sense they interpret the key word in both verses, namely "din", which is commonly rendered as "religion".