Quranic Terminology - A Linguistic and Semantic Analysis

There is no way to understand the Qur’an properly, or to elucidate as accurately as possible the meaning of its verses, without studying Qur’anic terminology and concepts. Taken together these sum up the universal truth of the Faith (the great moral code), not only animating the text and giving it incredible life, precision, and flexibility, but also enriching the communication of the Qur’anic message through their beautiful and comprehensive nature.

This study aims to provide a broad glossary of key Qur’anic terms and set forth these terms’ meanings, both semantically and linguistically, within their Qur’anic context. The format is organised in such a way as to facilitate ease of understanding, guidance the lay reader carefully and logically through the various nuances of usage and meaning. The meaning of a given Qur’anic term will vary depending on the manner and the context in which it is used, and on the issues and questions in relation to which reference is made to it, and just as a concept gives rise to a term, so also does the term and its usage act to shape the concept. These and other aspects of the Divine communication are mapped and explored, leaving us with a greater appreciation of the Qur’an’s depth and what makes it a linguistic and literary miracle.