Meanings of the Word "ʿAjab"

Formulation of the claim

The word ʿajab in the Qur’an denotes the strange, the astonishing, or the miraculous, depending on the context.

Explanation

Arkoun presents the word as a term whose meanings multiply within Qur’anic usage, so that it does not settle on a single sense. It may refer to amazement, strangeness, or miraculousness, and what is intended is determined by the context in which it appears.

This distinction belongs to a linguistic reading that follows the diversity of Qur’anic usages rather than reducing the word to a fixed meaning. Thus, here ʿajab is not understood as an isolated term, but within the network of significations made possible by the text.

Its place in the book’s argument

This atom falls within Arkoun’s concern with reading Qur’anic words in light of their historical and linguistic usage, not in light of a single preconceived meaning. It supports his broader thesis that understanding the Qur’an requires attention to the plurality of meanings and their variation according to context.

Limits of the claim

This statement does not require generalizing a single meaning of ʿajab across all of its occurrences, nor turning semantic diversity into a definitive judgment detached from context.

Brief evidence

Within this broad sense of the science of history, we should study Qur’anic figures such as Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael in particular. In the semiotic sense of the word, the religion of Abraham as shaped in the Qur’an is of supreme importance, in the sense that it constitutes a new departure for the monotheistic religious code in relation to all the systems of meaning that would later appear within the Islamic framework. For this very reason, Islam became the third monotheistic religion after Judaism and Christianity.

Nearby links

the Qur’an