The study aims to analyse ‘Abd al-Masīh al-Kindi’s (9th century) and John of Damascus’s (7th century) argumentation on the alleged inconsistencies in the Qur’an. The study is a qualitative study employing textual analysis method. It analyses William Muir’s translation of al-Kindi’s apology to ‘Abd Allah al-Hāshimī which was written in the court of al-Ma’mūn and John of Damascus’s writings on Islam in The Heresy of Ishmaelites which was compiled in the The Fount of Knowledge. The study investigates the alleged inconsistencies in the Qur’an which were addressed by the two scholars. The study concludes that alleged inconsistencies in the Qur’an stands as the one of the major arguments for early critics of the Qur’an among Christian apologetics. They cited the assumed contradictory verses in the Qur’an and present them in a polemical manner with the intention to vilify the foundation of Islam. © 2020, University of Malaya. All rights reserved.

According to Islamic tradition, Prophet Muammad was born in the Year of the Elephant, the year of Abraha’s unsuccessful expedition against Mecca. Relying on references made from the Qur’ānic text alone, not a single verse refers definitively to the event of the Prophet’s birth. However, some Muslim biographers have chosen sūrah al-Fīl of the Qur’ān as the verse which carries an early sign of the Prophet’s emergence, while others attributed this chapter to the event of the Prophet’s birth. Al-Jāi was among them, and this notion was articulated in his Kitāb al-ujja fī Tathbīt al-Nubuwwa, where he expressed his opinion on the exegesis of this chapter. Thus, the present study aims to explore the narrative of the Prophet’s birth, analyse the historical connection between the occurrence and sūrah al-Fīl and examine hermeneutical responses of Muslim exegetes on the verse, especially al-Jāi. The study is qualitative in nature in which the researcher employed both critical and analytical approaches to the works of tafsīr and sīra. Findings of this study assert that conviction and zeal to authenticate the story of the People of the Elephant seems to have influenced al-Jāi to adduce sūrah al-Fīl as a solid basis of evidence of the whole truth of this narrative.

Research into early Muslim sources has demonstrated that some verses of the Qur?n have been seen by Muslim scholars as containing direct references to the events of the Prophet's early life. Modern scholars, however, have questioned the appropriateness and authority of these Qur?nic references as being accurate sources of information for the Prophet's biography. Since the ad? are regarded as an authoritative exegetical tool for understanding the meaning of Qur?nic verses, the ad? and scholars' views on the scripture and its relationship to the narratives of s?ra nabawiyya must be undertaken. The objectives of this present study are to explore the narratives of the Prophet's early life as found in a? al-Bu?r? and analyse al-Bu?r?'s perspective on the role of ad? as an exegetical tool for Qur?nic references in s?ra nabawiyya. The study is qualitative in nature, as it utilises both critical and analytical approaches for its methodology. The study suggests that al-Bu?r? employed innovative and novel approaches when presenting narratives of the Prophet's early life. At certain places in his al-a?, by adducing certain ad? in detail, al-Bu?r? endeavours to convey one distinctive and irrevocable message to the reader. � 2017 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.

This paper aimed to examine digital hadith application (DHA) within the framework of Fourth Industrial Revolution commonly referred as IR 4.0 and also to identify the most popular DHA among academics and students studying hadiths in the selected public universities in Malaysia. Data obtained were analyzed using IBM SPSS Software Version 21. It was found that the most established and significant resourceful hadith applications among students and academics included iShamela, Islamweb and Maktabah Syamilah which were retrieved from mobile application, website and computer software respectively. These DHAs were seen to meet certain criteria to ease the takhrij al-hadith or simply defined as hadith extraction in the collections. This is in line with the goal of the IR 4.0 which is of great benefit to the Muslims worldwide and also the authenticity of hadith being transmitted is fully preserved in the virtual world. � 2018 IAEME Publication.All right reserved.

The Byzantine Empire was reported to have stopped paying tribute to the Abbasid Empire, which they had previously paid twice annually. For this reason, according to ‘Abd Al-Jabbār (d.415/1025), the Caliph decided to put pressure on Byzantium by sending them a letter. This letter is however full of Qur’ānic references and biographical information about Muh. ammad (sīra nabawiyya), rather than dealing with the issue of tribute. The present study seeks to explore, Ibn al-Layth’s (d. c.203/819) letter to the Byzantine Emperor that contains biographical information about the Prophet Muhammad. It will also analyse the authors’ hermeneutical responses to and understanding of Qur’ānic references to Muh. ammad’s early life. The study is qualitative in nature, and is one in which the researcher will employ both descriptive and source-critical approaches. The study in its finding argues that being embedded with Qur’ānic biographical information of Muslim’s prophet, the letter was not intended solely for the Byzantine emperor; it also, alluded the message to the emperor’s ecclesiastical authorities and religious advisors, which are likely to have had a considerable influence upon Constantine’s decision. It also avows that, based on the phrasing and terms he uses, the author might possibly be following the style and conventions of the early Muslim court’s writing that bolstered their letter with appropriate verses from the Qur’ ān. The first letter of the Prophet to the Heraclius and the letter of ‘Umar II to Leo III are salient exemplars of this practice.