Models of Prophetic Authority

This seminar in Quranic Studies has two goals: (1) To closely read Surah 33 al-Ahzab and Surah 42 al-Shura using various interpretive and hermeneutical frameworks including literary and structural analysis and (2) to read some relevant sections of select classical sources (in translation) including al-Wahidi, as Suyuti, Tafsir al Jalalain, Tafsir al-Tustari and Kashf al Asrar and contemporary Western scholars including David Powers. Our guiding question while reading the surahs and secondary literature related to them will be compare the different models of prophetic authority in the two surahs. Students will be expected to have taken at least one introductory level course in Quranic Studies and have some rudimentary knowledge of Arabic language.