Qur’anic Plot and the Practice of Emotional Virtue, with the Example of Al-Aʿrāf (Q. 7)
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Karen Bauer
Abstract
This paper proposes that, because the central aim of the Qur’an is the salvation of its audience, it is fruitful not only to examine how emotions are portrayed in the text, but also how it seeks to have an emotional effect on its audience and thereby to convince them to behave in ways that will lead to their salvation. We focus here on Qur’anic plot and its connection to emotional practices. Qur’anic plots follow three major trajectories: (1) obedience to God and endurance through hardship, (2) repentance after one has disobeyed, or (3) continued disobedience. While the first two lead to salvation, the latter involves persistent wrongdoing and leads to damnation. Plots might be inherently emotive, and they also inculcate proper emotional practices: for believers to enact one of the two salvific plots requires them to discipline the self and the emotions. Therefore, certain emotions and emotional practices are considered to be inherently virtuous, while others are inherently sinful. Moreover, neither interior feelings nor external expressions of emotion are portrayed as being separate from intellect or behaviour. Rather, feeling properly is an integral part of understanding God’s word.
Abstract
This paper proposes that, because the central aim of the Qur’an is the salvation of its audience, it is fruitful not only to examine how emotions are portrayed in the text, but also how it seeks to have an emotional effect on its audience and thereby to convince them to behave in ways that will lead to their salvation. We focus here on Qur’anic plot and its connection to emotional practices. Qur’anic plots follow three major trajectories: (1) obedience to God and endurance through hardship, (2) repentance after one has disobeyed, or (3) continued disobedience. While the first two lead to salvation, the latter involves persistent wrongdoing and leads to damnation. Plots might be inherently emotive, and they also inculcate proper emotional practices: for believers to enact one of the two salvific plots requires them to discipline the self and the emotions. Therefore, certain emotions and emotional practices are considered to be inherently virtuous, while others are inherently sinful. Moreover, neither interior feelings nor external expressions of emotion are portrayed as being separate from intellect or behaviour. Rather, feeling properly is an integral part of understanding God’s word.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Foreword to the Series V
- Acknowledgments IX
- Contents XI
- Introduction 1
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1 Contemporary Methodological Perspectives on Emotions
- Selected Avenues to Emotion-Oriented Interpretations of Ancient Religious Texts: Review and Outlook 9
- Grasping Religiously Connoted Emotions and Sentiments from a Co-Constructivist Emotion Paradigm 29
- Antisemitism as Cultural Sadism: An Erotohistorical Approach 51
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2 Grasping Emotions in Ancient Iconography
- Emotions and Ancient Near Eastern Art: Issues and Methods 79
- Emotions and Visual Arts, with a Focus on Greco-Roman Artefacts: A Response to K. Sonik 99
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3 Grasping Emotions in Religious Authorative Texts of Antiquity
- Emotion Scripts in the Hebrew Bible: A Case of Hate 127
- Grasping Emotions in Psalm 130: Hermeneutics, Methods, and Issues 143
- Prophetic Shockvertising: Methods and Ethics of Shock Effects in Amos 3, Isaiah 20, and Ezekiel 23 177
- „Und sie fürchteten sich sehr …“: Kognitionswissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse zur Angst und deren Anwendung auf neutestamentliche Texte 207
- Qur’anic Plot and the Practice of Emotional Virtue, with the Example of Al-Aʿrāf (Q. 7) 229
- Divine Attributes and Human Emotions: Joseph’s Sentimental Education in Sura 12 of the Qur'an 253
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4 Grasping Emotions from Philosophical and Systematic-Theological Perspectives
- Kontrollieren oder Kultivieren der Emotionen? Aristoteles’ Konzeption der Emotionen 273
- Sprache und Gefühl: Überlegungen zur theologischen Hermeneutik 289
- Mimesis, Gefühl und Ratio: Anthropologische Mehrdimensionalität und religiöse Tradition: Eine Response zu R. Barth 303
- List of Authors 313
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Foreword to the Series V
- Acknowledgments IX
- Contents XI
- Introduction 1
-
1 Contemporary Methodological Perspectives on Emotions
- Selected Avenues to Emotion-Oriented Interpretations of Ancient Religious Texts: Review and Outlook 9
- Grasping Religiously Connoted Emotions and Sentiments from a Co-Constructivist Emotion Paradigm 29
- Antisemitism as Cultural Sadism: An Erotohistorical Approach 51
-
2 Grasping Emotions in Ancient Iconography
- Emotions and Ancient Near Eastern Art: Issues and Methods 79
- Emotions and Visual Arts, with a Focus on Greco-Roman Artefacts: A Response to K. Sonik 99
-
3 Grasping Emotions in Religious Authorative Texts of Antiquity
- Emotion Scripts in the Hebrew Bible: A Case of Hate 127
- Grasping Emotions in Psalm 130: Hermeneutics, Methods, and Issues 143
- Prophetic Shockvertising: Methods and Ethics of Shock Effects in Amos 3, Isaiah 20, and Ezekiel 23 177
- „Und sie fürchteten sich sehr …“: Kognitionswissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse zur Angst und deren Anwendung auf neutestamentliche Texte 207
- Qur’anic Plot and the Practice of Emotional Virtue, with the Example of Al-Aʿrāf (Q. 7) 229
- Divine Attributes and Human Emotions: Joseph’s Sentimental Education in Sura 12 of the Qur'an 253
-
4 Grasping Emotions from Philosophical and Systematic-Theological Perspectives
- Kontrollieren oder Kultivieren der Emotionen? Aristoteles’ Konzeption der Emotionen 273
- Sprache und Gefühl: Überlegungen zur theologischen Hermeneutik 289
- Mimesis, Gefühl und Ratio: Anthropologische Mehrdimensionalität und religiöse Tradition: Eine Response zu R. Barth 303
- List of Authors 313
