Oppression and Other Power Relations in the Qurʾān

The triliteral Arabic root ẓ-l-m occurs on almost every single page of the printed Qurʾān. Despite this central and consistent usage, it has not yet been studied within the field of Western Qurʾānic Studies. In its most basic sense, ẓ-l-m means ‘putting something in the wrong place’ but is often translated as ‘to do wrong’, ‘to act unjustly’, ‘injustice’, ‘evildoing’, or finally, ‘oppression’. As such, a study of ẓ-l-m elucidates significant ethico-religious dynamics and power relations that obtain within the qurʾānic text. While the present book does not contain a grand thesis on the origin or canonization of the Qurʾān nor claim to answer questions pertaining to the ultimate origins and formation of this multifaceted religious and historical text, it will contribute a systematic philological and semantic study of one root and its relations to other roots in the Qurʾān through a synthesis of three methodologies: Synchronic/diachronic analysis, semantic field analysis, and formulaic analysis.

Johanne Louise Christiansen, University of Southern Denmark.