Animals in the Qur'an

I agree wholeheartedly with the appreciative note on this book’s cover by Professor Richard Folz: ‘This outstanding book is likely to remain the definitive work on the subject for a long time to come.’ Sarra Tlili’s work shows an enviable command of both Arabic and English, wide reading, thoroughness and clear, orderly thinking. She applies all these to the rarely treated subject of Animals in the Qur’an with energy, authority and persuasive argument. Not only does she cover the Qur’an but also the thornier subject of what some of the mufassirun (Qur’anic exegetes) made of it, taking a sample of four mufassirun to represent different eras and schools of thought: Tabari (b. Amul, Tabaristan 224-5/839, ‘a precious mine of information’); Razi (b. Rayy, 5434/1149-50 Ash[ari polymath); Qurtubi (b. Cordoba 633/1236 legalist, ‘thoroughly in tune with the Qur’anic message’), and Ibn Kathir (b. Damascus 700-1/1300-1, who seeks proof in authentic traditions, against the use of ‘opinion’). However Tlili does not refer exclusively to these four exegetes but brings in relevant evidence from the many others identified in her impressive bibliography. She quotes from them, in excellent English, but is so far in command of the texts and her subject that she is able to point out flaws in their arguments – circularity, contradiction and so on – and how the text of the Qur’an overrides some of their more distracting preoccupations. It is rare for any scholar to attempt such a feat, let alone succeed so convincingly!