Islam and Literalism

An investigatigation of the phenomenon of literal interpretation in Islam, which proposes the literal meaning as the only acceptable one. It focuses on the tradition of Muslim legal writings, and also makes reference to Quranic exegesis (tafsir) and Arabic rhetorical works. The Muslim debates analysed in the book are described through the prism of modern Western linguistic philosophy, and a chronology of the development of Muslim conceptions of literal meaning structures the book.