Rhetoric Question in the Holy Qur’an: Its Truth and Tools A Fundamentalist Study

Abstract

Argumentative questions are one part of the two parts of argumentation: questions and statements. An argumentative question has a nature that renders it distinct from other questions. This nature has been explained and the difference between a question and similar terms imparting a request such as istikhbar (i.e. asking for news), istifsar (i.e. asking for an explanation of), isti’lam (i.e. asking about) and istifham (i.e. inquiring) has been indicated, along with indicating the difference between argumentation (jadal) and similar terms such as dialog (hiwar), debate (monazarah), discussion (monaqashah) and disputation (mira’).  The study presents the devices used for argumentative questions, accompanied by several Qur’anic citations. It then sets forth the categories of argumentative questions and their applications in the Holy Qur’an, with the first category being: to ask about the interlocutor’s doctrine, the second: to ask about the supporting evidence, and the third: to ask how the evidence is relevant, the fourth: to ask for the sake of objecting to and refuting the evidence, and the fifth: to ask about what makes it compelling to accept the argument.

The study of this topic is evidence of the Qur’an’s richness in argumentative and fundamentalist applications. So, one of the recommendations of the research is to encourage applied foundational argumentative and fundamentalist studies.