A Review of the Article “Zaqqum” in the Encyclopedia of the Quran of Leiden

The article on “Zaqqum” in the Leiden Encyclopedia, written by Salwa Al-A’wa, examines the Zaqqum tree in the Quran, introducing the accursed tree in the Quran as the same tree known as Zaqqum, following the views of some Sunni commentators while disregarding other narrations of both sects. The one-sided perspective and lack of comprehensiveness by the author led to an incomplete analysis of the Zaqqum tree and an improper explanation of its relationship with the accursed tree. Therefore, a comprehensive examination of the Zaqqum tree and criticism of the author’s perspective seems necessary. Hence, this paper investigates the term “Zaqqum” in the Quranic semantic network and delves into its association or lack thereof with the accursed tree. Despite the aforementioned shortcomings, the article has strengths such as examining all instances of the usage of “Zaqqum” in the Quran, providing an eloquent depiction of pure and heavenly trees while contrasting them with the Zaqqum tree, utilizing lexical sources, criticizing their opinions, and exploring the conflict between apparent and rational views. The weaknesses of the article include exclusive reliance on Sunni sources, overlooking Shiite sources, limited resources, disregard for interpretive narrations concerning the accursed tree, and presenting the accursed tree as the primary instance of the Zqaqum tree. The intentional flaw of the article lies in conflating the relationship between the accursed tree and the Zaqqum tree and failing to refer to other sources, especially disregarding narrations indicating that the accursed tree is a particular symbol for a specific group (the Umayyads). This research was conducted using a descriptive-analytical method and library resourc