Criticism of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd’s View on the Non-Revelation of Quranic Words by Focusing on the Quranic Thoughts of Imam Khamenei

Nasr Hamed Abu Zayd is a prominent contemporary thinker from Egypt whose controversial and unconventional views led to his apostasy. One of his most important views is the theory of the Non-Revelatory of Quranic Words. The desacralization of Quranic words, the possibility of fault in Quranic words, the possibility of distortion of the Quran, the denial of the linguistic miracle of the Quran, and the denial of the religious authority of the Quran are among the important results of his views. On the other hand, the supreme leader has excellent perspectives on interpreting and understanding the Quran as a comprehensive jurist, scholar, and exegete of the Quran. Therefore, the present article is organized so that, in addition to criticizing the arguments of the Abu Zayd, it also studies the view of Ayatollah Khamenei in this regard. This research shows that Abu Zayd relies on some evidence such as Quranic verses, the diversity of recitations, the hadith of the seven letters, and historical evidence to prove his claim, while all of his evidence is completely weak and incomplete. Verses of the Quran have been selectively chosen and historical narrations are questionable in terms of authenticity. However, the supreme leader always stresses the divine nature of the Quran. Through his exegetical statements and Quranic speeches, evidence supporting this can be found. In Imam Khamenei’s perspective, the challenge of the Quran, the miraculous nature of the words and meanings, wisdom in the arrangement of verses, and authority of Quranic appearances, all point to its divine essence.