Issa J. Boullata

The Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, published by Brill, is a product of contemporary research by Western Islamic scholars. According to its editor-in-chief, Jane McAuliffe, it aims to provide a scholarly examination of Qur'anic topics. The entry on Literary Structures, authored by Issa J. Boullata, explores the stylistic and rhetorical devices of the Qur'an and attempts to present a coherent image of the Qur'an. However, the article is open to criticism regarding its academic writing principles and content. This article therefore critically examines the entry using a descriptive-analytical approach. Despite all the positive points that the entry has made about the Qur'an, it introduces a concept called Transtextuality but then discusses other topics in its text, which diminishes the academic credibility of the author and the editor-in-chief of the encyclopedia as the responsible for the articles. This is one of the most important criticisms of this article.