Miraculous Evidence

Abstract

Abstract Since the end of the nineteenth century, Muslims have pursued the idea that the Quran foreshadows new scientific discoveries. Linked to claims that the Quran's divine truth is continually substantiated, rather than disproved, by new scientific discoveries, certain verses are presented as Quranic miracles—evidence of its transcendent source. Drawing on ethnographic research with Turkish Muslims engaged in scientific exegesis, this article examines the evidentiary inquiry underlying the Quran's “scientific miracles” along two lines: first, it considers how these efforts, while invoking traditional understandings of the miraculous (i.e., arresting one in awed suspense), shift focus away from the Quran's stylistic and textual properties (requiring mastery of Arabic) and toward its signifying, universally accessible natural phenomena. Second, as the idea of scientific miracles befits apologetics typically used to defend the Quran against non-Muslims' criticisms, it asks why these efforts are directed primarily toward Muslims themselves. The article argues that the power of scientific miracles lies not only in the appeal of a universal language of evidence, but also in its use as a tool of “inner conversion,” which helps enable a modern refiguring of Muslim faith, from imitation (taqlid) to substantiation with evidence (tahqiq).