Muhammad Ahmad Khalafallah

Muhammad Ahmad Khalafallah (, 1916-1998) was an Egyptian Islamic modernist thinker and writer. He is known for advancing the literary interpretation of the Quran. Biography Early life and education Khalafallah was born in 1916 in Sharqīyah Province, Lower Egypt. His early education included traditional Islamic schools and a government school. He then studied at Dār al-ʿUlūm. As a pupil of Amin al-Khuli, he stated that one can study the Qur'an from a literary point of view. The Qur'an uses all rhetorical ways at its disposal, which includes metaphors, biblical and pre-islamic narratives to convince people. In Khalafallah's opinion, historical truth is not the main goal, but rather the religious and ethic sense conveyed by these stories. Khalafallah has been accused to treat the Speech of God as if it was a human product. Yet, he does not question the authenticity of the revelation. He takes up a traditional theme, that of the inimitability (iʿjaz) of the Qur'an - the first title of his thesis was Min asrar al-iʿjaz, ("On the Secrets of the Qurʾan’s inimitability"). He was fired from his teaching position and transferred to the Ministry of Culture.

Later life Khalafallah had a long tenure at the Ministry of Culture, where he eventually became undersecretary for planning. al-Qur'ân-wa mushkilat hayâti-nâ l-mu'âsira ("The Qur'an and our contemporary problems"), al-Qur'ân wa l-dawla ("The Qur'an and the State"), and Al-Islām wa-al-ʿurūbah (Islam and Arabism).

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