semantics of myths in the holy qur’ān

one of the controversial issues concerning the qur’ān in the contemporary era has been the claim of the existence of mythological stories in the qur’ān. primarily, muḥammad aḥmad khalaf allāh set forth this claim in his al-fann al-qaṣaṣī. one of khalaf allāh’s evidences for his claim is that on nine occasions the qur’ān has been accused of being mythical by the polytheists and the almighty god has not only not rejected this accusation but also in some instances he has confirmed it. many researchers have criticized this viewpoint of khalaf allāh and expressed some evidences to disprove him. in the present article, his viewpoint is criticized merely form the semantic perspective of the term “myths” in the qur’ān and its difference from the concept prevalent in our era that introduces myths as one of the literary genres. it is also proved that by keeping in mind the meaning of myths in the arabic culture on one hand, and considering the interpretation of the noble verses according to the order of revelation on the other, the qur’ān’s intention of myths cannot be mythological stories as one of literary genres common in our era.