Review and Commentary on Nonverbal Communication in the Holy Qur’an

Abstract

This review offers a critical reading of the book Nonverbal Communication in the Holy Qur’an, focusing on its title, methodology, chapter structure, and underlying concept of communication. The reviewer summarizes the book’s treatment of various forms of nonverbal communication, including gesture, bodily posture, facial expression, voice, smell, taste, clothing, distance, and imagery. However, the review goes beyond summary by questioning the accuracy of the title and the suitability of the methodology for Qur’anic material. It raises conceptual issues concerning the relationship between message and medium, word and sign, and whether the book addresses nonverbal communication in its technical sense or extends the concept to include every indirect signification in the text. The value of the review lies in its critical emphasis on conceptual and methodological precision when studying communication in religious texts.