پژوهش نامه قرآن و حدیث
پیاپی 19 (پاییز و زمستان 1395)

The interpreters’ first step in authoring works of interpretation was to collect the narrations that directly or indirectly dealt with the interpretation of the Quranic verses. These are the narrations from the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) or the Imams (a.s.) that are cited in interpreting the verses of the Quran. This method was often used to interpret the Holy Quran during the presence era and afterwards until the 4th century (A.H.) when the Islamic world came upon a revolution in interpretation sciences and with the growth of rationalism, especially in the School of Baghdad, this achievement was expanded and crossed borders. Interpreters embarked upon ijtihad and, hence, they gained access to interpretational narrations in addition to other resources. Among these interpreters, Sheikh Tusi has extensively relied on narrations with a single transmitter in al-Tebyan fi Tafsir al-Quran although he has pointed out in the same work of interpretation that such narrations lack authority. These narrations often lack chain of transmission but they have been used in explaining the issues related to Quranic sciences, explaining the verses of the revealed prescripts, evaluating other narrations, endorsing or supporting the views of interpreters, and explaining theological issues. Sometimes, Sheikh Tusi has relied on documentational criticism and some other times on textual criticism but he has been mainly involved with textual criticism

Molla Mohsen Feiz Kashani (rah.) is one of the scholars of the 11th century (A.H.) who has left behind the everlasting book Tafsir al-Safi. Allameh Tabataba’i is another contemporary Shi’ite scholar who has authored al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Quran. Feiz Kashani’s interpretation is based on narrations although he has utilized rational, mystical and, to some extent, jurisprudential principles as well. In contrast to this methodology, al-Mizan interpretation is based on interpretation of the Quran through the Quran. Allameh not only defends this method strongly, but he has extensively utilized it in his interpretation. Although these two interpreters are among the famous philosophers of their time and both have authored works of interpretation for the general public, each one has his own special interpretation style. Pointing out the common interpretation attitudes of these two scholars, the present article discusses the specific interpretation principles of each interpreter so that their different interpretation styles and attitudes can be clarified. Studying these two interpretation works, one can realize that these two interpreters have common attitudes towards using narrations and rational and mystical viewpoints and interpreting some verses through others; however, some differences are seen in the extent of their relying on these techniques. It can be said that these two interpreters’ origins of thought have influenced their choice of interpretation methods as one of them belonged to the traditionism era and the other belongs to the present time when exchange of views, ijtihad and deduction are widely seen in the field of religion.

The structural approach to the Quranic surahs is a novel method in interpreting the Quran. According to this approach, each surah is of a general atmosphere and a major purpose and all the verses and the issues raised in it deal with that purpose in a logical and organized manner. To map the structure of each surah, we need to utilize some instruments and methods the most important of which is the context of the surah. Delineation of the structure of surahs has several worthwhile benefits including gaining a new perception of the miraculous inimitability of the Quran, confronting doubt-spreading, dealing with disconnectivity of the verses and defending the beliefs of Shiism. This interpretation method was applied to Surah al-Ma’idah which is one of the extended suras of the Holy Quran and was revealed to the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) at the end of his life; hence, it includes the latest guidelines of Islam and is the testament of Revelation. The structure of Surah al-Maidah can be introduced using different styles; in this study, the tree structure style has been utilized to display the structure of this surah. The main idea of Surah al-Maidah is fulfillment of promise and obedience to God which is the way to protect religion and the content of this sura warns man against changing and suspending Divine rules.

Among the different reasons, both narrational and rational, that endorse the prohibition of supporting wickedness and a sinful individual for committing sins, the second verse of Surah al-Ma’idah [1] is the most outstanding one. However, jurisprudents are divided over the intended meaning of ‘supporting wickedness’ in this holy verse. They have different ideas as to whether it refers to the wickedness in which, firstly, the supporter is aimed at and, secondly, the wickedness has been fulfilled in the real world, or assistance can be provided in the real world without intention or without the fulfillment of the wicked action. Following a survey of the views expressed in this context, it has been proven that existence of knowledge and awareness and intention are two necessary conditions for the fulfillment of the above-mentioned proposition. Hence, fulfillment of the supported action is not a necessary condition for this meaning to come true and it is possible that without the realization of the supported action and merely due to the existence of an intention, it may be considered an example of an illegal action of supporting wickedness.
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In most books written by Sunni scholars about Imam Ali (a.s.), a part deals with his physical traits. Meanwhile, he has been described as an individual having a bald head and a large belly. Obviously, the words and expressions utilized in this context are different and, at times, even repudiate and contradict each other. Examining and evaluating the mentioned traits, the authors of this paper have come up with the result that such characteristics as asla’ (bald), ajla’ (with a bald patch) and azim al-batn (with a large belly) have been attributed to Imam Ali (a.s.) to denounce him and overshadow the other two characteristics anza’ (free from polytheism) and batin (full of knowledge) attributed to him by the Prophet (p.b.u.h.). It is worth noting that the two characteristics anza’ and batin have been mentioned and interpreted in a special way in a number of narrations quoted from the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) about Imam Ali (a.s.).

A major part of the Quranic teachings and commands, which is a collection of advice, lessons, precise verses and ambiguous verses, has been transmitted through literary devices, especially through story-telling and fable techniques. Using such narrationology issues as narration levels, the plot, the story, time and its types, narration text, narration manner of the stories and principles is considered an efficient method for understanding and analyzing the Quranic stories. The main hypothesis is that, from the perspective of narrationology, the element of narration time and its types are among the important elements in narrating the stories of the Quran, especially those of Surah al-Kahf. A further attempt is made to answer these questions: How is the element of time best used in shaping the plots of the stories of Surah al-Kahf? How do such narration time elements as order, continuity, narration speed and frequency in relation to historical fiction advance the stories with an artistic arrangement? In this article, narration time is examined on the basis of the views and opinions of Gérard Genette. Narration texts deal with two main elements: the story and the plot and it is delineated in the conclusion of the present article that time element has plays the main role in the stories and the plots of the tales of Moses’s (a.s.) meeting Khadhir, the Men of the Cave and Zul-Qarnein.