نشریه قرآن شناخت
سال چهارم شماره 1 (پیاپی 7، بهار و تابستان 1390)

The present article is the interpretation of the verses 40-47 of Surah al- Baqarah the abstract of which is as follows: Verse 40 refers to the bounties of Allah to Bani Israil (Children of Israil) declaring God´s fulfillment to his promises concerning Bani Israil contingent on their fulfillment of promises toward God. Prohibition of mixing the truth with falsehood is directed to Jewish scholars, since they have been capable of this kind of job. Commanding to the two regulations of prayers and alms (Zakat) is a command corresponding to two natural dictates i.e. relation with the Creator and with one´s fellow men. Verse 44 reprehends the leaders of the people of the Book who refrained from performing their religious duties based on enjoying an imaginary privilege. Verse 45 calls a group of Bani Israil to seek help from patience and prayer, a group that saw themselves in need of help due to the heavy burden of their duties and finding themselves incapable of performing them. By “meeting God” is meant the manifestation of the ontological proximity of human being to God on the Day of Judgment. The reason behind emphasizing on his point in describing the humbled ones is insufficiency of knowledge for achieving humbleness. Verse 47 starts to explain in detail divine blessings to Bani Israil the most significant of which is their being considered superior over all people in their own age.

One of the miraculous aspects of the holy Quran stated in Sura IV, verse 82 is its harmonious nature and its being free from any inconsistency. The present article proves this aspect of the inimitability of the Quran through the analysis of the nature of the Quran being beyond the capacity of human being in terms of being free from any inconsistency, explaining the inimitability of the Quran, due to this feature, and responding to the spurious arguments in this field. The essence of reasoning for the concomitance between the man made nature of the Quran and infiltration of a multitude of inconsistencies in it lies in analyzing certain features of man and the Quran. Limitation, susceptibility to external forces, being liable to perfection as well as to falsehood and wretchedness on the one hand, and the abundance and variety of the Quranic teachings while being firmly logical, its rhetorical aspect, revelation of the verses without any preparation in advance, and in different personal and social conditions within a long span of time on the other hand, would rule out the possibility of the Quran being issued from a human being free from inconsistencies. Certain spurious arguments in this regard would also be analyzed and responded.Inimitability of the Quran, the state of the Quran being free from inconsistency, challenge, spurious arguments concerning inimitability

Nature of the Tafsir of the Quran is one of the most significant issues lying within the foundations of Tafsir. There are definitions for Tafsir in Quranic studies and introductions to certain commentaries of the Quran. However none of them have sought to derive the reality of Tafsir from the Quran itself. The present article studies and analyses the nature of Tafsir with an approach towards its usages and applications in the holy Quran. Thus it is first indicated that in the Quranic terminology, Tafsir has the same application as Tafakkur (deliberation) in the Quran. Then deducing the definition of Tafakkur in Quranic verses, the nature of Tafsir is revealed. In the perspective of the holy Quran, Tafsir is explanation of the signs of the truth in the light of signs of the truth so that truth is distinguished from falsehood and knowledge of the truth is achieved in the perception field of the interpreter.

The Quran is the most rhetorical discourse revealed to the holy prophet of Islam in Arabic. Some of the verses of this book are subject to various readings. However, only one of them is authentic and others are inauthentic. One of the approaches towards distinguishing the authentic reading from the inauthentic one is the study and evaluation of readings based on syntactic rules. In order to indicate the role of syntax in achieving the authentic reading, the present article has studied certain variations in the reading of the verses of the holy Quran. It has thus established the point that syntax plays a big role in refuting, preferring, weakening, or authenticating readings.

Social universal laws are among the significant and relevant issues both in theory and practice in the Muslim society. We may benefit from them towards better understanding of communities and directing the ideal society. These laws which are indicative of divine roles in social life are classified into different categories in terms of their domain, framework and contents. Social universal laws can be studied in different approaches such as theological, exegetical, psychological, and sociological ones. The present article takes a cursory look at some social universal laws with a sociological approach. Extinction of societies rejecting prophets after communication of their messages, presenting miracles, and providing environmental conditions towards turning to God is one of these universal laws. Another universal law being studied here is social dispute and its role in the extinction of social authority due to the disintegration of social consensus and gradual loss of common values. The role of vital requirements in social distribution of duties, the significant relation between crime and failure to accept the realities including the teachings of prophets, and the emergence of heterodox sects due to the greed of religious scholars are two other universal laws.

“Kitab” is one of the key words in the Quran. The present article seeks to study the concept of “kitab” following the method of diachronic analysis and reach its exact position and meanings in the semantic system of the Quran. The literal meaning of kitab is writing and something written, while its usage in other meanings such as sewing, predetermination, and predestination is figurative. kitab has been applied to writing, something written, a written letter, and heavenly books in the ignorance era. Considering kitab a loanword, linguists hold that this word has been originally used in the meaning of writing and something written. Acquiring an extension of meaning in the holy Quran, the term kitab is applied to a stage of divine knowledge, divine ontological and legislated laws, and the record deeds of men in addition to its literal sense. The term kitab in its collocation with some other concepts has acquired a certain semantic aspect, leading to a firm link with the origin as well as the ultimate object of revelation.

Sadr al-Mutaalihin has raised certain views concerning Sura 42, verse 51 in his works. Following a descriptive analytical methodology, the present article seeks to state these approaches and study their consistency or inconsistency. The necessity of this research lies in the high position of Mulla Sadra and lack of any background study of the verse in this regard. Discussing the gradation of divine speech as well as the ways of achieving divine realities and various types of divine teaching, Mulla Sadra refers to the aforesaid verse applying it to them. He applies respectively the term “wahy” to innovative affair, legislated revelation, and direct divine teaching; the phrase” from behind a curtain” to ontological affair, inspiration to the saints, and angelic teaching; and the phrase “or send a messenger” to legislated affair, reasoning and acquisition of knowledge, and human teaching. Mulla Sadra´s insistence on including human teaching in the field of divine speech has created problems for his second and third views.

Sura XCII, Verses 17-21 in particular the verse “the most virtuous shall be spared it” holds an outstanding position in the eyes of Sunni exegetes and theologians. It is one of their significant witnesses in proving the superiority and caliphate of Abu Bakr so that it is said: Sura 92 is the Sura of Abu Bakr. To prove their claim, Sunni scholars have relied on two arguments i.e. traditions and consensus, and exegetical analysis of the verses of this Sura. According to Shiite theologians and exegetes, these traditions are weak in terms of their chain of transmission, and are conflicting or contradictory in terms of their text and signification. Furthermore there is no consensus on the revelation of these verses about Abu Bakr. According to Shiite scholars, the phrase “the most virtuous” applies to Abu al- Dahdah, and the verses have a general or universal signification.