صاحبعلی اکبری

Among the effective contextual evidence in understanding and translating the Qur'an - especially in clarifying the referents of each verse and removing ambiguity from the apparent meanings of verses - are the reliable asbāb al-nuzūl (occasions of revelation). Neglecting these has sometimes led to significant differences and errors in some Qur'anic translations. Therefore, to demonstrate the role of asbāb al-nuzūl in understanding verses and reducing errors in translations, this article aims to explain the position of asbāb al-nuzūl in five well-known contemporary Persian translations of the Qur'an using an analytical-critical method. By presenting examples from Surah Al-Baqarah, it evaluates their translations and identifies the correct translation for each verse. The results show that although not all narrations of asbāb al-nuzūl can be considered reliable, the credible ones that pertain to the meaning of the verse and have reached us from trustworthy sources play a significant role in understanding and translating the Qur'an and clarifying the intended meaning of its verses. The context of asbāb al-nuzūl has the least impact on translating polysemous words and the most impact on explaining the referents of verses and then removing ambiguity from their apparent meanings. Among the selected translations, out of approximately 60 cases with reliable asbāb al-nuzūl, Elahi and Meshkini have translated only 27 cases, Ansarian 21 cases, Mojtabavi 12 cases, and Rezaei 7 cases, based on these narrations.

The universality and the eternity of the Quran necessitate that its translation be done according to a set of evidence that is effective in the understanding of the verses and reflects its high intentions in the best way. Authentic revelation occasions (Asbāb-e-nuzūl) are among the most important factors that are effective in understanding and translating the Quran. Still, neglecting them has sometimes led to obvious differences and mistakes in the translations of the Quran. So, to illustrate the role of the revelation occasions in understanding and translating the verses, these narrations have been reread in four famous Persian translations. Also, the translations of some verses with revelation occasions were evaluated, and based on this evidence, their correct translations were identified. According to the results, although it is impossible to consider all revelation occasions as valid, those authentic revelation occasions that correspond with the meaning of the verse and have reached us from reliable sources have a significant role in understanding and translating the Quran and clarifying the denotation of the verses and their interpretation. The evidence of the revelation occasion has the least effect on translating the multi-sense words and the most impact on clarifying denotations of the verses and then removing the ambiguity from their exoteric meanings. Out of 30 sample verses that have authentic revelation occasions, the number of the cases that have been translated based on these narrations by selected translations are as follows: Mishkīnī: 16 cases, Ilāhī: 14 cases, Riḍāyī: 7 cases, and Fūlādvand: 4 cases.

One of the new trends of criticism that deals with the relationship and interaction between texts is “intertextuality”. The literary works according to this theory are formed in interaction with each other, and each text is the product of previous texts. This theory is widely used in the field of interpretation and understanding of texts. The Noble Qurʾān is a source with high spiritual concepts and teachings whose themes have been directly or indirectly reflected in the works of the Infallible Imams (al-ʾAʾimmah al-Maʿṣūmūn) ʿAlayhim al-ṣalātu wal-salām, especially Imām al-Sajjād (امام السجاد) ʿAlayhi al-ṣalātu wal-salām. The intertextual relationship between the Noble Qurʾān and supplications has been formed in a beautiful and harmonious way. This article examines the supplication of Abū Ḥamza al-Thumālī (Arabic: دعاء ابی حمزه الثمالی) from the perspective of intertextual relations and it aims to explain the influence of Imām al-Sajjād ʿAlayhi al-ṣalātu wal-salām on the verses of the Noble Qurʾān after evaluating some of the selected clauses of this supplication based on the principles and rules of this theory and clarify the role of intertextual information in the process of understanding.

The semantics of the Qur’an is a methodical thematic interpretation that is able to present the meaning of words in the worldview of the Creator of the Universe to human beings and explain the Divine culture, provided that it is performed in accordance with Qur’anic principles. First of all, “the meaning” should be determined in the semantics of the Qur’an. This research studies the definition of meaning, concept, applicability, semantics and pragmatics to show a phenomenological definition of “meaning” in the Qur’anic semantics. Also, according to the effect of pragmatics in defining the proper “meaning”, the effective characteristics of the Speaker and the addressee of the Qur’an in defining “meaning” have been specified. In addition, some of the theories of Muslim scholars regarding the meaning on which the word is assigned, and affect in determining the “meaning” and finally selecting the appropriate method, is analyzed. Accordingly, based on the “principle of embodying” in the critique of the theory of “the spirit of meaning”, it is approved that the word using for meanings of the transcendent worlds is metaphorical. Additionally, the capability of semantics schools for studying the Qur’anic concepts is shown. Finally, through illustrating the characteristics that “meaning” should have in the Qur’anic semantics, the superiority of the cognitive school in analyzing Qur’anic vocabulary is proven. Based on the definition of “meaning” in such a school, some other features of the Qur’anic meaning are expressed as well.

Humans are all born of the nature of monotheism, and according to the power of choice given to them by the sacred essence of God based on the wisdom, they are faced with two ways, “whether he be grateful or ungrateful” or by their wise choice, they take the side of God Almighty in the way drawn from, which is the source of happiness, or they choose misguidance by their ill-considered choice. The present study seeks to explain the influential factors in the spiritual arrogance and dictatorship of Pharaoh by using the Holy Quran, the views of commentators and thinkers and emphasizing the interpretive views of Allama Muhammad Javad Mughniyeh in Al-Kaašīf. These factors in the internal field such as: adherence to the inclination of the soul, feeling of needless, hegemony and arrogance and in the external field such as: the role of gentries, heads (leaders) and the noble classes of society has been studied. The motive for emphasizing Allameh Mughniyeh’s views is his contemporary view in Al-Kaašīf to global arrogance and Zionism as the pharaohs of the time, which is formed in the face of the United States and the Zionist regime. In this article, we want to know what factors caused the revolt of Pharaoh to the extent that he claimed divinity! Oppression and violation on the rights of the people was his way. The result of this research will be obtaining the general rule and the underlying factors in the formation of the spirit and behavior of the arrogants and criminals of history.

The freedom of speech right is one of the civil political rights of human beings and one of the most accepted principles of human social life in the teachings of Islam and international treaties. On the one hand, in the present age, the focus of the debate on freedom of speech is its limits, and on the other hand, the relationship between the components of tradition and modernity is one of the serious concerns of researchers and scholars. Therefore, this article intends to explore and delineate the boundaries of freedom of speech in international documents and their balance with the teachings of the Holy Quran as the first source of Muslim legislation, to examine the limits of freedom of speech and in this direction, considering that in the field of freedom of speech and its borders has been one of the oldest challenges of human beings in different periods of history with the structures of power and the ruling system. By focusing on the story of Moses in Pharaoh’s reign, this study discusses the boundaries which set out in international documents. Accordingly, and by considering the increasing number of regional and trans-regional meetings on freedom of expression and the increase volume of micro and macro limitations of freedom of speech in international documents, at first have mentioned the most important trans-regional treaties and then compares them with the Qur'anic teachings of the story of Moses prophet and Pharaoh. The results of this study indicate that among the limits of freedom of speech in these documents, only the limit of “protection of the rights of others” can be invoked, and other limits, despite many efforts in the international arena, are very general and vague limitations which threatens and restricts freedom of expression.

In the number of verses, the words "Kharasa" and "Zanna" are companion and are known as synonymous. The present study aims to explain exact meaning and distinction between the two words by semantically analyzing them and analyzing the context in that Quranic verses. The findings of the study indicate that the meaning of the word "Kharasa" is estimation and conjecture and is used in the Arabic language to estimate the number of palm dates. In the intensification form, "Kharrās" means someone who has different beliefs in his estimation that have no basis. In the meantime, Persian translators have used it to mean lying, speculating, thinking, estimating, speak in vain, dumb, incorrect explanation, forgetting divine utterances and ebey the soul imperative, exaggerated, defamatory, conjecture and irrelevant that all of them (except estimating and conjecture) have problems and this article has addressed them. Also the correct meaning of "Zanna" is "suspected", and the verses where two words come together, first speak about the "opinion" and then about the "expression of that opinion".

In the Holy Quran, the verse 22 of the chapter Muddathir, there is found the two synonyms-like words of "abasa" and "basara". The terminologists and commentators have stated the meanings of these two words, three meanings for the former and eleven for the latter, the fact which shows their divergences. In this article, in order to clarify the meaning of these words, while referring to the lexical sources and obtaining the correct meanings of the words, the commentators' views regarding the verse are discussed. The findings of the study indicate that the most appropriate interpretation in this context for the former is to frown and for the latter is to pause and stand while thinking. The view given here, in addition to its being in agreement with context and views of some terminologists and commentators, may be taken as an argument against their being taken as synonymous.

Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Waqid was a 2nd century AH historian, who in his book “Al-Maghazi” at the end of studying each campaign of the Prophet based on the Quran’s Surahs, commented on the details of the story and clarified the words like a commentator who explained the meaning of the verses. Repeated references of different commentators to his book in various times in the history shows that it is not only an important source in the Islamic history, but also a trusted reference for the commentators. The present study, with an analytical – descriptive approach case study of the Battle of Uhud, tried to find different forms of Waqidi’s explanations in interpretation and the stances of other commentators from the third to the tenth century AH in three different areas of narrating, referencing, and rejecting his explanations. Based on the findings of this study, Waqidi’s narrations in commentaries of 17 verses from 22 verses especially in illustrating historical details based on Quran’s verses, Hadiths, and verses’s form were accepted by commentators. His narrations are traced in other references according to the time and the audiences, as his interpretations are more significant in narrative and ijtihadi commentaries of the sixth century AH

The present article aims to investigate and compare the argumentative discourse of Abraham’s debates with Nimrod, Azar, Star-worshipers and Idolaters in the Holy Qur'an. To this end, at first, the Persian translations of Abraham argumentative discussions with the opponents have been identified and then they have been analyzed based on Pragmatic-dialectical approach.This approach is composed of two parts: the dialectical and the pragmatic section. According to this approach, each argumentative dialogue has four stages: confronting, opening, argumentative and concluding features. In fact, the protagonist goes through these stages to defend his standpoint and tries to persuade the antagonist. Considering Abraham’s debates with his opponents on the one hand, and pragma-dialectical approach other hand, two questions have been the focus of attention in this article:1. Are these four stages of pragma-dialectical approach and the ways of persuading the audience different in Abraham’s debates? 2. Are the speech acts used in these debates the same? The related hypotheses are: 1. these four stages of pragma-dialectical approach and the ways of persuading the audience are not different in Abraham debates. 2. The speech acts used in these debates are not the same.
Research methodology is descriptive- analytical. The translations of Abraham’s debates with Nimrod, Azar , Star worshipers and Idolaters in the Holy Qur'an have been extracted from Makarem (1378, 12387) and Husseini (1382) and then have been analyzed and compared. Out of 167 Ayahs that have narrated Abraham‘s story in the Holy Quran, 61 Ayahs show Abraham’s debates. According to these debates, 105 speech acts were studied in terms of argumentative stages (confronting, opening, argumentative and concluding) and also the frequency of speech acts according to Searle (1969) was identified.
The research findings showed that from 105 speech acts in the debates, 86 of them are of Abraham and 19 cases belong to the opponents. In addition, the study showed that the argumentative stages of Abraham debates vary in these debates. Abraham debate with Star worshipers is different from other debates in confronting and opening stages. In this way difference in opinion is hidden in confronting stage and gradually it becomes clear in the opening and argumentative stages. Furthermore, in confronting stage the standpoint is single sided .Convincing the idolaters and Star worshipers, Abraham has made use of a“dramatic method”. In the pragmatic section, frequency and type of speech acts used by Abraham are different in the debates. In addition, the current research showed that this approach should be appropriately modified if it aims to investigate the argumentative discourse of the prophets in the Holy Qur'an.

The word number is defined as: «ÚÏÏÊ ÇáÔÆ ÅÐÇ ÃÍÕیÊå æÇáÇÓã ÇáÚÏÏ» æ «ÚÏÏÊ ÇáÔÆ ÚÏÇð ÍÈÓÊå æÃÍÕیÊå». In Quran, we read: äÚÏøåã ÚÏÇð. Therefore, the word "ÚÏø" means to count something and determine the amount of that thing. However, the term is used to determine the quantity and value of things and individuals. Number is used for identifying the quantity of something. Many say that number is an answer to quantity. One definition given for number is that number is equal to the sum of halves of two neighboring margins. This is such as ÇËäیä (two) whose low margin is æÇÍÏone and whose upper margin is ËáÇËå three, and their aggregate sum will be ÇÑÈÚå (four). Half of four is two. Margin here means the two sides of a number (the previous and next number) since the amount of decrease in the previous number is equal to the increase of the next one. Previous number is called minor margin and the next one is major margin. In simple terms, if previous and next numbers are aggregated and divided by two, the middle number will be the answer. Counting the number to determine values (including weight, area and space) has been an important issue for human beings since their birth. Since man is a social being, he is in need to have relationship with others to live. Such a relationship makes men to have exchange and trading with each other, and they needed umbers to count days and amounts. At the beginning and prior to the emergence of arithmetics, the values were ambiguous (such as a fistful or a palmful etc), and since there were not specific and fixed, men began to think of other criteria for fixed values, which later ended in discovery of numbers. As we know, famous words for numbers are twelve: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, hundred and thousand and the non-famous values of these numbers that are obtained in the following forms: dual value, addition, additional and composition. For example, two thousands is a dual value; three hundred is an addition; forty is a composition. As a matter of fact, here we do not aim at counting major numbers, but we look for words used for men, animals, things and values, yet famous words not signify numbers since famous words could be easily found in old and new grammar books.
Theoretical Framework: Some of these books were specifically written for numbers from which one could refer to the following:1. Numbers in Arabic, written by Dr. Mustafa Alnahas, Maktab Alfalah Press, Kuwait
2. Numbers in Arabic, By Fouad Hassanein, the Journal of Literature at Cairo University.
3. Numbers in Arabic, By Ibrahim Al-Samarrai, the Sumer Journal in Baghdad
The mentioned references have discussed famous words. From among them, Numbers in Arabic, written by Dr. Mustafa Alnahas is the most complete with 295 pages. This book is a comprehensive study of major numbers, and it uses only four non-famous words. Due to the vastness of Arabic language and given the numerous tough efforts on the part of philologists, especially those that have done their best in developing terminological lexicons, the author of this article believes that it is possible to provide precise answers to the given questions by properly investigating information of men, animals and objects and also values such as area, space, weight and scale. After considerable search and investigation of old and new terminological books, the following results were obtained. These results are based on studying non-famous words signifying numbers in different books, lexicons and dictionaries.
Non-famous words that Arabs use for men, animals, objects, area, space, weight and scale are divided into four groups:a) Units (single numbers)
b) Tens
c) Hundreds
d) Thousands
The study of numbers and their application by Arabs shows that they were more mindful of tens.
Investigations showed that there are some numbers that signify numbers after thousand including.

The meaning and concept of the word rushd (= maturity, probity, certitude) in the stories of the Holy Qur'ān has been stated within nineteen verses which can be thematically divided into three major parts: the verses concerning the holy prophet of Islam (S.A.W.) and his umma (community of followers) – who possess the attributes and deeds of the rāshidūn (guided ones) –; the verses concerning the Divine Prophets such as Abraham, Lot, Jethro and Moses (A.S.); and the verses concerning the stories of the believers including the believers among the people of Pharaoh, Men of the Cave, and the believers among mankind and the jinn. In this research, first the verses concerning rushd in the Holy Quran are extracted and then thematically categorized. In the verses chronological order has been observed concerning the stories of the Prophets; and in order to clarify the concept of these verses, other verses are also employed. After categorizing, the meaning and concept as well as various applications of this word is examined. Making use of different Sunnite and Shī‘ite interpretations together has enriched this research.

The way of life (sīra) of the Infallible Imams (A.S.), especially the traditions attributed to them are among the sources employed in the study of Islamic thought history. The most sensitive historical period in the development course of Islamic politicalthought is the beginning of the Umayyad period and the shift of caliphate to monarchy in this era. In this respect, the Shī‘a Imams (A.S.) took specific measures as their Divine responsibility towards preservation and restoration of Islamic thought. This article studies Imam Sajjād (A.S.)'s assuming position in the most critical period of Islamic history on the basis of his Saḥīfat al-Sajjādiyya in order to unveil his strategy toward preservation of Shī‘ī Imamate line.