satire

Criticism through humor and satire is one of the most significant ways of conveying the message to the addressee, and because it is accompanied by joy and laughter, it can convey the deepest intentions of the addresser in simple terms and easily influence the feelings and emotions of the addressee, in a way that it is not possible in ordinary speech to be realized. This research aims to achieve the Qur’anic principles of social satire based on the comprehensive system of teachings of the Holy Qur’an as the perfect divine undistortionable book. The question of the research is: What are the principles upon which the Holy Qur’an is based in order to introduce acceptable and correct social satire? This research uses qualitative content analysis with inductive approach and descriptive-analytical method in achieving the abovementioned principles. The results of the current research show that, based on Qur’anic teachings, the orientation of the Qur’anic principles of social satire is not one-dimensional and one-sighted, but rather has a purposeful and comprehensive approach, in the dual realm of material and spiritual life, and it is set on the basis of unchangeable human nature (Fitrat) in the context of the divine devotion towards the goal of man’s perfection (closeness to God), and eventually, principles such as "reformation of the individual and society, centrality of dual-dimensional content, preservation of human dignity, and realism" have been deduced from the verses of the Holy Qur'an.

This article analyzes the words and types of humor and sarcasm represented in the Qur’an. Humor in the Qur’an is not similar to the comic situations in human worldly life, rather the subtle (naghz) words and warnings or the pleasant and painful remarks are among the mostly indirect Qur’anic expressions, which include many metaphorical, analogical, and allegorical types. These types contain subtle points that sometimes cause exhilaration and sometimes bewilderment of the listener. The main questions are: What kind of typology do these species have? “What procedure do they enjoy? And what are their theological and aesthetic functions?” This article first refers to the background of the discussion and then to the words representing humor and the types and patterns of satire, and analyzes them in terms of typology and the way each genre functions by giving examples of Qur’anic verses. These types range from subtle statements to allegorical short stories, and aggressive humor such as sarcasm, snide remarks, vituperation, satire, and parody. With the help of these genres, the Qur’an creates a kind of situation that is sometimes pleasant and humorous, sometimes satirizing the evil-minded and caricaturing the face of hypocrites, and sometimes it is allegorical and especially ironic. Of course, these species have been intermingled in such an efficient way that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish among them.

In addition to expressive miracle, the Holy Qur’an also has miracles in expression diversity and creativity. Until now, there have been discussions about some of the Qur'an expression methods, such as argumentative expression, story, etc.; but regarding implicit marginalizations and thought-provoking meanings, this valuable book has not been properly researched. Since the 3rd AH century, some commentators have discussed various features of such a language. Words such as "allusion", "antiphrasis", "vituperation" etc., are considered "art criticism" and used in commentary books. In the contemporary era, some articles or books have been published independently or by digression about this issue. This article aims to achieve a specific framework and definition by explaining and evaluating such language in the form of "critical and artistic literature" as a new phenomenon - from an external perspective - with a descriptive-analytical method. Issues such as: humor, satire, jokes, stories, narratives and critical shows should be integrated in the knowledge form. This view will solve many interpretive problems and show the Qur'an as a source for artistic critical inspirations, both in terms of content and structure.

Irony is a prominent literary foreignization method in which the meaning of events in deep and at surface levels differ. Relying on the thematic analysis of the text of the Holy Qur’an as a literary text, the following article tried to identify, categorize, and analyze the motifs, and visible and invisible ironic signs. In so doing, it sought to answer the question of the conceptual results and literary purposes in the application of the ironic concepts (in particular satirical irony) in this holy book.  With its special attention to culture, the Holy Qur’an as a spoken text has used this speech technique and literary method in order to make its teachings believable for the audiences and to attract them. Relying on ironic elements, the Qur’an has been able to elevate itself to the level of a literary-cultural text. The present study thus also aimed to show that the numerous types of irony in the text of the Holy Qur’an surpass a merely rhetorical or artistic technique and its ultimate purpose is not only the visibility of irony, but also the awakening and awareness of moral themes and teachings, which have helped to build literary ironic images. Accordingly, among the ironic themes applied in the text of the Holy Qur’an examples such as allusion to the revelation of the Qur’an, avoiding arrogance, a camel passing through the eye of a needle, suffocating the wicked with their own hands, flimsy limbs of the hypocrites, as well as destroying idols were explained and analyzed in order to explicate the rhetorical manifestations of this method of literary criticism and its application in the influence of the Qur’anic text.

satire is one of the prominent and tangible subjects in Rubaiyat (quatrains) of Baba Afzal al-Din Kashani. Using a soft and delightful tone and avoiding arrogance and quibble, he created eloquent satires enfolded in his mellifluous poems.
In his satires, Baba Afzal used many figures of speech, especially wordplay, paradox, repetition, and pun. In creating satires, he used proverbs and has composed poems some of which has turned into commonly used proverbs in peoples’ everyday speech.
He benefited from the teachings of the Holy Quran in most of his satires, and conveyed valuable Quranic messages in the form of various satires. The Rubaiyat of Baba Afzal can mainly be considered as a free and ironic translation of the Quran aligned with divine commandments.
In the present study, Baba Afzal's satires are divided into six group: 1. literary satires; 2. social satires; 3. historical satires; 4. wisdom satires; 5. religious and mystical satires; 6. philosophical satires.
What Baba Afzal is mostly concerned about which set the grounds for his engaging satires are religious and mystical concepts. After that, the social satires have a high frequency.
Baba Afzal directed his criticism towards two groups of people: 1. pretentious impure Sufis and the self-seeker pious-looking men; 2. the perplexed and the lost on the way to knowing Allah.

"Satire" is one of the dynamic types of art whose application to reform the disorders of human societies is considerable. Since the philosophy of revelation is guidance and reform, Quran, this unique divine art from which the art of rhetoric nourishes, at times utilizes this effective way to warn those who are not awaked by serious words, may it be that satire awakes them. This article tries to present an accurate and comprehensive definition for satire and introduces its qualified features from the Quranic point of view, while stating the exegetes position on the characteristics of satire in the Holly Quran and identifying its application in different Quranic verses Eventually, with accurate reference to Quranic interpretations, this article tries to analyze the common manifestation of satire in various Quranic processes. These manifestations can be categorized in four frameworks as follows: Satirizing by means of obligation, allegory, simile to animals, and widening irony. This article, finally concludes that the ultimate goal of the Quranic satire is to modify the individual and the society and their learning from the theme which is employed in the satire.