Three Theories in Religious Language and Six Quran Commentators

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the views of six Qur’an commentators، with different backgrounds، i. e.، Tabresi، Zamakhshari، Fakhr Razi، Meybodi، and Tabatabaei، in order to find which one the three theories in religious language، I. e.، equivocalism، univocalism، and analogous language is more consistent with their comments on Quran. To reach this aim، first، the three theories in religious language will be discussed. Then، the commentaries of the six commentators on some verses of Quran will be explained. It will be shown that all these commentators are least interested in equivocalism، whereas univocalism، and then the theory of analogous language are the most favorable views. Moreover، those with Sufistic background are more interested in equivocalism، whereas a Shies’ commentator، Tabatabaei، is not on the side of this theory. Finally، it can be said that the theory of analogous language can be a common view among all commentators with different، and sometimes، opposite backgrounds، and this another advantages for this theory.