The Historical and Scientific Backgrounds of al-Sharif al-Murtaza Inclination to the Theory of Sarfah

Al-Sharif al-Murtazs, a famous Shia literary and theologian, believes in the theory of "Sarfah" (Dissuade). According the environmental conditions and by awareness of the characteristics of the theory of "Sarfah", he had chosen it. Addressing the crisis of the problem of non-Arab Jews and Christians in discussing the miracle of the Quran, the Islamic Schools theological discussions in explanation of forms of miracle and creating a free space for this kind of disputes are amongst the most important historical factors for choosing this theory by him. Al-Murtaza's literary and theological contemplations including the need to rely on non-personal-taste criteria in measuring rhetoric of the Quran, the complexity of explaining the impossibility of bringing a similar for the Quran in the expressive miraculous explanations and the universality of understandability of Sarfah had also a significant effect in choosing the theory of Sarfah by him. In addition to examine the origins of this theory's being discussed in al-Sharif al-Murtaza's time, the present writing tries to analyze the historical and scientific backgrounds of his approach.