Review and Critique of "Affirmative Signification" and Negation of "Allegorical Interpretation" in the Verses of Narrative Attributes

One of the most important interpretive approaches, especially in the verses of narrative attributes, is the approach of allegorical interpretation. The Mutazilites and the majority of Shiites believe in the necessity of allegorical interpretation, but within the framework of special rules and regulations. On the other hand, the majority of Sunnis, including the Ahl-ul-hadith, the Salafis and most of the Asharites are inclined toward exoteric meanings. Meanwhile, some contemporary Shiite theologians have taken a third approach by presenting a new theory that can be called "affirmative signification" and believe that insisting on the initial exoteric meaning and interpreting and changing the meaning of the verses are both incorrect. Rather, they should be understood based on their exoteric meaning, considering both verbal and non-verbal philosophical and rational evidences. Hence, without neglecting the exoteric meaning obtained from the sentence in accordance with the evidences, we can get the correct meaning and the real purpose of the author. Using analytical-critical method based on library sources, the mentioned theory is examined and criticized in this article to find out whether it is really separate from the theory of allegorical interpretation or the same, but with two different expressions. Finally, it is concluded that the difference of the two theories in some terms of interpretation is superficial and verbal, technically speaking, not real and semantic.