Qur’anic Exegetes and the Methods of the Spiritual Education’s Custodians; A Religious Studies Approach

Education is one of the most crucial goals and concerns of the religions, which has been heeded by divine books such as the Qur’an and Old Testament. Thus, it has been carefully pursued by the Qur’anic exegetes in both Shi’ite and Sunni schools. According to religious teachings, God and His prophets, as the main custodians of human training, have tried to religiousely educate the people in various ways. The present article has endeavored to introduce these custodians through a descriptive-analytical method, considering the Qur’anic exegetes’ viewpoints from the two Sunni and Shi’ite schools. In the following and by pointing out their educational methods, it has analyzed and evaluated these two groups’ manners, taking a religious studies approach. As the results of the conducted studies, while examining the viewpoints of both schools’ exegetes, as well as the texts of the Qur’an and Old Testament, it can be noted that God and His prophets have been introduced as the main custodians of religious education in both traditions. In addition, both traditions are common in conveying the methods of religious education. However, there are some notable differences. The Qur’an mentions the spiritual education’s custodians as uswa (good example) ones, while the Old Testament, on the contrary, has even attributed some discreditable mistakes to them. Moreover, in the Qur’anic accounts, God and His prophets have taken care of the resurrection and the divine rewards and punishments more than in the Old Testament. It can be thus concluded that the methods of religious education in the Qur’an are richer and more comprehensive than those mentioned in the Old Testament.