Analysis the Reflection of Background Conditions in Compiling Shia Narrative Interpretations; A Case Study of Friday Prayer Problem

In a superficial view, it seems that the commentators in the narrative interpretations, without any struggling effort, have only collected narrations related to the words and expressions of the verses. Contrary to this idea, the evidence shows that the authors of narrative interpretations, like other commentators, have been influenced by the background conditions in order to discover the meaning of the verses and have started to select and arrange the narrations. What specifically distinguishes these interpretations in the issue of Friday prayer is the consideration of the conditions for the obligation of Friday prayer in the later interpretations of Ṣāfi and Nūr al-Thaqlain; this is not seen in the previous interpretations of critical argument. The reason for this difference in approach can be evaluated considering the simultaneity of the writing of later narrative commentaries with the emergence of the Safavid Shiite government. Belonging to Bahrani's interest in expressing the esoteric and ta’wīl aspects of the verses and Huwyzi's greater interest than Bahrāni and Fayz in planning jurisprudential debates in accordance with the verses are other factors influencing this distinction. Also, Sufi characteristics of Fayz's personality has caused him to not look at this issue solely from the point of view of a jurisprudential issue, which his statements in Zād al-Sālik's treatise and Olfat-Nāmeh are proof of this.