نشریه رهیافت هایی در علوم قرآن و حدیث
سال پنجاه و یکم شماره 1 (پیاپی 102، بهار و تابستان 1398)

One of the reasons that undermines the authenticity of a Hadith is the delay in its composition and compilation. Although this discussion has revolved around the history of Sunni Hadith, some scholars such as "Yahya Muhammad" have raised issues regarding the deficiencies of scribing and compiling Shiite Hadiths at the time of their issuance so that they can extend the consequences of delayed compilation of hadiths to Shi'a traditions as well. The analysis and response to issues raised in the book “The Problems of Hadith”, is the main purpose of this research. The primary evidences offered by the Shi'a that helps refute the claim regarding the hindrance in compilation of tradition are written hadiths of the Shi’a Imams and their companions. However, as Yahya Muhammad argues, these written hadiths, on the account of considerations such as discussion of Unseen and spiritual matters, dissociation with the Prophet’s tradition, personalization, and annihilation, do not refute the Shi'a claim about compilation traditions. In this paper, the authors attempt to explore the verity or falsehood of Yahya Muhammad’s claims after revisiting the history of the Shiite hadiths compilation during the life of the Infallible Imams (AS) based on existing evidences and resources.

The Surah Ash-Sharh, and especially its seventh verse that asserts, "So when thou art empty, labor," (Ash-Sharh 7), is one of the surahs and verses that have been the subject of increasing attention and debates regarding the issue of Welayat. A study of the works of Shia and Sunni scholars on this subject raises some thought-provoking questions and yields insightful results. In short, the conventional approach adopted by the majority of Shia and Sunni scholars is that this verse invites Prophet (pbuh) to make greater efforts in the path of God, but according to the view held by a few Shia and Sunni commentators, this verse refers to the undertaking of Prophet (pbuh) regarding the installation of Ali (as) at the position of Imamate at the end of his mission. Accordingly, what is implied by this verse is that “When you are free of your mission, install Ali as the Imam.” There are two challenges facing this verse: A) its incompatibility with the reading of the verse; and B) the fact that the surah was revealed in Mecca. Nevertheless, it seems that cautious consideration of the contextual function in the interpretation can help address this challenge. Accordingly, the possibility of this verse being associated with the installation of Ali (as) in the position of Imamate should be considered in relation to its context. The interpretation of this verse in its context suggests that of the two meanings attributed to the term installation (Nasb), namely making efforts in worship and appointing someone for the position of welayat, the second one deems more appropriate.

Traditionally, researchers have regarded documents and texts as two complementary methods in evaluating or criticizing narratives. However, considering the inherent problems associated with the narratives underlying the occasion of revelation (Sabab al-nuzūl), the most reliable and at the same time challenging way to obtain reliable narratives is to employ them as a way of obtaining a proper understanding of the Qur'anic verses. Consistency or inconsistency with the Qur'an, authenticity of a narrative, historical reports and discoursal requirements are the main criteria frequently used by Qur'anic scholars to confirm or reject narratives underlying the occasion of revelation, which have been inspired by the indicators proposed in the traditional Islamic narratives and sciences such as Fiqh al-Hadith, Ekhtelāf al-Hadith and principles of jurisprudence. This paper, while introducing these criteria, reviews their methodological flaws with respect to the structure and application and presents some suggestions on how to address them. The privative, passive and incoherent approach in applying these criteria and the incompatibility of these criteria and rules with the historical nature of the narratives underlying the occasion of revelation are the major structural problems in this area. Further studies on the occasion of revelation and designing affirmative, active and coherent methods for assessing narratives underlying the occasion of revelation can be a step forward in overcoming shortcomings in this area and exploiting its capacity on a large scale.

Today, conceptual complexities surrounding some Quranic concepts have opened new avenues of research for the researchers. It is especially evident in the inclination of researchers for models of interdisciplinary studies in the last decade. This paper is of crucial importance in terms of method and subject matter. From the perspective of subject, it explores the concept of "Shakeleh", a term which despite its single function in the Holy Quran, has been assigned with diverse meanings by exegetes throughout the interpretation tradition. This conceptual complexity highlights the importance of addressing this problem from the perspective of interdisciplinary studies.
From a methodological viewpoint, adopting a combined approach to interdisciplinary studies, offers deeper insights into the meaning of the "Shakeleh" in the Holy Quran from a process-oriented approach. There are two holistic and integrate approaches to interdisciplinary studies. The advocates of the latter posit that integration can be achieved through a process-oriented perspective. In this connection, two fundamental steps can be envisaged: portraying insights derived from each discipline and amalgamating such insights. Most of the interdisciplinary theorists have classified all of their steps under these two fundamental stages. Despite the relative consensus on the principle of a process-oriented approach among these theorists, there is considerable disparity with regard to the number of steps. According to Szostak’s classification, the following five steps are recommended for the interdisciplinary process: A) identification of the problem or research question; B) identification of disciplines, methods, theories and phenomena associated with the question, issue or subject matter; C) contextualizing the problem in relevant disciplines and offering insights related to the problem; D) finding a common ground, and E) obtaining a comprehensive perception and testing it. In this article, attempts have been made to employ the above steps in a bid to explain the complexity of the term "Shakeleh".

One can extract from historical traditions and reports the name of people like Imam Ali (as), Abi ibn Ka'ab, Zayd ibn Sabet, and others scribers of revelations, but they are not all of the same rank and position. Some were initially in the company of the Prophet (pbuh) and scribed the entire Qur'an, and some began working as a scriber at the last days of Prophet's Besat, but the claim that a person like Mu'āwiyah ibn Abiasofyān has also been a scriber of revelations is a contentious argument that requires further analysis. Some have acknowledged the role of Mu'āwiya as a scriber while other have rebutted this claim. It is also argued that Mu'āwiyah was in charge of penning ordinary letters of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In this article, divergent views regarding the role of Mu'āwiyah as the scriber of Revelations are investigated and relevant narratives are analyzed through a descriptive-analytical method. The results refute the claim that Mu'awiyah is one of the scribers of Revelation, suggesting that his role was nothing more than composing the official letters of the Prophet (pbuh).

The first step in the interpretation (tafsir) of the Qur'an is discovering the exact meaning and implication of words so as to avoid the amalgamation of meanings and superficiality in the interpretation of divine intentions. Mujahid bin Jabr is one of the eminent commentators who has based his exegesis upon the description and elucidation of lexicons. The importance of delving into ancient interpretations becomes apparent when we ascertain that the origins of most Quranic, discoursal, and other subjects can be traced back to ancient interpretations. The systematic method of exegeses like Mujahid, who lived near the age of Revelation, paves the way for the accurate interpretation of the Qur'an. Thus, by exploring the interpretative narratives and the exegesis method adopted by Mujahid, one can gain a clearer picture of interpretation and clarification of lexicons and terms in his view. This paper, adopting a descriptive-analytical method, initially discusses topics such as the description of terms, polysemy and homonymy (Wujuh and Naza'ir), and borrowed words, considering that part of his interpretive points are concerned with etymology of words. In the next step, discourse-based evidences such as style and occasions of revelation as well as non-discourse-based evidences like Quranic attestations, the words of the Prophet (pbuh) and other Companions along with historical events and logical arguments are explored.

With the advent of the lithography industry in Iran during the Qajar era, a host of books were published. In this period, the addition of illustrations related to the contents was one of the needs of publishers. This paper tries to investigate the level of correspondence between paintings of arch angels (Raphael, Michael, Gabriel and Azrael) in the lithographic print of the book “Ajib al-Makhlough wa Gharāeb al-Mojoudāt” (1264 AH version) and Quranic verses and Islamic traditions using a descriptive-analytical method. The findings suggest that the illustrator of this book, Aligholi Khoei, has drawn the figures of these angels for their visual beauty inspired by artistic learning one the one hand and for adaptation with Quranic verses and sources of narratives from a religious approach on the other, though in some cases they are influenced by social norms and beliefs. However, the analytical review of illustrations based on existing reports demonstrates that Khoei is largely influenced by Islamic traditions so that religiously inspired illustrations cannot be considered as the only source of artistic imagination.

One of the fundamental issues in the theory of prophethood is the belief in the infallibility of prophets. Nevertheless, one can find many narratives in the works of Shiite and Sunni scholars, the verification of which undermines the divine belief regarding the infallibility of the divine prophets. Although some of these narratives have been criticized and questioned by scholars, there are still a number of undecided narratives. They include several narratives according to which Joseph, arrogant of his mighty rule and power, did not descend from his horse to meet his father Jacob (AS). This insolence of his was punished by God in form of divesting his lineage of the light of prophethood. Some exegeses have justified these narratives by proclaiming that Joseph’s conduct exemplifies Abandoning the Better (Tark al-Awla). In this research, using a descriptive-analytical method, all narratives from primary sources - as reported in books such as Kāfi, Elal al-Sharia the Emāli – were collected and then subjected to content analysis. The results suggest weak documentation in all of these narratives with the content analysis exhibiting even further contradiction with rational and logical arguments.

The Shaqshaqiya Sermon, as one of the most important sermons preached by Imam Ali (AS), has always been the subject of growing scholarly attention. However, researchers have generally relied on separate and independent units of language, irrespective of the sermon context, to explore and unravel the linguistic tools adopted in this invaluable work. Discourse analysis, which is in fact an expansion of stylistics founded upon a speech analysis approach beyond the sentence level, analyzes various structures of literary texts with respect to their situational context, presuming that they will uninterpretable outside such a situational context. The present study, by adopting a descriptive-analytical method, seeks to explore disparate structures of the sermon based on its situational context from the perspective of the of literary discourse analysis. The results suggest that the context in which the sermon has been delivered, including the repudiation of Imam Ali’s merits, accusations against Imam’s negligence in caliphate matters and unfair analogies drawn between Imam and other three caliphs, has wield influence on its semantic implications. That is, different structures of the sermon, not only serve as a means of textual embellishment, but also as a tool of explaining the facts, refuting allegations and analogies, proving legitimacy and supremacy of the Imam Ali (AS), and ultimately convincing the reader.

The connection and consistency of Quranic verses along with the arrangement of surahs have always been one of the key issues in Quranic and the exegesis science. In the traditional Quranic subjects, this subject is usually referred to as "order" and "consistency". The purpose of raising this issue, which we have referred to as linear conjunctions, is to defend intra-surah order of verses and the existing arrangement of the surahs in the Quran. However, it has provided some interpretative benefits that have been exploited by exegetes. In recent centuries, nonetheless, network connections have received growing attention and great efforts have been put into searching the relationships between adjacent verses and surahs. Beyond the interpretive function and the search for the Quranic order, the importance of gaining text-based insight, the advent of new interpretive assumptions, the expansion of Quran-to-Quran interpretation and the growing need for thematic exegesis have influenced this approach. In this regard, we first examine different types of connections between verses and surahs using an analytical-descriptive method and then explore the origins of these connections, especially in the contemporary era.

The final verse of the Sura At-Talaq has made indirect references to the creation of Seven Earths. Accordingly, renowned commentators have argued for the existence of seven earths. On the other hand, the modern science has demonstrated that there are many planets and stars, but no trace of seven earths has been discovered so far. The present article, after reviewing the historical background of the Seven Earths notion, and examining the most important descriptive aspects of this Qur'anic concept, concludes that "earth" is a generic noun, and any stretch or breadth of land on which humans set foot can be considered as a part of the earth. Additionally, number seven can also be interpreted as the "absolute plurality" as Arabs employ this number to express plurality. In this way, the Qur'an points to the plurality of earths, as we also deal with the concept of plurality and abundance of lands in the outer world.

"Bukayr ibn A'yān" is one of the narrators of Imam Bāqir (AS) and Imam Sādiq (AS), and a member of the scholar A'yān family in Kufa. In historical records, there is no work to his name, which explains the reason for his exclusion from the evaluation of critics. A total of 114 narratives have been narrated from him in the Four Books, which have served as the basis of fatwa issued by the authors of those books. This extensive application of narratives and interaction with Bukayr calls for a meticulous review of his narratives. The primary goal of this paper is to foster trust in Bukayr. In the following, Bukayr, his family, and the typology of his narratives are introduced. Hadiths narrated by him encompass subjects in jurisprudence, ethics and discourse and in each subject, diverse chapters and relevant narratives have been investigated separately. The credibility and importance of narratives in the view of the author are examined and it is investigated whether the author has issued fatwa on the basis of Bukayr’s narratives or used them as evidence to support his views.