نشریه پژوهش های قرآنی
سال بیست و پنجم شماره 3 (پیاپی 96، پاییز 1399)

Aiming at the qualitative upgrading of interpretation and comprehension of Qur’anic propositions, the present research tries to incorporate the two methods of “Qur’an through Qur’an interpretation” and “the theory of semantic field” in understanding and interpreting the Qur’an. The main objective of the paper is to clarify their fundamental syncretism and to uncover the common and convergent breaches from among their controversial principles. The findings suggest that the two methods have a commonality in certain principles such as text-orientedness, text orderliness, and lingual world view; although there are discrepancies in some of their principles, among which certain synergic and common grounds can be noticed even among their controversial principles. Consequently, by modification of some extremist beliefs accepted by the theory of semantic field, this method can be incorporated into the traditional methods of interpretation such as the method of Qur’an through Qur’an method and by including some exegetical principles in the principle of the above theory, the barriers for using this method of text comprehension in Qur’anic studies can be removed.

Three different viewpoints can be observed among interpreters in elucidation of the meaning of perfection of religion in verse three of Sūrat al-Mā’ida. Some have implied it as the outcome of the “universality of religion” after completion of the revealed commands and others have assumed “sovereignty of religion” upon the expansion and influence of Islam as equivalent to perfection, while the third group, who mostly include the Shi’ite interpreters, have considered “eternity of religion” along with devotion to Imams (wilāya) as equivalent to perfection. Given the fact that the verse “perfection of religion” is among the verses of special revelation occasion and, on the other hand, the object of perfection is omitted and the outer aspect of the verse, at least in the first glance, does not obviously denote what perfection is dependent upon, most interpreters have sufficed with mentioning the interpretational traditions concerning the revelation occasion in explaining the meaning of perfection and have scarcely engaged in an inquiry deeper than the intra-textual evidences in order to elucidate the object of perfection. Thus, the present paper has undertaken to analyze and examine the exegetical viewpoint of the second group in accordance with some intra-textual evidences.

The importance of methodology is resulted from the efficacy of method in success and failure of a research. Just as method is important in research, so also methodology, as a second grade science, is effective in judgment, selection, and emulation of methods. One of the fields requiring methodology is the Imams’ inference from the Qur’an. If we accept the presupposition that the Imams have inferred legal rulings from the Qur’an, then the question would arise as to what procedure they have used to draw their inferences. What principles and rules have they employed? And what characteristics exist in their procedures? Having been organized in a descriptive-analytical method, this research is intended to answer to these questions and to try, as far as possible, to explain the Imams’ features of inference methods. The achievement this research has made is that the Imams’ inferences have been based on specific presuppositions concerning the Qur’an and other than the Qur’an and have used various rules, whose common grounds have been their rationality and some of which have not been discussed in preliminary sciences of legal reasoning (ijtihād). Therefore, the Imams can be considered as the founders of sharī‘a inference rules.

The Qur’an, which is an advocate of the superior knowledge and everlasting guidance and has introduced its plans as the source for real life of humankind, has recommended the path of mental and spiritual illumination and rectification of the attitudes of the individual and society for actualization of a better and ideal life and superior human society, believing that in the way of guidance and religion expansion, one is to utilize the principles and procedures that would pave the ground for growth of thoughts and consciously free selection of religion for the people and to avoid coercion, reluctance, oppression, and exploitation. In this research, eight principles and ten Qur’anic methods have been identified for propagation and promulgation of religious and monotheistic thinking. This indicates that the Qur’an’s method for promulgation of monotheistic and Islamic way of thinking and expansion of religion in human communities is free from force and coercion and exerting oppression, force, and cruelty and that any method that ends up in injustice, force, and irrational and unethical conducts is not approved and supported by the Qur’an.

Tafsīr-i Tasnīm, is one of the most eminent Shi’a interpretations and Tafsīr al-Qur'ān al-Ḥakīm, known as Al-Manār, is one of the high ranking interpretations among the Sunni tafsīrs. These two interpretations have originated from two different intellectual and ideological sources, but they enjoy common procedures and styles. That is why Al-Manār has a noticeable presence in Tafsīr-i Tasnīm, where we see various instances of Ayatollah Javadi Amoli's confrontations with Al-Manār's opinion. These confrontations have taken place on four bases of elucidation, narration, critique, or confirmation and the present research is undertaking, with an analytical method, to analyze the partial and general critiques of Tafsīr-i Tasnīm on Al-Manār's author. That is to say, after quoting Al-Manār's exegetical viewpoints, Ayatollah Javadi Amoli's critiques are brought up and then analyzed and evaluated; if these critiques are valid, their reasons are mentioned and if not, the reason for their invalidity are analyzed. In the end, if Ayatollah Javadi had missed a point in his critique, the point will be touched upon and the critique completed. The findings of the research denote that Al-Manār has acted withprejudice and presupposition in interpretation of the verses and in some cases has perpetrated baseless and incorrect accusations. In contrast, Ayatollah Javadi Amoli has refuted Rashid Reza's thought and method while mentioning his incorrect tendencies and prejudices.

This research has been conducted with the aim of content analysis of scientific-research articles in Iran Qur'anic journals. From among 2233 articles published in 20 Qur'anic scientific-research journals during the years 1390-1397 SH (2011-2018 CE), 996 articles, which had clearly stated their procedures, were content analyzed according to the categorization of research methods approved by experts. The findings showed that the descriptive-analytical, semantic, linguistic, comparative, analytical, qualitative content analysis, and historical methods were the most frequently employed research methods and no articles were found employing such methods as trans-analysis, causal-comparative, survey, ethnography, action research, systematic review, and phonemics.

There are disagreements concerning the inanimate objects’ enjoyment of life – i.e., existential perfection, which is the origin of knowledge and volitional action. The popular viewpoint is that the inanimate objects do not enjoy a life endowed with knowledge and action. Mulla Sadra, however, believes in absolute objectivity of existence with life and knowledge and maintains that as existence is a gradational fact, so also are life and knowledge gradational and have various weak and strong ranks, with every being enjoying these two attributes proportionate to its existential level. Therefore, inanimate objects also have life and knowledge as per their existential rank.
In this research, Mulla Sadra's viewpoint, as based on the existence of life and knowledge in inanimate objects, is critically reviewed form the perspective of the Holy Qur'an and it is proved that from the perspective of the Qur'an there is no level of life and knowledge in inanimate objects and that the verses of the Divine Scripture confirms the popular viewpoint concerning the inanimate objects.