نشریه پژوهش های قرآنی
سال بیست و هفتم شماره 1 (پیاپی 102، بهار 1401)

During the fourteen centuries after the revelation of the Qur’an, commentators have expressed different meanings for the word asmā’ in verse 31 of Sūrat Al-Baqara. Some have taken it to mean “letters and signs of objects or creatures”; others have paid attention to the pronouns in the verse such as hum (in araḍahum) and ha’ulā’ and have interpreted it as “names of the Angels” or “names of the children of Adam”; some others have taken the context into consideration and have not considered those meanings as the cause of Adam’s superiority and have taken asmā’ as “Names of God” or “Divine Attributes”; and others have taken it by other meanings. This article examines the meaning of asmā’ in this verse from four perspectives: the word, the context of the verses before and after, the relationship with the related verses, and the hadiths related to the verse. Accordingly, “attributes” is the most appropriate meaning to be implied; i.e., the same attributes of superiority that are specific to man and make him superior to the angels; the meaning of which is more concordant with the lexical root and more compatible with the verses in which the word is used.

Shahid Sadr is undoubtedly one of the pioneers of Qur’anic theoreticians in the contemporary era. He considers that attaining the theories of the Qur’an requires the inquiry from the Divine Word. Although the interpretation of “inquiry” has a narrative origin and has always been used by thinkers in religious literature, but in the thought of Martyr Sadr it is a special term and a key concept on which the Qur’anic theorizing is based. Considering the importance of this concept in recognizing Shahid Sadr’s view on Qur’anic theorizing, the present study has used a descriptive-analytical approach to explain the conceptual components of “inquiry of the Qur’an” in his thought. The outcomes of the research show that the inquiry of the Qur’an is a different category from the interpretation of the Qur’an in terms of purpose, subject, and method, and its product lies in the field of allusions to the Divine Word. This concept also focuses on such components as questioning, adaptation, historicity, infinity, bilaterality, intelligence, judgment and unity of text and commentator and paying attention to their nature, role, and proportions clarifies the hidden dimensions of Shahid Sadr’s view in Qur’anic theorizing and provides a model for theorizing the Qur’an on the basis of his views.

One of the controversial verses of the Qur’an is verse 82 of Sūrat Al-Naml. Qur’an researchers have found the nature and meaning of Dābbah in this verse as ambiguous based on intra-textual information. Since the ambiguity in the characteristics of Dābbah also obscures the message of the whole verse, many commentators have tried to reveal the meaning of Dābbah and the message of the verse with the help of various propositions outside the Qur’an, but these epistemologies are challenged from different perspectives. The present research has sought to reveal the apparent instance of Dābbah and the implication of the verse in the context of revelation by analyzing the structure of “Tajrīd” from the data of the verse itself. In this article, based on the analysis of the structure of the text, it was shown that the external instance of Dābbah is the same as the instance of ‘al-arḍ (earth) and these two notiions are of similar reference (Coreference). In general, it was found that this verse describes the feature of “earth” on the Day of Judgment. This verse says using the linguistic method Tajrīd: “On the brink of the Day of Judgment, it will be revealed that the ‘earth’ is a living being full of consciousness, and on that day, the ‘earth’ will testify to the behavior of the deniers of the Day of Judgment.”

The juxtaposition of contradictory concepts in the verses of the Qur’n has always led the commentators to interpret and justify the meaning of the verse with reasons such as allegory and metaphor. The juxtaposition of the two words “good tiding” and “painful chastisement” in 7 verses is one of the cases in which the commentators have bothered to interpret and have given different explanations to get rid of this contradiction. What this study seeks is a precise explanation of the meaning of good tidings of a painful chastisement, which by examining the relations of juxtaposition and substitution and the analytical-descriptive method, it was concluded that the good tidings of a painful chastisement has been used in its true meaning and its purpose is that after going through a painful chastisement, the sinful people are purified and return to their original nature and prepare to meet their Lord, and this is the meaning of good tiding to painful chastisement. This explains that, firstly, God intends the result of the work and, secondly, God is a trainer, and the punishment of a trainer is in terms of training, rather than revenge or destructive torture and persecution; and such punishment, although painful on the surface, is good on the inside and will be followed by lasting happiness.

Attention and access to new theories from the text of the Qur’an has always been the focus of Qur’an researchers. One of the ways that can be used effectively in this direction is the accurate use of new research methods based on scientific rules. Qualitative content analysis is one of the methods that has been considered by Qur’anic scholars in the last decade along with its widespread popularity in the study circles around the world. In this research, we have used this method to understand and obtain the social themes of Sūrat al-Ḥujarāt. Based on the research findings, the central category obtained from all the themes inferred in this sūra has been pivoted around “the fields of social development in the community of believers.” In this surah, God expresses a kind of normative system for social relations between the believers and the Prophet as the divine leader of the people on the one hand, and the individuals in society on the other, as well as the dangers that can jeopardize the cohesion between them. The collection of factors and obstacles that have been obtained in the research for the growth of the community of faithful displays a general picture of the characteristics of the desired society and especially the role of etiquette and ethics in this system. This sūra also emphasizes the rule of “brotherly relationship” as a special type of social relationship in the interactions among the faithful.

One of the issues that has attracted the attention of some Qur’an researchers and commentators throughout history is the discussion about the basic concepts, themes, verses, and key chapters of the Holy Qur’an that have an original, referential, and sometimes comprehensive role in the interpretation of some other verses. This concern among them prompted each one of them to choose terms for these concepts and verses and sūras. This research, by analytical method, refers to the books and works of Qur’an researchers from the fifth century AH to the contemporary period and extracts and analyzes various terms in this field and deals with the nature and components of the titles given by them and achieves some points of similarities and differences. Studies have shown that we are faced with six words to indicate the selected concepts and verses of the Qur’an, which include: 1. unequivocal (muḥkam), 2. essences (jawāhir), 3. the best (afḍal) and the most virtuous (fāḍil), 4. key, 5. main themes, 6. exalted verses. One of the common components of all six terms is tawḥīd (monotheism), which is the most important basis of moral education of the Qur’an.

Supplication is the link between man and God, which manifests itself in various forms. The noble verse 55 of Sūrat al-A‘rāf ﴾Supplicate your Lord, beseechingly and secretly. Indeed He does not like the transgressors﴿ is one of the verses that some Islamic commentators, including Zamakhshari, while ruling on the obligatoriness or desirability of a low and hidden voice in reciting the supplication, have ruled on the impermissibility of raising the voice (jahr) in supplication. Research on the validity of this ruling is among the aims of this article. The results of the research with descriptive-analytical and intra-textual method indicate that it is important that the various reasons for this interpretive interpretation, including God's closeness to man, observance of etiquette in supplication, avoidance of hypocrisy, supplication of the prophet Zechariah in a low voice, equality of supplication with dhikr (remembrance of God), veracity of innovation, etc., is not only contrary to the spirit of supplication, but is also clearly in contradiction with the external meaning of Divine verses. While paying attention to the sīra of the Infallible Imams in different situations, the appropriateness of different situations and conditions, the truth of veneration of the Divine rites in raising voice in supplication, etc., proves and confirms the permissibility of a loud and collective voice in supplication with special conditions.