نشریه قرآن شناخت
سال دوم شماره 2 (پیاپی 4، پاییز و زمستان 1388)

The Present article deals with the interpretation of Sura al-Baqara (II), verses 21-24. These verses are about the Ways of achieving virtue, creation of heavens and earth, unity of God, and proving the inimitability of the Quran. Interpretation of the verses may be summed up as Follows: Verse 21: The way of achieving virtue is divine worship. The creatures of the world worship God creationally while mankind's service is through Knowledge, will, and freedom. Verse 22: The earth is like a comfortable Cradle for the welfare of man, and heaven is like the construction of the universe being the source of water. Water is the main origin of plants and provisions. Drawing the attention of mankind to all these bounties on which his existence and Survival depends, God has prohibited man from associating with him any Partner. Verse 23: Addressing those who oppose and reject the Quran, Allah asks them to ping a Sura similar to its Suras if they have any doubt in the divine origin of the Quran. Calling to ping something Similar, i. e. challenge, the verse implies the inimitability of the Quran. Miracle (Mu ۧdjiza) is an extraordinary) work, independent from natural causes, beyond the capacity of mankind, coupled with the claim of prophethood, and distinguished from other extraordinary phenomena including miraculous acts of Imams and saints, i. e. Karāmat. The prophets are the direct and immediate cause of miracles, God being the indirect one. The Quran is a miracle in terms of its unique harmony and style, lack of discrepancies, illiteracy of its agent, and as to the meanings and contents. Verse 24: Urging its addressees, the phrase "and you will not do" indicates the inimitability of the Quran as to the unseen. Thus it informs that man would not be able at any time to ping a Sura like those of the Quran. Furthermore, threatening those denying the revelation of the Quran, the verse warns of the fire the fuel of which is the men themselves and the stones.

Revelation and inspiration are two peculiar sources of religious knowledge. Illustrating the meanings and usages of revelation and inspiration in their literal sense, Quranic verses, and traditions, the present article shows in which of the above usages these two concepts are the sources of religious knowledge. The conflict arising at first sight among lexicographical sources concerning the literal sense of wahy can be removed by their profound review. Furthermore, in spite of certain divergences, the literal sense of "whay" is hidden writing and speech without considering a sense of rapidity. Likewise, the literal sense of "Ilhām" is injection into the soul. Having a divine origin is not however regarded as the constitutive part of its literal sense. In its Quranic usages, by "wahy", whether it concerns the prophets or others, is meant its literal sense. Some features which are relevant to the applications of "wahy" do not play any role in the structure of its meaning. This is the Case for "Ilhām" too. However, "wahy" and "Ilhām" as two sources of religious knowledge have their own technical sense in Islamic traditions and Muslim usage.

When undertaking interpretation, the exegete is not free from pre-understandings, but enjoying certain understanding and knowledge. The present article deals with the ways of the influence of preunderstandings of the exegete on Quranic interpretation. Considering the nature of the function of interpreter and studying Quranic commentaries, the article surveys the plausible modes of the influence of preunderstandings on interpretation. preunderstandings of the exegete may be categorized in various ways some of the are self-evident while some others being speculative. The latter itself is categorized into instrumental, basic, and content preunderstandings.On the other hand, some preunderstandings are consistent with the literal sense of the verses, others being inconsistent. The most significant plausible ways of the influence of preunderstandings on the interpreter are as follows: Playing the role of instrument for interpretation, making the foundations and rules of interpretation available, playing the role of clues for understanding the verses, indicating the context of revelation and that of speech, creating issues, poadening the horizons of the interpreter, and their confirmatory as well as explanatory role towards revealing the contents of the verses.

Studying the different dimensions of thematic interpretation from the perspective of Ayatullah Muhammad Taqī Mesbāh Yazdī, the present article seeks to explain the main features of his thematic interpretation entitled “Maarif i Quran” i.e. “the teachings of the Quran”. Thematic interpretation aims at explaining the meaning of the words and phrases of Quranic verses and revealing the divine intents in a special subject benefiting from the whole verses relevant to it based on the rational discussion and Arabic literature. Thematic interpretation in the works of researchers of the Quran refers to: 1. verbal interpretation 2. Descriptive and original interpretation and 3. Analytical and explanatory interpretation. Ayatullāh Mesbāh sees it preferable to refer the thematic interpretation to the last two usages. The stages of thematic interpretation according to Ayatullāh Mesbāh are the following: choosing the topic or problem, conceptual definition of the topic, finding relevant verses and putting them together, determining the signification of the verses, specifying the relation of the verses to the topic, reaching the logical classification of the details of subjects and finally interpreting the verses collected. The most serious flaws in thematic interpretation according to Ayatullāh Mesbāh are: neglecting the context, one-dimensional attitude, imposition of one's own opinion and undue comparisons. In addition to conducting theoretical discussions, he has made his best to immunize Tafsir from its different flaws in practice. Some of the most significant qualities of the thematic interpretation of Ayatullāh Mesbāh are as follows: being comprehensive as to the whole teachings of the Quran, setting the Quranic teachings into didactic systems, adopting a systematically linked attitude toward verses, being up to date and prospective, and enjoying a methodological cohesion.

Exegetes have undertaken the interpretation of the Quran taking different approaches, hence emergence of various approaches in the field of interpretation.One of the exegetical approaches in contemporary times is the literary approach. It is one of the most methodological approaches in interpretation having fairly transparent features. The present article enumerates, studies, and criticizes the most significant features of this approach which are as follows: inefficiency of the running interpretation, deep investigation of all the verses concerning the issue and their interpretation chronologically, denying the synonymity of the words appearing to be synonyms, confining the signification of the verses to the context, and benefiting from psychology and sociology. The article considers the inefficiency of the running interpretation, restriction of the signification of the verses to the context, and denying the synonymity of certain words in the Quran as insufficient proof in this field. On the other hand, the proponents of this exegetical approach have not been capable of the deep investigation of all verses relevant to the issue, and arranging them in their chronological order, thus failing to do so in numerous cases. Besides, they have failed to show the semantic difference among certain Quranic words.

Alteration of the religious documents and holy books is seriously condemned in the holy Quran since it leaves terrible moral effects, and unwholesome consequences for the destiny of mankind and human societies. The verses of the holy Quran testify to the fact that the torah and the Gospel have undergone different verbal and semantic types of alteration by certain groups of the People of the Book, especially Jewish rabbis.Most of the outstanding exegetes of the holy Quran and scholars of the Holy Scriptures have regarded the present torah and the Gospel as the target of the alteration referred to in Quranic verses. They have also pointed to alteration as a concept including verbal and semantic aspects both. However, some have denied the verbal alteration recognizing the semantic alteration of the present Holy Scriptures as the authentic view.Furthermore, some contemporary scholars have referred the verses concerning alteration to the semantic alteration of the original version counting the present Holy Scriptures as an incomplete and distorted version of the former. Still some others believe that the present Torah and Gospel are invented by man. In their opinion, alteration verses refer to the oral distortion of the Holy Scriptures, not the present Torah and Gospel.

Seeking to give recognition to religious plurality and diversity in the world, the theory of religious pluralism has turned to a special interpretation of certain religious concepts and teachings in order to present them as its confirmatory evidence. The key divine attributes such as divine mercy, guidance, and wisdom in the Quran are among the concepts playing a significant role in theological and eschatological issues. Based on this theory, denying the legitimacy and perfect happiness of followers of other religions empacing a large number of people is inconsistent with divine qualities such as His mercy, guidance, and wisdom. Investigating all the relevant verses indicates that the theory in question benefits from an incomplete and one-dimensional interpretation of these attributes. However, the correct and comprehensive interpretation of these verses would not approve this theory at all. Serious flaws in the interpretation of these attributes are as follows: confusion of divine all-empacing mercy with the special one, neglecting the gradation of divine guidance as an attribute of action, confusion of the divine genetic system with the legislative one, as well as that of the divine genetic will with the legislative one, and the influence as well as requirement of each of these concepts and systems on the interpretation of divine wisdom.