نشریه پژوهش های قرآنی
سال بیست و هشتم شماره 1 (پیاپی 106، بهار 1402)

This article analyzes the words and types of humor and sarcasm represented in the Qur’an. Humor in the Qur’an is not similar to the comic situations in human worldly life, rather the subtle (naghz) words and warnings or the pleasant and painful remarks are among the mostly indirect Qur’anic expressions, which include many metaphorical, analogical, and allegorical types. These types contain subtle points that sometimes cause exhilaration and sometimes bewilderment of the listener. The main questions are: What kind of typology do these species have? “What procedure do they enjoy? And what are their theological and aesthetic functions?” This article first refers to the background of the discussion and then to the words representing humor and the types and patterns of satire, and analyzes them in terms of typology and the way each genre functions by giving examples of Qur’anic verses. These types range from subtle statements to allegorical short stories, and aggressive humor such as sarcasm, snide remarks, vituperation, satire, and parody. With the help of these genres, the Qur’an creates a kind of situation that is sometimes pleasant and humorous, sometimes satirizing the evil-minded and caricaturing the face of hypocrites, and sometimes it is allegorical and especially ironic. Of course, these species have been intermingled in such an efficient way that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish among them.

Aesthetic interpretation is one of the relatively new approaches in Qur’an interpretation. This kind of interpretation, which is followed in six types of tendentious, methodical, intra-sūra (structural), extra-sūra, inter-sūra and extra-Qur’anic, with a descriptive look at rhetorical interpretations, has an absolute generality and peculiarity relation with the rhetorical interpretation, and with a scientific look at them, a relation of generality and peculiarity in some respect. Most of the difference between these two types of interpretation is, in addition to the difference in terms of conceptology, from the hermeneutic perspective, the intention of the speaker, and in terms of the territory. From among the above-mentioned types of aesthetic interpretation, two types of tendency and intra-sūra (structural) are of interest to the interpreters and the Qur’an scholars, but other types, especially the methodical and inter-sūra types, have received less attention and can be considered as approaches absent in the interpretative process of most of interpretations. The important point in this field of study is the presence of methodical aesthetic interpretation as the interpretative evidence, relying on which, one can achieve a correct understanding of the text or turn to the criticism and review of interpretation probabilities. This article tries to explain different types of aesthetic interpretations and examine their relationship with rhetorical interpretation from various dimensions.

Verse 29 of Sūrat al-Dukhan talks about the denial of the weeping of heaven and earth over the death of Pharaoh and his companions. Interpreters have often presented a figurative meaning in the interpretation of this verse. In this article, the interpretative opinions of the interpreters are critically analyzed in a descriptive-analytical way, and the conclusion is drawn that for a correct understanding of the verse, the true meaning of the weeping of the heavens and the earth based on their intelligence should be taken into consideration. Ultimately, the meaning of the negation of the weeping of the heavens and the earth can be considered as perceiving the lack of faith of Pharaoh and his companions and understanding the insignificance of their death by the heavens and the earth, which does not cause any internal influence and effect in the heavens and the earth.

Unveiling the cohesion among verses has been one of the main concerns throughout history. In agreement with the attempts by the Qur’an scholars, some western researchers who approved the proportion in the text of the Qur’an, tried to prove the continuous aspect of the Qur’an by applying a new approach. Using his own model based on the theory of Semitic rhetoric, Neal Robinson, as the main figure of this trend, proceeded to prove the structural coherence of Medinan sūras. By examining the connection between the verses of these sūras, Robinson revealed the verbal and semantic connection within them, while proving their orderliness and coherent structure. This model is based on repetition of words. First, the verses are divided and then, using the hooked keywords, two adjacent sections are interconnected together like a chain. With the method of content analysis based on Neal Robinson’s mirror-effect, this research has detected the cohesion of Sūrat al-Ḥadīd. After determining the sections of the sūra, the connection between the sections was examined by means of the hooked keywords and finally, a symmetrical structure from the first section to the last section and from the second section to the previous section was presented in a mirror-effect form. The purpose of the sūra, according to the pattern, is to encourage alms-giving.

According to the doctrines of the Qur’an, hadiths, and linguistic rules, reading the words of the Qur’an should be at least accompanied by understanding the surface meaning; however, belief in the permissibility or reward of reading the words of the Qur’an without understanding the surface meaning is one of the common beliefs of non-Arab Muslims. The difficulty of learning the Arabic language for the general public, together with the interest in continuous reading of the Qur’an in accordance with the emphasis on the Qur’an and hadiths, has prepared the ground for the formation of this belief. Of course, encouraging non-Arabic speakers to read only the words with the aim of creating a direct relationship with the Qur’an at the beginning of learning to read it, seems reasonable; however, it does not mean that it is permissible to continue it throughout one’s life. Using a descriptive-analytical method, this article for the first time seeks to examine and criticize the formation backgrounds and evidences of believing in the permissibility or reward of reading the words of the Qur’an without understanding its surface meaning in the lower layers of Islamic culture. The results of this research show that these backgrounds are usually rooted in residues of the incomplete and vague debates such as impressions of hadiths, inimitability of the Qur’an, untranslatability of the Qur’an, requirements of connection to the Qur’an, lexical debates and similar debates among the general public, which has been cited as a justification for not comprehending the surface meaning of the verses.

Ṣamad (the Eternal), as one of the words disputed by the interpreters, is explained in some lexical, narrative, and exegetical sources as kun fa yakūn (Be, and it was) or the subjectivity of God’s command and the category of creation. This research has surveyed the feasibility of the meaning of kun fa yakūn for Ṣamad considering the purpose of Sūrat al-Tawḥīd. Observing the meaning of divine creation and the subjectivity of command kun fa yakūn for the word Ṣamad in the lexical, narrative and exegetical texts, the existence of existential-theological goals in the epistemic areas of God’s essence, attributes, names and actions in Sūrat al-Tawḥīd, as well as the attribute of Ṣamad as being a verb, makes the meaning of kun fa yakūn (ṣun‘ lā min shay‘ = created from nothing) possible for Ṣamad. Also, the meaning of mukhtār (self-determined) has an authenticated relationship with other verses of Sūrat al-Tawḥīd, and considering its purpose, it has the capacity to answer some existential-theological misconceptions. God, in Whose hands lies the creation and the command, is a creator who transcends what He creates, being born, and having a spouse; He innovates by kun fa yakūn.

One of the issues of consensus among the Qur'an interpreters and Islamic scholars since early times is the belief in the distortion of the Bible (consisting of the Old and New Testaments). This doctrine has been doubted for a long time and some researchers believe that there is no verse in the Qur'an showing that the Bible has been distorted, and that the Qur'an confirms the Bible. Whereas, if we examine the Qur'anic verses that are evidentially referred to the Bible, we find that the Qur'an has not confirmed all the contents of the Bible and that some of its contents are rejected by the Qur'an. Thus, we have attempted in this research to evidentially examine the verses of the Qur'an that in some way refer to the Bible in order to achieve a more complete understanding of the Qur'an's viewpoint regarding the Bible. Our main question in this research is: "What is the Quran's viewpoint about the Bible?" Does it maintain the confirmation, fabrication (ja‘l), or distortion of the Bible?