نشریه پژوهش دینی
سال دهم شماره 20 (بهار و تابستان 1389)

The Article Semantical Interpretation of the Decisive and Allegorical Verses of the Quran authored by the learned scholar Dr. Ja’far Nekounam was published in No. 16 of Pazhuhesh-e Dini Journal. The article concluded that fetneh (sedition) refers to the otherworldly torment، the allegorical verses are exclusive to the Resurrection verses and ta’vil (esoteric interpretation) of these verses is their external realization. The article further concluded that rasekhoon fil-ilm (those firmly rooted in knowledge) are believers in the Revealed Book and zaeghan (heretics) are the idolaters of Mecca. The conclusion of the present paper is that fetneh does not refer to the otherworldly torment، the allegorical verses are not exclusive to the Resurrection verses and ta’vil of these verses is not their external realization. The paper also concludes that zaeghan (heretics) are not the idolaters of Mecca، but rather they are the hypocrites، some of the believers in a Revealed Book، the misled scholars and the cruel caliphs.

Since a long time ago، Islamic scholars have been probing into the lexical items of the Quran as the root of understanding this holy book. The outcome of their attempts are a large number of invaluable works. Zahhak bin-Mozahem is one of the interpreters of the Quran who has based his interpretation on explaining the lexical items of the Quran. Thus، one can find out how he explained and interpreted words of the Quran by exploring his interpretive traditions. Since some of Zahhak’s interpretative notes are related to etymology of words، we have had to discuss some issues such as vojouh (aspects)، nazaer (homologues)، moarrabat (Arabicized words) and gharaeb (oddities). Of course، context and compoundation are other issues that Zahhak has taken into account. Thus، it is possible to explore the elements and clues that influence the meaning of words in Zahhak’s interpretative thoughts. Obviously، a methodical discussion on the ideas of interpreters such as Zahhak who lived in close proximity to the time of revelation can pave the way for understanding the Quran.

There isn’t so much disagreement on the occurrence of abrogation in heavenly Sharia’hs. The dispute is over what each Sharia’h has abrogated. Has it abrogated all the former Sharia’hs? Or it has abrogated some of their rulings. Or each Sharia’h did not necessarily consider all the former Sharia’hs and it only took into account the traditions prevalent in the community of the Prophet who delivered that Sharia’h and abrogated only those traditions which were either invalid in his community or were not compatible with the interests and requirements of his time. This article is an attempt to answer these questions. Our investigations show that appointment of divine prophets and delivery of Sharia’hs to different nations were، more or less، proportionate to the needs and interests of those nations. Nonetheless، all in all، the Sharia’hs have always moved towards sublimity and development; hence، each new Sharia’h has been more inclusive in comparison with the former one and this is based on man’s evolution process over time. Although Islam has sought to revive and develop din-e hanif (the pre-Islamic monotheist religions)، it is more comprehensive than other divine religions since it includes the latest form of Sharia’h.

As a major instrument for development of science and culture، translation has always been under the consideration of world nations. Translation criticism is one of the mechanisms which can dramatically promote the quality of translation. In line with this issue، the present paper attempts to evaluate the English translation of Shia in Islam authored by the late Allameh Tabatabaee. To fulfill this objective، first، the nature of translation criticism is evaluated and، then، the criteria and standards required for criticism are introduced. Finally، the translation is evaluated and criticized on the basis of one of the criticism models introduced in this paper. According to the evaluation carried out here، Shia in Islam has been translated with a considerable degree of success although it is not devoid of some defects.

One of the ways to understand historical texts، including the texts of the subjectively-interpreted hadiths، is examination of what their audience had perceived from them. Extracting the type of approach the early Muslims had towards subjective interpretation (interpretation by one’s personal opinion) and presenting the historical course of its development process، this paper intends to pave the way for achievement of the main purpose of the subjectively-interpreted hadiths. In the first century after Hijrah، every kind of Quranic expression which did not originate from the works of a righteous predecessor was considered subjective interpretation by the Companions and the Successors and believing that their interpretation activities were not subjective، they interpreted the Quran widely. In the second century، when Muslims raised doubts as to whether the interpretation heritage of the first century was not contaminated with subjectivity، they began to bring charges and stand up against each other. This trend was reinforced in the third century. In the fourth century، the first efforts are made to offer a new reading of subjective interpretation and following its validation in the fifth century، in the late 5th century، the new reading was institutionalized as a new interpretation procedure in the interpretation tradition of the Muslim community.

This paper first deals with the famous Shiite outlook that Imams (a. s.) are aware of everything and then it tackles one of the instances of this issue، i. e. Imams (a. s.) were aware of the details of their martyrdom. The six rational and traditional reasons mentioned in the book، Moses’ Stick or Treatment of Exaggeration Malady by Ne’mat-Ollah Salehi Najafabadi to prove that Imams (a. s.) were not aware of the details of their martyrdom are raised and answered one by one here. Some of these six reasons are: 1)Using rational reasons، one can only demonstrate Imams’ knowledge of religious and political issues، not beyond that. 2)The 34th verse of Sura Luqman declines any creature’s knowledge of his death and points out that only God is aware of creatures’ death. 3)From an utterance in Nahj-ol-balagheh، one can understand the denial of Imams’ (a. s.) knowledge of the time of their death.

Divan-e Hafez (Hafez’s Collection of Poetical works) is rich in Quranic themes and references. In the sonnet، “A nightingale had a colorful petal in its beak…” Hafez has used the Quranic expression، «gardens in which streams flow» in the second hemistich of the final couplet of his sonnet. The Quranic expression، «gardens in which streams flow» has been used 28 times in various chapters of the Quran. At times، commentators have taken Hafez’s expression to refer to all these cases in the Quran and sometimes they have taken it to refer to some of these cases including: Sura Baqara: 25; Al-e Imran: 15، 136، 195، and 198; Nisa’: 13 and 57; Maedeh: 12، 85 and 19; Tobeh: 72 and 89; Buruj: 11 and so on. However، according to the concepts، themes and meanings shared in the couplets of the sonnet in question and the verses 82-85 of Sura Maedeh، Hafez uses the Quranic theme in relation to the verse 85 of this chapter because the concepts and themes in the sonnet such as nightingale and colorful petal، cry and moan، impression of the beloved، blandishment and need، the robe of Sheikh-e Sana’n، Hafez’s eye and “gardens in which streams flow” share a lot in coordination and homophony with the concepts and themes of that verse. Some of these concepts and themes are as follows: “the nearest in friendship”، “we are Christians”، “priests and monks”، “when they hear”، “you will see their eyes overflowing with tears”، “on account of the truth that they recognize”، “we earnestly desire to enter with” and eventually «gardens in which streams flow. Proving that Hafez uses the Quranic theme in relation to the verse 85 of Sura Maedeh، this article provides an analysis on how artistically Hafez makes use of the themes from the verses 82-85 of Sura Maedeh in the sonnet in question.