پژوهش نامه قرآن و حدیث
پیاپی 10 (بهار و تابستان 1391)

Given the need for interpretive traditions and the decisive role of Imam Sadiq (a.s.) in presenting these narrations, taking cognizance of the interpretive method of this honorable Imam will highly contribute to the development of interpretation, particularly among the Shiite researchers and interpreters. In this paper, the interpretive methods of Imam Sadiq (a.s.) have been investigated on the basis of an applied approach. To fulfill this objective, nearly most of the interpretive traditions of Imam Jafar ibn-Muhammad (a.s.) had to be examined which, in turn, was a laborious task. The-Quran-through-Quran interpretation method, the-Quran-through-sunnah interpretation method, literal interpretation, jary (applicability) and tatbiq (comparison) are among the issues tackled in this paper.

"Imam" literally refers to anyone or anything holding a leading (moqaddam) and modeling (moqta’da) role. Exploration of the concept and instances of the word "imam" in the Quran suggests that the Quran includes this comprehensive literal meaning of the word with all its applications and the difference lies only with the type and level of modeling (moqta’daee). Also, a review and criticism of the views of the Shiite and Sunnite interpreters verifies that, contrary to the views of Fkhr-Razy, Alusi and many a Sunni commentators believe that "the highest human ranks of Imamate and Prophethood are identical", "the position of Imamate is definitely different from and superior to that of Prophethood and Messengership, and the highest human ranks of Imamate and Prophethood have some common and some distinct aspects. And finally, on the basis of what is discussed and introduced in this article, five ranks of Imamate are discernible from the Quran: 1) guarded tablet (loh-e mahfuz), 2) the revealed books, particularly the Quran, 3) the total Imamate which is superior to Prophethood and Messengership, 4) the Imamate of Prophethood and Messengership, and 5) the Imamate of the leading men in righteousness which comprises several ranks by itself.

The present article deals with the holy Prophet’s (p.b.u.h.) being ommi and the meaning of ommi. There is no doubt that the Quran has explicitly denied his uninterrupted reading and writing prior to his prophetic mission. There is also no disagreement about the holy Prophet’s (p.b.u.h.) being ommi. But does the word ommi really denote illiteracy?Examining the root of the word ommi, Quranic verses, some narrations and historical texts, this study concludes that most commentators’ assertion that ommi as a trait of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) denotes "inability to read and write" or "illiteracy" cannot be accepted and, at least, the Quran does not call the holy Prophet ommi meaning that he was "unable to read and write", rather what ommi denotes in the Quran is "a resident of ommol-qora’ or Mecca".

Tahereh Saffarzadeh is a contemporary poet, author, translator and scholar of the Quran, who has made substantial contributions to these scholarly fields. She has translated the holy Quran into both Persian and English. Although translation techniques and principles have not been fully observed in these two works, it should be noted that her translation is based on the interpretive approach and this has significantly impacted on her choice of translation equivalents. In this paper, the rhetorical, morphological, syntactic and lexical aspects of Saffarzadeh’s Persian and English translations of the holy Quran have been compared. Our findings indicate that Saffarzadeh’s English translation is more accurate than her Persian translation of the holy Quran, because the English translation is relatively less interpretive than her Persian translation.

Scholars do not unanimously agree that the narrations in Mesbah al-Sharia’h va Meftah al-Haqiqah belong to Imam Sadiq (a.s.). The findings of the present study verify that the documentation of this book is flawed and it is difficult to say it belongs to Imam Sadiq (a.s.). The textual analysis of the book, further, indicates that although it contains some narrations from Imam Sadiq (a.s.), it is never possible to say that the book has been written by Imam Sadiq (a.s.). Therefore, if there is no proof beyond the book verifying that a statement from the book is a hadith Imam Sadiq (a.s.), it cannot be said that the statement has been uttered by this honorable Imam.

In this study, an attempt is made to clarify the meaning of hermeneutics, assess its relation with ta’wil (esoteric interpretation) and interpretation from the viewpoint of Muslim scholars, and to explicate the common principles of ta’wil and hermeneutics in a classic sense. The utilization of symbolic language and natural language in the Quran is also explored, the disagreement between the proponents of symbolic language and natural language is briefly explained and, finally, the viewpoints of Molla Sadra and ibn-Arabi on the requirements of understanding the Quran are examined.