نشریه پژوهش های قرآنی
سال بیستم شماره 2 (پیاپی 75، تابستان 1394)

Correct qarā’at (reading) of the Qur’ān is one of the important discourses in the field of the Qur’ān and jurisprudence, because, in addition to the emphatic preference of reading the Qur’ān in general, the reading of Sūrat al-Fātiḥa and Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ is obligatory in the prayer as well. Most of the verses of the Qur’ān have not been read except for reading according to the present diacritics of the verses since the Revelation of the Qur’ān and there is no difference in the correct reading of them. However, in some parts of the verses, other readings than the reading according to their diacritics have been reported and in the correct reading of this group of verses some other viewpoints have come up. Some have, according to viewing the seven-fold or ten-fold readings as being mutiwātir (recurrent), maintained the correctness of all of them; some have not regarded their tawātur (recurrence) to be constant and have legally judged the correctness of those readings on the basis of knowing them as authentic; and some have regarded the correct reading as the reading according to the present diacritics of the verses. In this article, the evidences of this viewpoint are critically reviewed and the determination of the correctness of reading according to diacritics – except in some verses – is reasoned and emphasized.

One of the problems brought up concerning the reading of the Qur’ān is the vocal (ghinā’ī) reading. Although the ruling of the vocal reading is wholly clear, its concept is not clear enough; thus, it is debated by the jurists. Given the fact that the concept and the ruling of the vocal reading are dependent upon the cognition of the concept and the ruling of ghinā, first of all, the concept and the ruling of ghinā are briefly studied. Then, with respect to the key role of the traditions on taghannī (melodious chanting) of the Qur’ān, their thematic separation is taken into consideration and through the separation of the traditions of the permissibility of reading with sorrowful, beautiful, and refraining voice from the traditions on the impermissibility of taghannī of the Qur’ān and the general traditions, the prohibition of ghinā is specified. Finally, the viewpoint of the permissibility of taghannī of the Qur’ān and its reasons are studied and criticized.

One of the methods for recitation of the Holy Qur’ān, or rather, the most important and major method of reading the Qur’ān is its recitation with tartīl method, which has been emphasized in the verses of the Qur’ān and numerous traditions. As for the meaning of tartīl, different views have been expressed by interpreters, traditionists, and scholars of tajwīd. In this research, while stating the importance and the status of tartīl from the viewpoint of the Qur’ān and traditions, the concept of tartīl in the Qur’ān and traditions, and the science of tajwīd has been comparatively studied and analyzed and the conclusion is drawn that the concept of tartīl had not been the recitation of the Holy Qur’ān with a beautiful voice and the special style of the reciters or reading the Qur’ān by observing the rules of tajwīd – such as it has been popular among the general public and the scholars of the science of tajwīd –, rather, tartīl as a concept means the recitation of the Holy Qur’ān along with the observance of the verbal and apparent rules and deliberation of the meanings of the verses and practicing according to the concepts of the Qur’ān. Thus, while examining and criticizing other viewpoints, the viewpoint in question is proved with numerous evidences.

Many orders and recommendations have been related in the Qur’ān and traditions concerning the qarā’at (reading) of the Qur’ān, especially with a loud and beautiful voice and according to this very support, the individual qarā’at or tartīl is a common and prevalent phenomenon in the Islamic lifestyle. However, in some Islamic countries, a qarā’at named choral qarā’at (qarā’at al-jamā‘a or qarā’at al-jamā‘iyya) is performed. The main problem is whether such a style of qarā’at of the Qur’ān is innovative, permissible, or preferential. In this writing, first various meanings of group reading and main object of dispute are explained. Then, the two contrasting viewpoints of the Mālikī jurists, who maintain its permissibility and the Salafī jurists, who regard it as innovation and unlawful, are studied and evaluated. Thereby, while criticizing the evidences of those claiming the choral qarā’at to be innovative, the view of its permissibility is defended, although some have maintained the preference (istiḥbāb) of choral qarā’at because of the benefits resulting from it.

There are different and sometimes contradictory views concerning the necessity or the unnecessity of observing the rules of tajwīd in reading the Qur’ān. On one hand, some scholars regard observance of the rules of tajwīd as unlawful and on the other hand, some regard it as individual obligation, like prayer. Some scholars also distinguish between the rules of tajwīd and practicing it. Similarly, other details are also observed in this respect. In the present article, first the most important views concerning this problem are brought up; then, the limits and criterion of the obligation of tajwīd discourses are talked about. Furthermore, the writer has concluded that only the observance of those rules of the tajwīd discourses are obligatory that failing to observe them would violate the correctness of reading and, contrary to the legal popular belief, the realization of the correctness and corruption should be entrusted to the experts and not to people’s convention.

Reading the Qur’ān, which is obligatory for every Muslim, enjoys indispensible principles and rules in order for the Qur’ānic letters, words, and sentences to be read correctly and the wording and meaning of the Qur’ān to be pronounced and transferred properly. Not reading these elements correctly is called laḥn and there are certain causes for it, whose recognition would greatly help the pathology of the mistakes of reading the Qur’ān by the reciters.In this article, it is first tried to briefly explain laḥn in terms of terminology, to mention different types of laḥn from different perspectives, and then after taking a glance at the history of this discourse, to mention various types of causes and reasons for the occurrence of laḥn in reading the Qur’ān. Some of these causes include the reciter’s unfamiliarity with rules of reading, the reciter’s unfamiliarity with interpretation, the reciter’s unfamiliarity with the morphological and syntactic rules, the reciter’s unfamiliarity with the melody of expression (tanghīm), orthographical problems, and so forth.

This article is aimed at a Qur’ānic explanation of one of the most important discourses brought up in the field of philosophical humanism, i.e., the priority and posteriority of the soul over the body. This discourse has so far been more of interest to the philosophers and theologians and its Qur’ānic-philosophical explanation has been less dealt with. Thus, the present research has undertaken the Qur’ānic-philosophical analysis of this issue. Accordingly, first, it touches upon the meanings of soul in the Qur’ān, then it explains the most important philosophical viewpoints concerning the priority and posteriority of the soul, and finally goes on to explain the Qur’ān’s perspective concerning this issue. In order to explain the Qur’ān’s perspective, it first explains the realistic and allegorical exegetical viewpoints, the world of pre-existence (dhar), and the theory of Divine Dominion (malakūt) and finally confirms it by referring to the theory of Divine Dominion as evidence that is adopted from Mullā Ṣadrā’s viewpoint. In the end, it is concluded that the Qur’ān’s perspective is more compatible with the viewpoint of Mullā Ṣadrā who believes in the priority of body over soul.