Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Imām Jawād'd Exegetical Narration on thieve's Punishment and Its Implication on Interpreting Qurʾān by Qurʾān

Document Type : Original article

Author
Moḥammad Asʿadī
Associate professor in Quranic Studies, Research Institute of Hawzah and University, Qom, Iran.
Abstract
In Tafsir al-Mizan, Mohammad Hossein Ṭabāṭabaʾī, a contemporary interpreter of the Quran, presents a method to understand the Qur'an, usually known as “Interpreting the Qur'an by the Qur'an”. Many other contemporary religious scholars also argue in favor of this method. One of their reasons to support this method is a narration related to Imam Javad (AS) about the permissible limit of cutting off a thief's hand; the problem raised in verse 38 of Surah al-Māʾidah. As stated in that narration, Imam Javād interprets that Limit based on the verse 18 of Surah al-Jin saying that that mosques belong to God snd he concludes that the thief's hand should be cut from the place where she can prostrate in his or her prayer. Contrary to these views, In the 27th issue of the Qur'anic Teachings magazine (spring and summer 2017), an article entitled “Examination of the Interpretation of the Verse on the Limit of the Thief to the verse An al-Masājid lillāh” was published, and in it, criticisms are made on the reasoning of this narration. According to the authors of that article, the mentioned narrative does not include encouragement to use the Quran to interpret the Quran; Rather, it includes the expression of the divine decree based on the Imam's knowledge, and the mention of justifications based on the Qur'an itself for making the oppositions Silent. In the present article, we argue against the opinion of the authors of the mentioned article, and we defend that -- from the position of a Shia commentator -- the narration of Imam Javad (AS) is a defensible support for the method of interpreting the Qur'an by the Qur'an, and as a confirmation of the Shia Imams (AS)  on this method of interpretation.
Keywords
Interpretation of the Qur'an by Qur'an
Interpretive Narrations
Cut off the thief's hand
Quran: al-Jin/ 18
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  • Receive Date 22 September 2020
  • Revise Date 18 August 2022
  • Accept Date 09 June 2022