Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Jacob's Love for Joseph in Qurʾān 12:8, A Critical Review of Muslim Exegetical Literature

Document Type : Original article

Authors
Moḥsen Deymekār Garrāb 1
Sayyed Moḥammad SajjādīPūr 2
1 Associate professor in Quranic Exegesis, University of Quranic Theology and Awareness, Mashhad, Iran.
2 Master's student of Quranic Sciences, Quranic Sciences and Education University, Mashhad Qurʾān Teacher Training College.
Abstract
Qurʾān (12/8) mentions that Joseph's brothers accuse their father Jacob (AS) to show more attention toward Joseph, that is why they are jealous of him, and as we know this jealousy causes abundant difficulties in Joseph's life. In various interpretations of the Qurʾān, this report has been interpreted as saying that Jacob himself really discriminated between his children. Commentators have also given justifications to say that Jacob's behavior was moral. Therefore, it is questionable that to what extent the attributing such behavior to Jacob (AS) is justified and to what extent it can be supported based on Quranic evidence. The present study has been carried out with the aim of reviewing and criticizing these opinions and trying to understand this issue. By criticizing different interpretive opinions and showing the strengths and weaknesses of each one, we will defend this hypothesis that in the Holy Quran, Jacob (AS) is cleared of any accusation of discrimination against his children, and perhaps if a difference is felt between the children, It was rooted in the special family circumstances of Joseph (AS).
Keywords
al-ʿIṣma
ʿIṣma al-Anbīyāʾ
Discriminating Love
Yaqub (AS)
Yusuf (AS)
Qurʾān and morality
  • The Holy Qurʾān.
  • Abū Ḥamzi Thumālī, Thābit b. Dīnār, Tafsīr al-Qurān, Qom, Al-Hādī, 1420 AH.
  • ʿAlawī ʿĀmilī, Aḥmad b. Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, Laṭāʿif Ghaybīyya, Najaf, al-Maktaba al-Ḥaydarīyya, 1396 AH.
  • ʿĀyyāshī, Muḥammad b. Masʿūd, al-Tafsīr, Tehran, Islāmīyya, 1380 AH.
  • Faḍlullāh, Muḥammad Ḥusayn, Mīn Waḥy al-Qurʾān, Beirut, Dār al-Milāk, 1419 AH.
  • Fakhr al-Dīn Rāzī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb, Beirūt, Dār Iḥyā al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1420 AH.
  • Fayḍ Kāshānī, Muḥammad b. Murtaḍā, Al-Ṣāfī, Tehran, Ṣadr Press, 1415 AH.
  • Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, Akbar, Tafsīr Rahnamā, Qom, Būstān Ketāb, 1386 SAH.
  • Ibn Abī Ḥatim al-Rāzī, ʿAbdurraḥmān b. Muḥammad, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al‑ʿAẓīm, Asʿad Muḥammad Ṭayyib, Ṣaydā, al-Maktaba al-ʿAṣrīyya.
  • Ibn ʿĀṭīyya, ʿAbdulḥaq b. Ghālib, Al-Muḥarrar al-Wajīz, Beirūt, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1422 AH.
  • Ibn ʿĀdil, ʿUmar b. ʿAlī, Al-Lubāb, Beirut, Dar al-Kutub al‑ʿIlmīyya, 1998.
  • Makārīm Shīrāzī, Nāser, ‏Tafsīr Nemūne, Tehrān, Islāmiyya, 1371 SAH.
  • Māturīdī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad, Taʾwīlāt Ahl al-Sunnah, Beirūt, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1426 AH.
  • Moṭahharī, Murteḍā, Majmūʿe-ye Āthār, Tehrān, Ṣadrā.
  • Mughnīya, Muḥammad Jawād, Al-Kāshīf, Tehrān, Islāmīyya, 1424 AH.
  • Muqātil b. Sulaymān, Al-Tafsīr, ed. Aḥmad Farīd, Beirut, Dar al-Kutub al‑ʿIlmīyya, 2003.
  • Nahāwandī, Muḥammad, Nafaḥāt al-Raḥmān, Qom, al-Baʿtha, 1386 SAH.
  • Qerāʿatī, Moḥsen, Tafsīr Nūr, Tehrān, Cultural Centre of Lessons of the Qurʾān, 1388 SAH.
  • Qommī Mashhadī, Moḥammad b. Moḥammad Rezā, Kanz al-Daqāʾiq, ed. Mujtabā ʿIrāqī, Qom, Jamāʿa al-Mudarrisīn, 1407 AH.
  • Rezāyī Esfehanī, Muḥammad ‘Ālī, Manteq-e Tafsīr-e Qurʾān, Qom, Jāmiā al‑Musṭafā, 1395 SAH.
  • Shāh ʿAbdul ʿAẓīmī, Ḥoseyn, Tafsīr Ithnā ʿAsharī, Tehrān, Mīqāt, 1363 SAH.
  • Subḥānī, Jaʿfar, ʿIṣmat al-Anbīyāʾ, Qom, Imam Ṣādiq Institute, 1425 AH.
  • Ṭabarsī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan, Majmaʿ al-Bayān, Tehran, Naser Khosrow, 1372 SAH.
  • ـــــــــــــــــــJawāmiʿ al-Jāmiʿ, Qom, Ḥawza ʿIlmīuya, 1412 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāyī, Moḥammad Hoseyn, Al-Mīzān, Qom, ʿEsmāʿīlīyān, 1392 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan, Al-Tibyān, Beirut, Amīra Publication, 1413 AH.
  • Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd b. ʿŪmar, Al-Kashshāf, Beirut, Dār al-Kītāb al-ʿArabī, 1407 AH.
  • Zuḥaylī, Wahba, Al-Tafsīr Al-Wasīṭ, Damascus, Dār al-Fikr, 1422 AH.
Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis
Volume 2, Issue 1 - Serial Number 3
August 2021
Pages 89-109

  • Receive Date 08 February 2020
  • Revise Date 27 May 2022
  • Accept Date 09 June 2022