Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Unified Interpretative Readings within Multiple Discourses: A Case Study of Q 2:251

Document Type : Original article

Author
Seyedeh Hanieh Momen
PhD in Qurʾān and Hadith Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
10.22034/naghdeara.2025.486226.1253
Abstract
Recently, Qur’anic studies have increasingly focused on the role of discourses as non-cognitive (subconscious) factors influencing the understanding and interpretation of Qur’anic verses. Scholars often regard discourses as a force driving semantic differences and exegetical transformations across history. However, the impact of discourses on cases where exegetical opinions exhibit similarity and unity has remained largely unexplored.
This study examines the reading of governmental conflict (Tadafu‘ Hukumi) regarding the Qur’anic phrase "Wa Lawla Daf‘ Allah Al-Nas Ba‘dahum Bi-Ba‘d," aiming to demonstrate that discourses not only play a pivotal role in exegetical transformations but also contribute to the emergence and propagation of unified interpretations over time. The primary objective is to explore the role of discourses in shaping unified exegetical readings throughout history.
This research seeks to answer three key questions: First, when did the governmental conflict reading of the studied phrase first emerge? Second, in which historical periods did this interpretation gain traction among exegetes? Third, what factors contributed to the emergence and dissemination of this unified reading over different epochs?
Given the centrality of content analysis in this research, the chosen methodology is discourse analysis, which fundamentally examines the context in which a text is produced, its audience, and its creator. The term "discourse analysis" was first introduced by Zellig Harris in 1952 in the field of linguistics. Although initially confined to linguistic studies, discourse analysis has evolved into a qualitative methodology widely employed in social sciences and humanities. It extends beyond lexical description to uncover underlying linguistic patterns, exploring the relationship between language, society, and situational contexts.
The findings of this study indicate that the recurrence of a specific interpretation across distinct historical periods does not necessarily signify the continuity of a single discourse but may instead stem from the influence of differing discourses over time. A notable example is the governmental conflict interpretation of the phrase "Wa Lawla Daf‘ Allah Al-Nas Ba‘dahum Bi-Ba‘d," which has evolved under various political and social conditions throughout history.
Keywords
Interpretation
reading
discourse
Were it Not for Allah’s Repelling the People by means of One Another

Subjects

  • The Holy Qurʾān.
  • Abū Zahrah, Muḥammad, Zahrat al-Tafāsīr, Beirut, Dār al-Fikr, n.d. [Arabic].
  • ʿAḍdānlu, Ḥamīd, “An Introduction to Discourse or a Discourse About Discourse”, Political and Economic Information, Volume 11, Issues 103 and 104, Spring 1375 SH [Persian].
  • Afḍal Ābādī, Muḥsin, The Role of Belief in the Evaluation of Narrators from the Perspective of Ahl al-Sunnah, Tehran, Nashr-e Mashʿar, 1394 SH [Persian].
  • Akahwān Kāẓimī, Bahrām, “Criticism and Evaluation of Secular Views on the Prophetic Government”, Islamic Government, Volume 11, Issue 42, Winter 1385 SH [Persian].
  • Āl Ghāzī, ʿAbd al-Qādir, Bayān al-Maʿānī, Damascus, Maṭbaʿat al-Taraqqī, 1382 SH [Arabic].
  • ʿAlavī Mehr, Ḥusayn, Introduction to the History of Tafsīr and Commentators, Qom, International Center for Islamic Sciences, 1384 SH [Persian].
  • ʿAlīzādah, Ḥasan, Specialized Dictionary of Political Science (Including All Terms Ending in “-ism"), Tehran, Rowzneh, 1377 SH [Persian].
  • Ālūsī, Maḥmūd ibn ʿAbd Allāh, Rūḥ al-Maʿānī fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm wa al-Sabʿ al-Mathānī, Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyah, 1415 AH [Arabic].
  • ʿAmīd Zanjānī, ʿAbbāsʿAlī, Principles of Constitutional Law, Tehran, Majd, 1387 SH [Persian].
  • ʿĀmilī, Ibrāhīm, Tafsīr-i ʿĀmilī, Tehran, Ṣadūq Bookstore, 1360 SH [Persian].
  • Aṣgharī, Samīrā, A Model for Reading the Holy Qurʾān Based on the Analysis of “Bayān” in Tafsīr al-Mīzān, Master’s Thesis in Qurʾānic Interpretation and Sciences, Āyat Allāh Ḥāʾirī University, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, 1397 SH [Persian].
  • Bahramī, Muḥammad, “Understanding and Interpretation in the View of ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī (A Comparative Look at Hermeneutics)” Qurʾānic Research, Volume 18, Issue 71, Fall 1391 SH [Persian].
  • Balādhurī, Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā, Ansāb al-Ashrāf, Beirut, al-Maʿhad al-Almānī lil-Abḥāth al-Sharqīyah, 1429 AH [Arabic].
  • Bashīr, Ḥasan, The Application of Discourse Analysis in Understanding Religious Texts, Tehran, Daftar-e Nashr-e Farhang-e Islāmī, 1395 SH [Persian].
  • Dehkhodā, ʿAlī Akbar, Lughat-Nāmah, Tehran, University of Tehran, 1390 SH [Persian].
  • Dehqānī Fārsānī, Yūnas, The Role of Discourse in Understanding Narrations Regarding “The Best Deed Is Awaiting Relief”, PhD Thesis in Qurʾānic Studies and Hadith, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, 1394 SH [Persian].
  • Faḍl Allāh, Hādī, Muḥammad Jawād Mughniyah: Thought and Reform, Beirut, Dār al-Hādī, 1413 AH [Arabic].
  • Gherāmī, Sayyid Muḥammad Hādī, “Considerations on the Discourse of Delegation in the Early Centuries of Islam”, Imamate Studies, Volume 1, Issue 4, Winter 1390 SH [Persian].
  • Ḥājlī, ʿAlī, “Foucault, Discourse, and Discourse Analysis”, Cultural and Communication Studies, Volume 12, Issue 42, Spring 1395 SH [Persian].
  • Ḥaqqī Burūsawī, Ismāʿīl ibn Muṣṭafā, Tafsīr Rūḥ al-Bayān, Beirut, Dār al-Fikr, 1330 AH [Arabic].
  • Ḥaydar, Asad, Al-Imām al-Ṣādiq wa al-Madhāhib al-Arbaʿah, Beirut, Dār al-Taʿāruf lil-Maṭbūʿāt, 1422 AH [Arabic].
  • Ibn ʿAjībah, Aḥmad, Al-Baḥr al-Madīd, Cairo, Ḥasan ʿAbbās Zakī, 1419 AH [Arabic].
  • Iskandarī, Ḥasan, “Violence in the Name of Religion Among the Early Hanbalis”, Collection of Papers from the International Congress on Extremist and Takfīrī Movements from the Perspective of Islamic Scholars, Qom, Dār al-Iʿlām li-Madrasat Ahl al-Bayt (ʿalayhim al-salām), 1393 SH [Persian].
  • ʿItratdūst, Muḥammad, “Application of Discourse Analysis in Understanding Religious Texts and Their Contexts”, Qurʾānic and Hadith Studies, Volume 14, Issue 28, Spring and Summer 1400 SH [Persian].
  • Mīrzāʾī, ʿAbbās, “The Decline of Muʿtazilite Thought: The Legacy of the Conflict Between Ḥadīth Scholars and Muʿtazilah”, Haft Āsmān, Volume 14, Issue 54, Summer 1391 SH [Persian].
  • Morovvatī, Suhrāb, Research on the History of Qurʾānic Tafsīr (First Islamic Century), Tehran, Ramz, 1381 SH [Persian].
  • Mughniyah, Muḥammad Jawād, Al-Tafsīr al-Kāshif, Qom, Dār al-Kitāb al-Islāmī, 1424 AH [Arabic].
  • Mughniyah, Muḥammad Jawād, In the Shadows of Nahj al-Balāghah, Translated by Muḥammad Jawād Maʿmūrī, Qom, Dār al-Kitāb al-Islāmī, 1387 SH [Persian].
  • Muḥammadī Reyshahrī, Muḥammad, Leadership in Islam, Tehran, Dār al-Ḥadīth Research Institute, n.d. [Persian].
  • Muntaẓir Qāʾim, Mahdī and Yādgārī, Muḥammad Ḥasan, “A Conceptual-Theoretical Model for Critical Rhetorical Reading”, Jāmiʿah, Farhang va Rasānah, Volume 5, Issue 18, Spring 1395 SH [Persian].
  • Muṭahharī, Morteḍā, Theology, Mysticism, and Practical Wisdom, Tehran, Ṣadrā, n.d. [Persian].
  • Nīrī, Muḥammad Yūsuf, “al-Ḥiikmah al-Maʿṣūmiyyah al-Ilāhiyya”, Pazhūhishhā-yi Adab-i ʿIrfānī, Volume 1, Issue 4, 1386 SH [Persian].
  • Niyrīzī, Muḥammad, A Political Treatise on the Analysis of the Causes of the Fall of the Ṣafavid Government and Its Restoration to Power, Qom, Public Library of Marʿashī Najafī, 1371 SH [Persian].
  • Pareyson, Luigi, Truth and Interpretation, New York, State University of New York, 2005.
  • Quddūsī-Zādah, Ḥasan, Political and Cultural Terminology, Qom, Daftar-e Nashr-e Maʿārif, 1390 SH [Persian].
  • Qūnawī, Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad, Commentary on al-Bayḍāwī’s Tafsīr, Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyah, 1422 AH [Arabic].
  • Ṣafarī, ʿAbbās, A Study of Narrative Tafsīr in the Third and Fourth Islamic Centuries, Master’s Thesis in Qurʾānic Sciences and Hadith, University of Īlām, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, 1396 SH [Persian].
  • Sayf, Yūnas, “A Discussion on Mysticism and Sufism During the Literary Revival”, ʿAllāmah, Volume 9, Issue 31, Spring and Summer 1390 SH [Persian].
  • Sayyid Turābī Maḥmūdābād, Sayyid Ḥasan and Dhākirī, Aḥmad, “Foundations of Asceticism and Mysticism in the Thought of Ḥasan Baṣrī”, Islamic Mysticism, Volume 7, Issue 25, Summer 1389 SH [Persian].
  • Shahrastānī, ʿAlī, The Names of Caliphs Among the Children of the Imams, Qom, Dalīl-i Mā [Persian].
  • Sulṭānī, Sayyid ʿAlī Aṣghar, “Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method” Political Science, Volume 7, Issue 28, Winter 1383 SH [Persian].
  • Ṭabarānī, Sulaymān ibn Aḥmad, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm, Irbid, Dār al-Kitāb al-Thaqāfī, 2008 CE [Arabic].
  • Ṭabarī, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān, Beirut, Dār al-Maʿrifah, 1412 AH [Arabic].
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn, Al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Translated by Sayyid Muḥammad Bāqir Mūsawī Hamadānī, Qom, Office of Islamic Publications Affiliated with the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary, 1378 SH [Persian].
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan, Al-Tibyān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d. [Arabic].
  • ʿUbaydī, Khālid Fāyiq, Economics and Society, Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyah, 1426 AH [Arabic].
  • Uṭfīsh, Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf, Taysīr al-Tafsīr, Oman, Sultanate of Oman, 1425 AH [Arabic].
  • Wāʿiẓī, Aḥmad, Theory of Text Interpretation, Qom, Ḥawzah and University Research Institute, 1397 SH [Persian].

Zaydān, Jurjī, The History of Islamic Civilization, Translated by ʿAlī Jawāhir Kalām, Tehran, Amīr Kabīr, 1372 SH [Persian].

  • Receive Date 09 December 2024
  • Revise Date 27 January 2025
  • Accept Date 28 January 2025