Journal of Hadith Studies
Year:2013 | Volume:4 | Issue:8|Papers Count:11

Esoteric meaning of the Quran has long been investigated by Shia and Sunni researchers. Although encountering some changes, esoteric interpretation of the Quran has more or less survived among Muslims. Along the history of Imamite interpretation, some interpreter s applied narrations of the Prophet's household in order to refer to the esoteric meaning of Quranic verses. But there are few books containing all these traditions. However, some non-Shia experts argue that “An Introduction to Mirat-al-Anwar wa Mishkat-al-Asrar” by Abul Hasan Sharif ‘Ameli Esfahani (12th century) might be “esoteric interpretation” written by Shia scholars. They consider it a significant reference which signifies Shia’s attention to esoteric meaning. The present article is an introduction to this book and its author, along with an investigation of the aforementioned claim. The results indicate that the author observes both exoteric and esoteric meaning of the Quran.Instead of being a complete esoteric interpretation of Quran, This work includes some traditions about the esoteric meaning of some Quranic verses. As the book is not so renowned among Shia scholars, it couldn’t be their interpretive reference. Meanwhile, this study has revealed that Mirat-al-Anwar wa Mishkat-al-Asrar is not an introduction to Tafsir al-Burhan.

Mohammad Ibn Sanan is a companion of three Imams: Kadhim, Reza and Javad. In Four Books, there are 969 narrations quoted by him which make him one of the famous Shia narrators. Scholars have contradictory ideas about him; some undermine his status and argue that each hadith which contain his name in its chain of document is invalid and non-attributable. On the other hand, some experts refer to his behavior and his companionship with Imams and great followers, the outstanding narrators’ attempts to use his narrations, the various topics of his narrations in books and Shite corpus of hadith, and some traditions in his praise, all of which made him an acceptable figure. Accordingly, they conclude that the claim about Ibn Sanan's low scientific and religious status is doubtful. The present study is an attempt to look at evidences and documents about Ibn Sanan from realistic point of view.Along with clarifying his truth and authenticity, this article aims at evaluating the traditions narrated by him.

The school of Tafkik (separation) argues that religious knowledge and human science, especially philosophy and mysticism, are two detached areas. This school has some views about the interpretation of Quran and the role of tradition on it which is required to be investigated and analyzed. Although this school refers to Ijtihadi approach as a legitimate method in interpretation, it rejects this claim in different ways and emphasize on the pivotal role of hadith and tradition when interpreting Quran. Compared to hadiths, other sources of interpretation such as intellect, lexis, literature and even Quranic verses have a secondary role. The present study focuses on the fact that separation school’s use of transmitted reasons in order to prove intellectual subjects, including the discussion about certainty, is one of its instances. The authority of Quran and certainty are also proved beside tradition. This article investigates and criticizes the seperationists’ perspectives on the role of tradition in interpretation of Quran.

Some narrations are assumed to apply Toriya to avoid absolute lies. They also attribute the use of half-truth to the prophets. However, analysis of content and document of mentioned narrations, along with analyzing relevant verses in the Quran and defining an acceptable criterion to distinguish truths from lies, show that half-truth is false. Regarding religious beliefs, it is considered to be forbidden in normal situations. Nevertheless, it is allowed in the case of necessity. The present study argues about the reasons and evidences of this commandment and criticizes the logics behind arguments of those who prescribe half-truth. As a result, two significant points are elucidated: First, it is found out that there is no evidence to prove that prophets utilized half-truth. The second conclusion of this article is that half-truth is not required to be applied in the case of necessity.

Tasneem, the Holy Quran interpretation, is a comprehensive and contemporary exegesis that approaches the Holy Quran with a multilateral perspective. Moreover, the moral character and comprehensive knowledge of the writer necessitate more attention to this unique exegesis. The interpreter has endeavored to present a pure Quranic exegesis, yet narration has been used extensively in his exegesis. In this article we examined the specific approaches of the interpreter towards narrations used for Quranic exegesis and his methods of critique and analysis in two fields of narration and critique of the content. Ayatollah Javadi Amoli has referred to the sayings of the infallible Imams (PBUT), only for clarification and not for finding the original meaning because the Quran itself is self-explanatory. Additionally, reviewing documentations and analysis of narration-content based on the criteria of jurisprudence of hadith are significant points in identifying methodology related to different aspects of narration being used in this exegesis.

The so called the traditions of distortion, the ambiguity in the history of codification of the Holy Quran, the traditions likening the major events in the Islamic nation to the events of past nations and also the fact that the names of the infallible Imams are not mentioned in the Holy Quran are the most important reasons which lead in the claim that Quran might be distorted. Out of these reasons, the traditions which apparently indicate the distortion in the Holy Quran are mostly required to be studied. In this regard, more than thousand traditions are narrated in the different books and ascribed to Shia Imams. Among those books, Ayyashi exegesis is principally significant. Regardless of the previous documental studies, the present paper attempts to study traditions of distortion in Ayyashi exegesis from the textual point of view. At the first step all those traditions extracted from the book are almost 90 traditions. Then the areas of conflict in the traditions are elaborated on. Finally after exact investigation of all extracted traditions, the ultimate categorizations of them are presented. The content evidences, the context of traditions, the outer text evidences and the sayings of Islamic scholars are focused in this research. The results indicate that in the Ayyashi exegesis from the 90 traditions which were claimed to be the traditions of distortion only two traditions implied the distortion in the Quran. Thus the accusation against Ayyashi is rejected.

One of the research methods being applied in the Quranic studies is traditional method. The present paper studies traditional method and evaluates the authority of exegetical hadiths. Initially, the writer refers to the three secondary methods of evaluating hadith; namely, assessment of the Sanad or chain of transmitters, and content and the cause of a hadith. Then, he studies the views of exegetes and experts such as Allamah Tabatabai and Ayatullah Hadi Ma‘rifat saying that in the exegetical hadith, the top priority is given to the content of a hadith rather than its chain of transmitters or the cause it is issued for. According to 44th verse of al-Nahl in the Quran, Ayatullah Ma‘rifat points at the validity of the prophetic traditions. Moreover, based on Hadith al-Thaqalian which argues that “two weighty and precious things are Quran and the progeny of the prophet”, he draws attention to the authoritative status of his progeny' s traditions too. But in regard with the narrations transmitted by the companions of the Prophet or the followers of his companions, he accepts the authority of their narrations in lexical meanings and in the occasions of the revelation only if their accounts meet the standard measures. Moreover, he touches the kinds of exegetical narrations and believes that the frequently narrated narrations and those narrations which are accompanied by various evidences are valid in the exegesis of the Quran. But concerning to the sound (Sahih) narrations which are narrated by only one but trusty transmitter, he puts forth the experts' views and finally accepts it as normal information which also seems valid in the interpretation of the Quran. However, he avoids accepting the authority of the narrations that are quoted by only one but unreliable reporter. Allamah Tabatabai and Ayatullah Ma‘rifat are of the view that if such narrations are accompanied with rich contexts and significant evidences, they can also be valid in interpretation of the Quran.

Journey, especially for the sake of pilgrimage, is supposed to be a significant part of religious life. From religious perspective, when your religious and mundane life is in danger, it is not recommended to stay in one place. Almost 30 verses in Quran appreciate world and ego trip and also command people to learn from their travelling experiences and lessons. Furthermore, there are many hadiths about traveling rites, effects, results, and different kinds of traveling. Few hadiths call some types of journey into question the most significant of which being about pilgrimage. The hadith is interpreted in different ways, especially in Sunni sources. According to the appearance of this hadith, “One should take a religious journey to only three mosques”, People may travel only to three mosques (the Sacred Mosque, Prophet’s Mosque and Al-Aqsa Mosque). Some scholars argue that regarding this hadith, people are not allowed to travel to other mosques and places. Examining this hadith and investigating different semantic possibilities and evidences about this hadith, the present study proves the lack of enough evidence for it. Moreover, the consequences of this study confirm that even if there were enough evidences to prove the accuracy of this hadith, it shows the advantage and priority of these three mosques over others instead of rejecting benefits of other journeys.

Allame Tabatabaii has paid special attention to applying narrations in the interpretations of the Holy Quran. In his famous interpretation of Quran, Allame Tabatabaii posed the issue of "narrative debates".Through assessing the narrations from fiqh al - hadith perspective and investigating the supply of narrations on the interpretation of Holy Quran with regard to the rule of context, he analyzed the reviews and critiques of exegetes' jurisprudence on the use of narrations in order to interpret Quran. Accordingly, he has rejected or criticized the exegetes' jurisprudence in many cases, such as the incompatibility of narrations with the verse because of the internal evidence of the verse, regarding verses sent down in Mecca or Medina, the incompatibility of the narration with a verse, the incompatibility of narration with the expression of the notion in the verse context, and so on. Instead, he has confirmed exegetes’ jurisprudence to use narrations correctly in a few cases such as the compatibility of the narration with the verse in the context of a particular term, the compatibility of the narration with the verse in the context of the meaning of phrases and sentences, the consistency of the narration with the verse in the interpretation of the verses, and so forth. Relying on the rule of context, the present paper aimed at reviewing and analyzing methods of Allame Tabatabaii.

Abu Al-Hasan Ali ibn Ebrahim Qomi (born in 307AH) is one of the most eminent hadith narrators. The Shiite experts have verified his trusteeship. The exegesis attributed to him which is now accessible for all, includes points that is not in accordance with his scientific status. According to the authors of the present article, in this exegesis there are some forged narrations which stand on exaggerators’ ideas. This claim is supported by finding some exaggerators, accused of making narrations, which are assumed to be references of several narrations in his work. It is supposed that the content of this exegesis is not endorsed by celebrated scholars such as Shaykh Tusi (born in 460AH). In his exegesis, Shaykh Tusi has not cited from this exegesis. The present article argues about the validity of this book and investigates exaggerators’ role and their influence on it.