COMMENTARY STUDIES
Year:2018 | Volume:9 | Issue:33 |Papers Count:10

A survey of the Qur'anic verses and commentaries make it clear that some verses carry deeper and broader concept and demand further study. One of these verses is: And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four. The relationship between the condition and its following sentential part in the verse, the claim of distortion of the Qur'an as mentioned under the verse in Tabarsi`s Al-Ihtijaj, vujub or istihbabe marriage and meaning of justice in the verse, etc have been among the subjects attracting commentators` much notable attention. The most probable view of the relationship between the condition and its following part in the verse is that (ye) marry should be taken as the sentential part following conditional sentence. The narration mentioned concerning the distortion of the Qur'an, due to its conflict with the verses of the Qur'an and other narratives is also rejected. Again, command to marriage in the verse does not mean necessity of it, but it seems to be recommended. Finally, the justice at hand in the verse, according to the pure`s sayings, is financial justice, and, therefore, there may not be found any contradiction with the verse 129 of this chapter which makes it impossible to establish emotional justice among women.

As the order of the verses of the Quran in chapters may not be considered changeable, the relation and agreement of the Divine Names with the meanings of the verses may not be doubted and, contrary to what said by opponents, their occurrence at the end of the verses is wisely and reasonable. Exact consideration in the Divine Names at the ends of the verses of Anfal, their link with the same verse, the previous verse and the next and with the whole meaning of some verses and the content of the whole chapter is clearly explained. The central issue of Anfal is jihad for God and the unseen Divine helps to believers, the Divine Names at the Ends are also of a meaningful relation with it. For example, the Names of Aziz and Hakim are repeated four times throughout the verses of this surah and refers to the fact that the Almighty God has helped his mujahid believers in accordance to His Wisdom; the Name shdid al-iqab has been repeated four times in this sura, which in some cases threatens obstinate unbelievers and, in some cases, warns believers that Divine assistance is limited. Two Names of Sami` and Alim have also come four times, and it is apparent that God is hearing the sound of the plea for the somber mujahid, and He will be aware of their truthfulness and sincerity and will treat them in accordance with the intentions and amount of sincerity and their steadfastness. Because the virtue of the Almighty God is the reward of the steadfast.

In the ontology presented by the Quran, existence is known as a truth of gradation, essential order and inseparability so that its lower grades are degraded and exemplified orders from its higher grades. The latter are known as the unseen qualified with stability, unchangeable nature and longitudinal relation of absoluteness and limitation; the reality that descends from high grade as manifestation. The Holy Quran, as the manifestation and appearance of the knowledge of God, the Exalted, also has such an identity; the Qur'an, therefore, has a material and visible existence and, at the same time, a lighted and invisible existence of which the latter is known as the essence of the holy Quran, the fact being of grades. Such phrases: Umm ul-kitab, kita ul-maknoon, louhi mahfuz and kitab um-mobin in the Holy Quran refer to each of these levels. This research seeks to explain the principle of the Quran's state of being gradational on the basis of reasonable and traditional proofs with an emphasis on Allamah Tabatabai's exegetic view.

Surah Yusuf contains valuable points in the field of religious articles of faith, morality and education. Among the statements used in the surah is: I seek refuge in Allah! Lo! He is my Lord, Who hath treated me honorably; is in the verse 23 quoted by the Prophet Yusuf (a) in response to the evil demand of Zulaykha. By such a statement in response to her deman, the Prophet has based his refusal on a powerful reasoning. The name referred to by innahu and the thing referred to by rabbi have been a subject of dispute among the translators and commentators of the Quran; they are often in one of the three modes of: returning the pronoun ana to the Aziz of Egypt, returning it to God or presenting vague and ambiguous translation. Studying forty translations and about eighty commentaries comparatively, giving the translations and commentaries in a new and exact classification and relying on Ayatollah Meshkini`s translation and Ibn Ashur`s commentary, this paper supports the views knowing the pronoun in innahu as returning to the Aziz of Egypt and God both. It has taken the usuli basis for using a single word in more than one meaning as an evidence.

The holy Qur'an`s attending to the subject of hijab, like most social subjects, is in a gradual way and based on a sociological basis. God, the Almighty, having explained natural and fundamental problems of hijab and preparing appropriate cultural ground and making a reference to a lawful relation between man and woman as guarding one`s modesty and eye, attends to the how and limit of hijab. One of the most important verses in the field is 31 of Noor light, which describes women`s lawful dressing in detail. Despite numerous interpretations, due to the absoluteness of some of its words, lack of exact examples and contrary traditions the verse has been disputed, especially in the recent centuries due to the prevalence of Western culture and a different view on women. Some view common interpretations of the verse critically and give contrary ideas in the field. Regarding various comments, demurs and the traditions of the subject, the paper has studied the verse.

The Prophet's position as an example for humanity, as well as the authority of his speech and deed, and his taqrir, may not be in agreement with his being enchanted by Labid Ibn A`sam, a Jewish, as mentioned in some traditions. The problem of the Prophet`s being enchanted has entered into interpretive discussions through some traditions. Muslim scholars and commentators, with regard to their different religious views, sources and principles, have given various views in the field. Among Sunni commentators, there may be found two views on Sihr an-Nnabi; one is like that of most Shia commentators on which Sihr-an-Nnabi is opposed to the Qur'an and infallibility, they refute these narrations and the other is the view accepting influence of Sihr on the Prophet (s). Criticizing the second view, one may say that the Prophet's being enchanted as being in agreement with disbelievers` sayings and opposite to the holy Quran and the Prophet`s purity as well as documentary failures may not be agreed with. Such being the case, one may not agree with those viewing the Prophet`s body, not His spirit, influenced with magic either.

There are various views on what meant by the word zinat in the verses 31-32 of A`Araf among commentators. Some have viewed the verses as agreeing with lucidity or as its being recommended in prayer. Regarding various aspects of the verses and the traditions of the field, one may conclude that lucidity is not meant by the verses; they may be taken as referring to clear and white dress when worshipping. As understood, it is better for prayers to use their best dresses in religious ceremonies; needless to say, one is not permitted to use the dress for reputation. In addition to apparel, the worshiper must have spiritual adorements in his prayers, especially in the mosque. Dress of piety, ethics, perceiving divine presence and the like are from the devices of prayer that the worshiper must take care of in prayer.

The history of the prophets` life indicates that all of them have followed the same plans to invite people to the principles, without any difference. When a prophet revealed his invitation with some reasons, his addressed people were divided into believers and disbelievers. Belief is a matter of gradation in weakness and strength. Some grades of belief may be somehow mixed up with some kind of hidden idolatry. According to religious teachings, the criterion believers` existential grading and promoting lies in righteous and Divinely satisfied deeds; that is, belief and righteous action may be complement with regard to each other. The goodness and merit of one`s action as well as its agent`s righteousness are based on one`s grade of belief, and again, belief leads to the strength of belief. A Muslim always lives in the grades of Islam and faith. Comprehensively defined, disbelief is denial of Divinity, monotheism, prophecy, and a necessity of religion as such. This study has sought to analyze the grades of belief and disbelief and to examine the misleading definitions of belief and its relationship with action during the history of Islam and its effect in appearance of such groups as Kharijites, Murjieh, Mu'tazilites and Ash'arites, and attempts to discover the most important deviation in the views during the early days and centuries of Islam in the field.

One essential doubt of the orientalist lies in the claim knowing the Quran as taking materials from the Old Testament and the New Testament. One reason for the claim is the similarities found between the Qur'an and the Testaments, some of which have been manifested in the stories mentioned in the Quran's and in the Old Testament. Studying the commentary of the stories in the two books comparatively and perceiving the differences, one will find the truth as being contrary to the claim. One common story of the two is that on which the children of Israel have demanded God to send them a king and so did He. The king is named Talut in the Quran and Saul in the Old Testament. In this story, there is little similarity and numerous dissimilarities between the Qur'anic verses and what said in the Old Testament. The style of the Quranic statement and stories differs from that in the Old Testament; in addition, there may not be found any sanctity for prophets and great figures in it. The Qur'an considers knowledge, expertise, ability and physical power as necessary for a religious leader; the Old Testament, however, regards physical strength to be necessary only. Interpretative narratives and the expressions of commentaries of the story may be viewed similar in some cases and different in some others.

Interpretation defined as revealing the face of the words and sentences of the Quranic verses, has methods including the method of Quran to Quran commentary. In this way, some people do not need to use narrations in the interpretation of verses by claiming the adequacy of the Quran to express their meanings. Among the Shia's commentaries, one claiming its being relied on this method is that of Tasnim. In this commentary, counted as a complement of al-Mizan, the author, separating the narrative part of the commentary section, has tried to use the verses themselves in finding the meanings and intentions of the verses, on this basis, the author has been counted among those believing in sufficiency of the Quran in commentary. A review of the commentary, however, would make it clear that the author may not be regarded as those believing in the Quran`s sufficiency in commentary. The reason lies in the fact that the author in the sections other than those of traditions and remarks, in cases has used traditions also. Such an action may be regarded as a breach of the method. The breach cases often have occurred in finding the extensions and intentions of the ambiguous words.