JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE TAFSIR STUDIES
Year:2020 | Volume:6 | Issue:1 (11)|Papers Count:12

The divine assistance is given to the faithful Muslims through various ways by the will of God and it leads to the astonishment of all people. This assistance relies on some principles mentioned in the Qur’, an such as faith in God, obedience to the divine commands, definite trust in God and His divine promises, decisiveness and persistence for doing pure acts, and finally the divine traditions that exist in all times and places. Using descriptive analysis, the present study aims to delve deep into the subject of divine assistance. A monotheistic look at human history reveals that when faithful Muslims take action relying on the above principles, they can leave the obstacles and arduous challenges behind. Imam Khomeini himself conducted his measures from the beginning of Islamic revolution in Iran with reliance on the above principles and periodically used to emphasize on them in his speeches. People in the world have of course witnessed the real impact of those principles because when the victory of Islamic revolution seemed unlikely at the time of Pahlavi regime that was dominant in Iran as a stable Island, the divine and unseen assistance of God as well as the efforts of the leader and Iranian people who trusted in God and His definite promises to assist the believers against the enemies could defeat the former regime to the astonishment of World Arrogance. Therefore, people could choose their favorite government as a result of divine will and the fulfillment of one of the great traditions of God to give victory to those who aim to assist the religion of God with their pure actions.

“, Tasnim”,by Allameh Javadi Amoli and “, al-Manar”,by Rashid Riza are two seminal exegeses of the Qur’, an in Shi’, ism and Sunnism respectively. These two exegetical books originate from two different intellectual and ideological sources though they have rather common methods and styles due to considerable overlap between the above books. However, al-Manar’, s interpretation of the circumstances of revelation and evidences related to the verse of al-Mubahalah are criticized by Allameh Javadi in his book, Tasnim. The authors in this study aim to analytically examine the methodological approach of the above commentators on the aforementioned verse. The results of the study show that al-Manar has adopted a biased and partial approach to the event of al-Mubahalah and has vividly distanced from Sunni commentators, narrators, historians, and even Sahiban-i Sahhah to prioritize the ideas of ibn Taymiah over those of other Sunni characters. Therefore, Allameh Javadi Amoli basically rejects the ideas and methods of Rashid Riza in this regard as well as his inappropriate tendencies and prejudice.

The Qur’, anic scholars and researchers have always paid special attention to the relevance and harmony of the chapters in the Qur’, an and whether their chronological order is based on revelation (Towqifi) or the independent reasoning (Ijtihadi). There are various views in this regard,some commentators such as Seyed Murtaza and Ayatollah Khoyi believe that the current chronological order of the Qur’, anic chapters is based on the arrangement received at the time of Holy Prophet (PBUH) but many other researchers hold that this chronological order is based on the arrangement of the Prophet’, s companions. In this regard, some commentators believe that with regard to numerous evidence for the first view, they cannot admit the second one as an absolute viewpoint. Therefore, they adopt a classification approach and based on the existing documents, they say that the chronological sequence of most of the Qur’, anic chapters is based on revelation while some limited ones based on the reasoning of the Prophet’, s companions. The present study aims to analyze the perspective of those scholars who believe the chorological order of the chapters is based on revelation and it goes beyond the conducted research up to now to critically analyzes the viewpoints in this regard. This article attempts to introduce those scholars who attribute the chronological order of the Qur’, anic chapters to revelation. Accurate research on the ideas of this group of scholars is significant as it can pave the way for the further research of those who seek the truth. Hope this research article can take a step towards the clarification of truths embedded in the Qur’, anic science.

One of the eminent prophets whose name is mentioned in several Qur’, an verses is Prophet Job (PBUH). Some controversial issues related to this holy prophet have been raised in Sunni and Shi’, ite exegeses,for instance, the interpretations regarding the 44th verse of Surah “, Sad”, . By using the descriptive and analytical method, the present study aims to critically review the Sunni and Shi’, ite exegetical views on the interpretation of the 44th verse of Surah “, Sad”, . The results of the study indicate that 2 important arguments about this Qur’, anic verse are under discussion between Sunni and Shi’, ite scholars and commentators: first, the reason of swear and the person who is hit,second, the jurisprudential usage of the verse. As for the first argument, the interpretation of the verse points to the swear of Prophet Job (PBUH) to hit his wife and the punishment mitigation ordered by God but the purpose of swear by the Prophet and his wife’, s fault are not explicitly mentioned for the sake of respect and decency. As for the potential of jurisprudential usage of the verse, the Islamic jurists and commentators have proposed 4 jurisprudential perceptions including “, the punishment of a sick adulteress”, , “, the swear of a master to punish his servant”, , “, hitting a wife who is not obstinately disobedient”, , and “, the permission of religious deceit”, . There are various fallacies against all the above interpretations indicating that the circumstances in this verse relate to a particular condition specially for the case of Prophet Job (PBUH) so it does not involve other religions or persons.

Rij’, at (Return) is one of the controversial arguments between the Islamic sects,the Shi’, ites believe in the return to life of some believers and unbelievers (despite their physical death) after the appearance of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) and before the Day of Judgement while the Sunnis reject this belief. Those who believe in the Rij’, at, in order to prove its feasibility, make a reference to the return of the dead to life among former communities through miracles such as raising the dead by Jesus Christ. They hold that the Rij’, at will also occur in Akhir al-Zaman (End of the World) as there are various Qur’, anic evidences such as the 55th verse of Surah an-Noor. In this holy verse, God has promised that the saints will ultimately overcome the world and make a government. The present study aims to review the exegetical ideas of Sunni and Shi’, ite commentators in the interpretation of this verse and the results show that according to the evidences in the holy verse and the Ahadith, the Rij’, at is inferred.

There are some traditions in Sunni and Shi’, ite sources on the 7th verse of Surah al-Ra’, d that are notable in terms of numerous different perspectives in this regard while there has been no comparative research on this subject yet. To this aim, the present study uses descriptive analysis to deal with the comparative study of the existing evidences in Sunni and Shi’, ite traditions in the first 5 Hijri centuries. In this regard, only the traditions that introduce Imam Ali (PBUH) and then the following Imams as the guide after the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) are in agreement with the stylistics of the verse, Qur’, anic terminology, and comprehensiveness. However, those Sunni traditions that introduce merely Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali as the guides are true for those given ages.

In semantical discussions about the Noble Qur’, an, style as a genuine discourse connotation has special significance and conveys meaning through verbal, contextual, and rational evidences. Sheikh Abulfotouh Razi has paid attention to styles in the understanding the meaning of Qur’, anic verses in Rawz al-Jinan. He has focused on connected verbal styles including prior (Muqaddam), subsequent (Mu’, akhar), and enveloping (Muktanif) evidences as well as discrete styles or “, the Qur’, an to the Qur’, an”,methods. He has also concentrated on contextual styles and the circumstances of revelation as well as rational styles by logical reasoning in Shi’, ite philosophy and rational principles. Using descriptive analysis, the present study aims to survey the variety of styles and the extent by which Sheikh Razi has made use of this method in Rawz al-Jinan. The results indicate that he has paid attention to various styles in his exegetical method but not equally.

The attribution of good deeds and sins to God as a subdivision in determinism and free will is noted in the Qur’, anic culture. In this regard, good deeds and sins are both attributed to God in some Qur’, anic verses (al-Nisa’, : 78) while some other verses make a distinction between good deeds and sins and regard the first coming from God and the latter from human. This difference in attribution has always been discussed by the commentators as a significant challenge. Among the scholars, Fakhr Razi and Imam Khomeini have reviewed this subject with 2 different perspectives and statements. The results of the study show that Fakhr Razi admits the idea of Kasb and therefore he truly attributes both the good deeds and sins to God. He believes that the attribution of sins to human connotes “, politeness”,and “, denial interrogation”, . On the other hand, Imam Khomeini holds that the attribution of charities and evil deeds to God is real, while the attribution of evil deeds to God and charities to human is virtual.

An examination of the holy verses of the Qur’, an from the perspective of Sunni and Shi’, ite commentators can assist us to infer an appropriate and comprehensive interpretation of the Qur’, anic verses, resolve likely disagreements, and criticize the viewpoints of both sects. Despite their common beliefs, there are some disagreements between Sunnis and Shi’, ites on the interpretation of the 80th verse of Surah an-Naml. Some commentators take this holy verse as a verdict for “, the infeasibility of hearing by the deceased”,while some others reject this view. This article uses a critical and analytical method to make a comparative analysis between the views of two sects. The results of the study reveal that first, according to Allameh Tabatabaii’, s views, there is no metaphor in this holy verse,second, it is proved that even if metaphor is admitted in the verse, it conveys the infeasibility of gaining benefit or life not hearing,third, it is revealed that even in the case of admitting this idea it is against some other verses in the Qur’, an and traditions even existing in Sunni sources. It is concluded that based on all the above evidences, this holy verse not only does not confirm the idea of the infeasibility of the deceased but also rejects that.

Despite the different and sometimes contradictory perceptions and interpretations of the Noble Qur’, an within the past 14 centuries, the unprecedented developments in the realm of empirical science at the contemporary age have made the commentators to boost their scientific and rational look at the Qur’, anic verses regardless of their different exegetical methods and principles. Muhammad Abduh as one of the founding figures of Neo-Mu’, tazilism has attempted to adopt a moderate approach to the extraordinary events in the Qur’, an. Therefore, although he has admitted those events he has also proposed some scientific probabilities and justifications for them. However, the author of Tafsir al-Mizan holds that bringing scientific justifications denotes the denial of the extraordinary events in the Qur’, an. Allameh Tabatabaii believes that the appropriate perception is to accept the miracles as extraordinary events beyond scientific rules. He has also focused on the philosophical and rational interpretation of those extraordinary events that seems to be more logical in his view. The subject of the present study is the comparative study of “, raising the mountain”,and “, metamorphosis of Bani Isra’, il”,as two extraordinary events in the Qur’, an and the validation of the evidences for them.

The ideas of Avicenna and Sheikh-i Ishraq as the scholars of Peripatetic and Illumination Philosophy have always received the critical attention of the reviewers. One of the most important discussions in this regard is the exegetical method of the above philosophers: Sheikh-i Ishraq, contrary to Avicenna, does not have an independent exegesis but his exegetical ideas can be inferred from his collection of writings. In fact, Avicenna has a completely rational trend whereas the exegetical trend of Sheikh-i Ishraq is mystical. The exegetical method of Avicenna has been rational while Sheikh-i Ishraq has often used an innovative method. Furthermore, Avicenna has rarely applied the Qur’, an to the Qur’, an method in his rational arguments. The abovementioned philosophers have one thing in common in their commentaries and that is impartiality in interpretation and not using the traditions in the interpretation of the Qur’, an.

Some of the Ahadith in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih al-Muslim about casting a magic spell on Prophet Muhammad have made Sunni commentators and Muhaddithin relate the circumstance of revelation for Surah al-Falaq and Surah an-Nas to casting a magic spell on Prophet Muhammad by someone called Labid bin A’, sam Yahudi. Sunni commentators thus recognize that this event is not against the infallibility of the Holy Prophet and his dignity of Nabuwwat. This article aims to answer this research question: Can the event of casting a magic spell on the Holy Prophet by Labid bin A’, sam in Medina, as it is mentioned in some of the Ahadith, be the circumstance of revelation for Surah an-Nas and Surah al-Falaq? The results of the study show that due to some discrepancies between commentators on whether these chapters are Makki or Madani, some contradictory traditions on their circumstance of revelation, the referential and conceptual weakness of the traditions about the magic spell on the Prophet, and stylistics of the above chapters having a Makki context, it is concluded that the circumstance of revelation for the above chapters cannot be attributed to the event of casting a magic spell on the Holy Prophet.