JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC STUDIES
Year:2008 | Volume:- | Issue:78 (QUR'ANIC AND HADITH STUDIES)|Papers Count:9

Discussion about the mutawātir (frequent) and shādh (uncommon) qarā’ats (readings) of the Qur'an has since long time ago been of interest to the scholars. Western scholars have discussed about each one of these readings and their conformity or disconformity with the rules of syntax according to their own criteria.The qarā’at of Hasan al-Basrī is among the ones that the scholars have taken up positions for and against; some have rejected his qarā’at in certain cases and some have defended and justified it and considered it as consistent with the rules of qarā’at by stating an appropriate aspect for it or by relying on Hasan al-Basrī's outstanding scholarly character.In this article, we have sufficed to deal with 9 of the significant instances in which the scholars have expressed their opinions about his qarā’at. In many of these instances we have reasoned against his qarā’at, in case, of course, the reference to his narration is sound.

The book Kanz al-‘Irfān fī Fiqh al-Qur’ān by Fādil Miqdād (d. 826/1422) is one of the credible books in legal-exegetical analysis of āyāt al-āhkām (verses of ordinances). Due to its countless features and privileges in legal interpretation of verses, this book has always been focus of attention to experts and scholars. This article is studying and critically reviewing some of the author's specific legal opinions and thought-provoking viewpoints, while pointing to the most important features of the above-mentioned book, such as the interpretation of the verses of ordinances in order of legal chapters, accurate presentation of legal terms and providing a comprehensive and exclusive definition of them, exploitation of rational reasoning in analysis and implication of the ordinances, using legal rules in explaining the verses, and employment of the sayings of the Imāmī and Sunnī jurists in interpretation of the verses of ordinances.

Scholars of Islamic sciences regard the revelation occasion as an event about which a verse or some verses have simultaneously or a while after that, been revealed to report, analyze, or criticize that event. Most of the Qur'an researchers and interpreters have viewed revelation occasion as an important instrument for understanding the Divine verses, widely taken it into consideration, and reported some examples for it. Meanwhile, some have looked at revelation occasion differently and are more concerned with the interaction between the social milieu and the revelation of the verses. In this article, while examining the scholars' discourses, it is asserted that the verses that relate to a particular trend or incident are simply indicating the realism of the Qur'an. Some others do not regard the revelation occasion as a significant instrument in interpretation and point out the pitfalls of making reference to them.

The main theme dealt with in this paper is the "what" and "how" of the Shī‘īte extremism as one of the religio-ideological pathologies. Among the essential ways to resolve this type of issue is to acquire exact knowledge of its aspects, symbols, and manifestations, which in turn is dependant upon searching into its historical and cultural origins, requiring a study of the psychological, humanistic, and sociological backgrounds of the issue. However, with just a brief delving into the history of extremism, this writing touches upon the most important intellectual foundations and principles of non-heretical extremism and analyzes some of its basic pivots. Nevertheless, the author regards the best and the soundest way of judging this topic to be the examination of the effects and consequences resulting from this type of thinking, including antinomianism and unduly allegorical interpretations (ta’wīl).

Ghadīr of Khum during the past fourteen centuries gave rise to the two trends of Shī‘ism and Sunnism which were mainly prompted by the disagreement between the advocates of these two trends in comprehending that historic event, apparently caused by semantic misunderstanding of the term "Mawlā" (master; guardian).In this article, it is first demonstrated that the Sunnī's claim as to the diversity of meanings for this term is not true, and then, while stating the viewpoints of the Shī‘ī and Sunnī theologians on the contents of "Hadīth of Wilāyat", it is remarked that the disagreement concerning whether "Awlā" (superior) is among the meanings of this term or not, has no impact on proving the Shī‘a's rightful attitude and that the Caliphate and Wilāyat (mastership) of Amīr al-Mu’minīn can be proved irrespective of this semantic nuance.

Early histories of the great Khurāsān in the Islamic era have been written simultaneously by historians from Iraq (Abū Mikhnaf, Hishām Kalbī, Abū ‘Ubayda Ma‘mar b. Muthannā, and Madā’inī) and Khurāsān (Ḥafṣ b. Manṣūr Marwazī, and Salmūya b. Ṣāliḥ) between mid-2nd/8th and mid-3rd/9th centuries. The Iraqis primarily aimed at introducing the victories of Muslim Arabs in this region; however, in practice they dealt with another dimension of the history of this most important province of the eastern Muslim world as well. The Khurāsānī historians also surveyed the conquests and the political and financial situation of the region. Of these books no independent copy exists, but considerable parts of a number of them are quoted in the books of the writers of later periods, hence providing for their retrieving. The attempts made in this field resulted in the reviving of several significant works of the Islamic historiographical heritage.