درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

This article examines the beliefs of modern Muslims regarding miracles and supernatural claims. It looks at how modern Muslims have had to interpret most of the miracles mentioned in the Qur’an metaphorically or naturally in order to avoid accusations of error. It also examines the views of Muhammad Asad, who argued that the stories of miracles adopted traditional myths as a site for teaching morals. The article further explores the interpretations of naturalists, who interpret miracles in ways that do not contradict empirical observations of naturalism. Finally, it examines the influence of European and Christian ideas on modernist Muslims, and the silence of modernist commentators on the similarity in their ideas with some Christians who wrote a few generations before them. The conclusion is that modern Muslims have had to interpret miracles in ways that do not contradict empirical observations of naturalism, and that there is no tangible evidence that modernist Muslims have been influenced by the ideas of Europeans or earlier Christians.

One of the phrases that has been considered by most commentators with the approach of empirical science is “the darkness of the three (the three veils of darkness)” in the verse (Q.39:6). They have interpreted this combination as the three darknesses of the abdomen, uterus and amnion-chorion. A view has also been put forward by contemporaries, which considers it as the spaces between the abdomen and uterus, the flesh of the uterus and the amnion, the amnion and the fetus, and has considered such an interpretation as an example of the scientific miracle of the Qur’an. In the meantime, another approach can be taken and based on the descriptive-analytical method and with the focus on the interdisciplinary approach, what is the “darkness of the three” is examined. Accordingly, by relying on the symbol of “complete and dense indifference and shapelessness before creation” for “darkness of the three,” this phrase can be considered as the platform for the formation of protein structures (based on genetic information contained in DNA codes), which are the cornerstone of the structure and biological processes of living organisms (without the production of proteins, no biological processes will be formed and no cells and organs will be made). It should be borne in mind that this interpretive possibility is also compatible with the components of the scientific miracle of the Qur’an. 

Proving the miraculous nature of the Qur’an as one of the methods to believe in the Qur’an as a divine text has always attracted the attention of the researchers of the Qur’an; nevertheless, the published efforts on this subject are facing numerous methodological challenges. This research attempts to introduce a new and original method exempt from the challenges of the present methods by utilizing some of the techniques in mathematical sciences, logic and statistics. This scientific case-based method rates the effective parameters in the recognition of scientific miracle for one case. Accordingly, it will calculate the certainty of each case and proceeds to combine the ratings of various cases of scientific miracle to calculate the degree of certainty of the divine nature of the book based on those results. In combining the ratings, a threshold will be determined based on human belief behavior. An advantage of this method is that it is extra-religious, data driven, quantitative, applicable to all texts, and generalizable to the entire content. 

This current study is an attempt for some scientific insights about the verse 45 of Surah Al-kahf. In this verse, God said, “And present to them the example of the life of this world, like water which we send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth mingles with it and [then] it becomes broken, scattered by the winds”. In common interpretations, the pronoun in the statement “it becomes broken, scattered by the wind” has been directed to plants not to water. However, in my new approach to interpreting this verse, the pronoun will refer to water, not plants, which is also linguistically acceptable. The purpose of this paper is to show that, despite the common interpretation of this verse, an alternative interpretation can be provided that is both linguistically and scientifically plausible. The results show that based on this new interpretation, it can be said that in this verse, the comparison of the scenario of life in relation to humans to the scenario of water in relation to plants is in good harmony with scientific findings about what happens for water in the plant. When water enters the plant, it can go through two pathways; transpiration or photosynthesis, in both of which a type of breakdown occurs for water. In the first pathway, i.e. transpiration, hydrogen bonds of water molecules are broken so that water is transformed from liquid to gas. In the second pathway, i.e. photosynthesis, the water molecules are broken into oxygen, protons and electrons. The products resulted (water vapor and oxygen) are scattered by external winds. Protons and electrons contribute to the electrochemical potential driving ATP and NADPH formation, or in another words, they are scattered by internal wind. Therefore, it can be said that referring to the phenomena of water breakdown in the plants and then its dispersion, in the verse, is an accurate expression that is also confirmed by science.

In the matter of the formation of the universe, the holy Qur’an mentions various phenomena, each playing a special role in the evolution of the universe. In this article, we describe two celestial phenomena that have been discussed in verses (Q.21:30) and 41:11, and we assess the possibility of matching these two verses with new scientific findings. Our approach in this study is that we first examine the plausible meanings of the verses through lexical, morphological, syntactic and interpretive analysis. Then we propose possible scientific phenomena compatible with achieved meanings of the verse and evaluate their conformity. Results of this study show that the reference of the Qur’an to the two phenomena, i.e., “coalescence and separation of the skies and the earth,” and “the formation of the sky from smoke,” can be compatible with the scientific phenomena of the Big Bang, the formation of the solar system and the formation of the earth and its atmosphere. 

One meaning of the word āyah in Qur’anic context refers to a sign, which is a divine miracle as attested in verse (Q.54:15): Certainly We have left it as a sign; so, is there anyone who will be admonished? The verse refers to the story of Noah’s Ark and his nation’s penalty, which is presented as a sign for posterity. There are various perspectives among interpreters about the reference of pronoun it in the verse, depending on whose antecedent, the verse can be considered as one of the verses expressing divine miracles. The present study tries to investigate the aforementioned verse and its miraculous aspects through an interdisciplinary method between the Qur’an and archaeology. Based on conducted studies, the word āyah implies to Noah’s Ark or the Flood phenomenon and rescuing a few of his nation who are the only survivors of humankind. Given archaeological studies, there is no certain evidence yet to confirm the remains of the Noah’s Ark and the verse cannot thus be considered as a scientific miracle. As a result, the miraculous aspect of the verse indicates giving notice of the unseen which is verified in verse (Q.11:49). 

The present semantic research has been performed in order to provide a cognitive and cultural explanation of conceptual metaphors in parts 20 to 30 of the Holy Qur’an. Extraction of ‘types of conceptual metaphors,’ determination of ‘high frequency metaphors,’ ‘source domains’ and ‘target domains’ is the process of conducting research using the conceptual metaphor theory. The variety of concepts of ‘target’ and the functional frequency of ‘source’ concepts indicate what concepts are intended in the holy Qur’an through metaphorical conceptualization. This study provides a basis for further understanding of the worldview presented in the Holy Qur’an and the possibility of determining the behavioral patterns of religion by identifying metaphors. The results of the present study represent a septenary classification of metaphors in the ‘empirical source domain,’ containing: ‘social life,’ ‘needs of the body and its activity,’ ‘image schemas (schema-based),’ ‘elements of nature,’ ‘person,’ ‘body parts,’ and ‘similarity-based metaphors (simile)’; Among which, the highest percentage of metaphorical conceptualization in the source domain is in ‘social life’ and the lowest one is in the domain of ‘person.’ Considering the fact that most of the human knowledge is about the elements and subdomains of ‘social life,’ Qur’anic sources in this domain have played the major role in abstracting the cultural and doctrinal concepts of religion and organizing Islamic religious experiences using the sources of this field and have been used as customary (conventional) and practical models. Accordingly, Qur’anic metaphors lead to the formation of cultural and cognitive patterns, and the ‘monotheistic belief system’ (Qur’anic) directs human bodily experiences in metaphorical conceptualization, and this ‘Qur’anic worldview’ can be seen as an Islamic cultural and cognitive model in the Qur’anic metaphorical schema. 

.The Holy Qur'an introduces the concept of intellect as an instrument for thinking and recognizing the facts and in several verses with different expressions, insists on activating the intellect by human. in order to convey this issue precisely and deeply to the audience, The Qur'an has used many synonymous and close concept to intellect, such as tafakur (thinking), qalb (heart), lubb (heart of the matter), nuhā (understanding), ḥijr (evidence), ḥilm (reason) and fiqh (realization). The authority of the intellect in recognizing facts has been confirmed in the Qur'an and Islamic traditions. One of the most important subject matters that should be identified by the intellect is the domain of beliefs and theology, which also leads to the perception of the prophetic mission and resurrection. Another issue perceived by the intellect is the realm of recognizing moral virtues. According to several verses and traditions, human intellect can discern good and evil, regardless of religious teachings, although some Islamic sects do not believe in this. It can be said that the power of intellect in human is like an intrinsic prophet whose discernment is authoritative and in agreement with the guidance of the prophets. Thus, from the Qur'an's point of view, the realm of intellect in knowing facts is a vast scope which comprises various subjects such as theology, ontology, anthropology and ethics. 

Hail is an atmospheric rainfall with a complex mechanism. The Greeks were among the pioneers of knowledge in ancient times and they termed “hail” as “frozen rain” (Anaximander) and “instant freezing of water and moisture” (Aristotle, n.d.). These two meanings are inconsistent with current scientific facts. The Noble Qurʼan is the most authentic text to encourage Muslim believers to think about creation and strengthen their faith in the eternal power of the Creator. For instance, the mechanism of hail falling has been expressed in the verse (Q.24:43) with specific and gradual indications. In this research, first, by library method, different explanations of this verse were obtained from valid interpretive sources and then, the scientific findings of meteorologists and climatologists on hail were extracted from reference scientific texts on atmospheric sciences. In the third stage and based on comparative method, the scientific rules were placed next to interpretations to test the novelty and degree of the allusions of this verse. We found that the stages of hail falling included:“invisible water vapor rises from the sea,” “water vapor ascends into the atmosphere,” “reaching the condensation stage,” “cloud formation,” “convergence of ascending currents,” “formation of cumulonimbus cloud,” “growth of hailstones during successive ascents and descents by adsorption and freezing of ice needles,” and finally “their fall down over ground” respectively. Meanwhile, the steps in the Noble Qurʼan are mentioned in verse (Q.24:43) in the following order:“clouds movement slowly,” “clouds convergence,” “clouds accumulation,” “the formation of mountain-like clouds,” and “hail falling from the clouds.” The results also showed that likening cumulonimbus cloud in the verse (Q.24:43) to “mountain” have four respects that were beyond the comprehension of the people at the time of the revelation of the Qurʼan. Nowadays, these features are known to stationary and satellite meteorological instruments. These four characteristics are “cloud layer temperature,” “their constituent phase,” “troughs and ridges inside the cloud” and “cloud height up to the tropopause.” Based on these four characteristics, the Noble Qurʼan considered the cloud of cumulonimbus as similar as “mountains.” Meteorologists divide any cumulonimbus cloud into three floors, including cold at the bottom, super-cold at the top and intermediate in the middle. We find these three floors in the same way in the high mountains. These floors are the current rivers (liquid phase), snow and ice reserves (solid phase) and in the middle region a combination of two liquid and solid phases, namely water and ice. Images from the cumulonimbus from above the atmosphere show dark and deep valleys and light and raised ridges. The fourth feature is to be said, none of the surface phenomena are as high as the mountains. Finally, meteorological findings show that it is the only cumulonimbus that rises from the ground to a height of 12,000 meters and more. 

Some religious modernists believe that correct and scientific comprehension of the Qur’an is merely provided through historical and cultural study of the context of revelation time. Others, on the other hand, advocate that knowing interior and connected evidence suffices for Qur’an comprehension. Further, they say that exterior and unconnected evidence such as cultural and historical studies can have little effect on Qur’an comprehension. These various attitudes made us research them and represent a model to assess the dependency of Qur’an comprehension on cultural and historical conditions of revelation time. The present study examined works of scholars in this field such as Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, Khorramshahi, and Tabatabaei through a descriptive and analytical method. Then, a model was recommended to evaluate the dependence of understanding of the Qur’an on the cultural and historical conditions of revelation time. The model includes four components: cause of revelation; vocabulary; subject matter; expressions which encompass twelve rules based on the features of verses in each component. Input of the model is one verse and its output is a dependent, independent, or semi-dependent mode.

Examining the orthography of the Qurʼan shows that the letter alif was omitted in some words, while it was not omitted in similar words. Scholars have offered various reasons for eliminating alif since the early centuries. Some of them regarded the way of writing the Qurʼan as sacred or proposed ideological explanations for it. However studying these justifications shows that they are not subject to scientific linguistic rules and are mostly personal opinions. Because based on the ancient manuscripts of the Qurʼan, we can find many contradictions for the proposed reasons, which shows that they are not general and true in many cases. Using the reasons presented in the books of Qurʼanic sciences and some interpretations of the Qurʼan and comparing them with the orthography in the manuscripts, this study shows that the orthography of the Qurʼan, especially in the case of writing alif, is a linguistic and scribal phenomenon subjected by some factors that developed the Arabic script in its early stages.