Quran and Religious Enlightenment (قرآن و روشنگری دینی)

One of the first and most important principles of the interpretation of the Holy Quran is the issue of the sanctity of theThe holy prophets performed miracles as a One of the first and most important principles of the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an is the issue of the sanctity of the Holy Qur’an. The meaning of the holiness of the Qur'an is that the Qur'an (both in word and meaning) is from God. And human beings and other creatures, including jinn, angels, etc., have no involvement in its creation. Therefore, this Qur'an is holy, so it is pure and completely true, and unlike the unholy texts, it cannot be criticized or damaged. When it is said that the Holy Qur'an is sacred both in word and meaning, this statement implies three characteristics of the Holy Qur'an: the divinity of the words of the Holy Qur'an, the soundness of the text, and its wisdom. In this article, the discussion of the divinity of the words of the Holy Qur’an has been examined and an attempt has been made to prove by quoting the verses of the Holy Qur’an that both the words and meanings of Qur’an are from God and it is not human but it is divine.  

The holy prophets performed miracles as a sign of their Nubuwwah. Things showed that those apostles relied on a power beyond the acquired forces of human. And these miracles had such a profound effect on human souls that have been recorded as the most famous events in history. According to verses from the Holy Qur’an as well as successive historical narrations, Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has provided important creative miracles for the people of his time, in addition to the book which is an eternal and always present miracle of his Risālah (Mission). However, some anti-Islamists, citing verses, have denied that the Prophet performed creative miracles. Contrary to their claim, the verses which indicate that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) was associated with sorcery are evidences that the same polytheists have seen extraordinary things from the Prophet (PBUH) who have given him such a relationship. Also, the verses that seem to indicate the non-performance of miracles are related to impossible requests such as seeing God bodily or the coming of the Day of Judgment, or presenting verses from the Qur'an according to the wishes and beliefs of the polytheists, which could not be answered.  

In Islam, no ruling, including Wājib and Ḥarām, is unreasonable, and certainly the ruling on banning music and Ghinā is due to the corruptions in them and what entertains human beings and make them unaware of something and deviate them from religious beliefs is considered Lahw that can also be seen in Ghinā, and religious scholars, citing verses and hadiths on Ghinā , in cases such as: the income of Singing women, who are entered by men and is accompanied by fun and debauchery and false words, buying and selling Ghinā maids and teaching and hearing their voices, a voice and tone of the people of immorality and sin, are forbidden in the Qur'an, prayers and lamentations, etc. And mezmar, drumming, playing oud, tar, daf... are some of the instruments of Ḥarām Ghinā and music, but in Islamic societies, there is a difference of opinion among people regarding the Ḥarām and Ḥalāl music, which raises doubts, because today, instead of paying attention to being Ḥarām or Ḥalāl Ghinā , as a popular job among men and women, is associated with debauchery, men and women are mixed, schools are set up, reproduced and distributed, and new musical instruments are used, so in this background it is necessary to provide solutions by music scholars as well as from a religious perspective by religious authorities and scholars.   

Abu Ishaq Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Tha'labī Nayshābūrī is one of the Shafi'ī commentators in the fourth and fifth centuries AH, whose commentary under the name of Al-Kashf wal al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qur’an is an important source for commentators after him. In this commentary, among the countless narrations narrated from the Companions and Followers, the narrations of Ahl al-Bayt (AS), as well as of their merits can also be seen. This has led to sharp criticism of Tha’labī and his interpretation by some of Sunni scholar. On the other hand, the existence of this feature in his interpretation has attracted the attention of some Shiite commentators. Out of about 455 narrations narrated from Ahl al-Bayt (AS) in the commentary of Tha’labī, 292 narrations from Ali ibn Abitalib, 77 narrated by Ja‘far ibn Muhammad, 35 narrated by Muhammad ibn Ali, 22 narrated by Ali ibn Husain, 12 narrated by Reza, 11 narrated by Hasan ibn Ali, 3 narrations from Mūsa ibn Ja‘far, 2 narrations from Hussein ibn Ali, and 1 narration from Fatemeh Zahra (AS), which are very small amount in comparing with other narrators but it is important. This article has used descriptive-analytical method: typology, study and evaluation of narrations narrated from Ahl al-Bayt (as) in the Tha’labī's interpretation.

The lack of determining the exact time of some creative and legislative categories and their concealment by God Almighty has raised some questions. Some of these questions are about the time of death, the Day of Judgment, the middle (wustā) prayer, the time for prayer to be answered on Friday and also the Laylat al-Qadr. These have led to questions like: What is the wisdom of this concealment? What are the results? The present article has a descriptive-analytical method and by referring to the verses of the Holy Qur’an and the narrations of the Infallibles (AS) has examined the issue of the concealment of Laylat al-Qadr among the nights of the holy month of Ramadan in general and the nights of the nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-third in particular and has considered the effects of the mentioned concealment. The findings of the research indicate that the concealment of the exact time of Laylat al-Qadr, for the believers, can have effects such as adherence to the manners of the Infallibles (AS), immunity from arrogance, self-discipline, and ijtihad in worship, all of whom are meaningful in order to value the human souls, their education and excellence in the path of divine guidance. 

In the interpretation, translation and esoteric interpretation of the Holy Qur’an, we are faced with free translation and non-adherence to some subtleties. Among the rhetorical matters, omission, connection, division, simile, metaphor and irony, etc. have been used extensively. Therefore, the translator must be completely careful and fluent in this matter. Another issue before us is the diversity and differences in the translation and interpretation of the Holy Qur’an. Two cultures, two tastes, and two different times influence translation approaches, and these can affect both the tastes of the creators and the recipients. Therefore, in this research, these controversial points have been pointed out. This research intends to use the descriptive-analytical method with the aim of explaining the translation approach with the focus on two Qur’anic translators and thinkers, namely Mousavi Garmaroudi and Abu al-Futūḥ Rāzī. The purpose of this study is to prove the hypothesis that in the translations and interpretations of the Qur’an by Garmaroudi, the language is close to the language of the people, smooth and fluent. But the translation of Abu al-Futūḥ Rāzī is the first translation and interpretation presented in the Dari language and he first brings the translation of a part of the verses, then he interprets them. 

The spread of religious doubts in the public arena via information technology has caused religious faith to be changed and questioned in the turmoil of these doubts. This has provided the ground for acceptance of non-religious sects even in the form of religion. Explaining the logical approach according to Islamic affairs is one of the topics that has been less explored. Authors confront the doubts with their own taste in order to pay their debt to Islam and defend the sanctity of Islam and the divine religion. It’s necessary and serious matter to identify doubt and distinguish it from the problem (issue). We require coherent planning to purposefully confront religious doubts, for we are in an age when the most advanced means of mass communication have made its dissemination quick and easy. Identifying doubts from the problem and examining the methodology of dealing with them is what this article seeks to explain, regarding to the Qur'anic verses and hadiths. Accordingly, a comprehensive method for dealing with doubts can be achieved over time and religious doubts may be answered. The method of this article is descriptive-analytical. 

Background: For about 50 years, there has been a lot of controversy about the place where the Ark of Prophet Noah (PBUH) landed. In all these matters, the point is whether the location is the landing site of the Prophet Noah's ark (PBUH) or not? Objective: To present a new research in the direction of the relationship between geography and the Qur'an and to find the real place of Judy in the Qur'an according to the hadiths narrated in this regard. Method: After examining the possible places in relation to Judy's place, the existing hadiths in this regard were studied in a descriptive-analytical manner and with reference to satellite images and geographical researches. Findings: Studies have shown that three places are considered as possible places of Mount Judy, including Judy Dugi in Turkey, (which has been found in scientific studies on the existence of ships) Ararat in Armenia, Zagros, Sabalan and Sahand in Iran. Among the commentators, places have been mentioned, including Mosul, Iraq, Amud district, a mountain on Ibn Umar Island, and Saudi Arabia. In this regard, the hadiths have greatly helped to clarify the place of dispute. Results: In examining the narrations, it can be said that according to the time of issuance of narrations and the application of Mosul to early historians and geographers over a wide area including "Gāzartā d'Beṯ Zabdaï", Judi can be found in the Qur'an today compatible with Judi Dugi Mountain in the province Ağrı in Turkey.

In the foundations of religious epistemology, the school of segregation on reason using is one of the sources of knowledge that presents a different image from the common images. The lack of clear logic in presenting opinions by the school of segregationists makes their views ambiguous. In the present article, first, the epistemological foundations of the segregation view are presented, which are: tools of knowledge, sources of knowledge, and the criterion of accuracy and correctness of cognition. Then, the claim of the believers in the school of segregation is that the intellect in the philosophical sense is not one of the tools of examined knowledge. According to this claim, the only role that man has in creating knowledge is the unequivocal acceptance of revelatory teachings. Hence, the concept intended by the segregationists about reason does not have the necessary conviction. The current article aims to prove that there must be a common criterion for distinguishing right from wrong. Therefore, by abandoning the tools of reason, a correct understanding of the revelation taught can’t be achieved. Religious knowledge is the product of the measurement and interaction of both intellectual knowledge and narrative knowledge. Also the view of the school of segregation in this issue has been criticized and examined using an intra-religious and a critical-analytical method.

The commentary attributed to Imam Hassan ʿAskarī (AS) is one of the narrative commentaries with about 379 narrations; which is unique in its kind with nearly one hundred late manuscripts. This work, apart from the indifference of cataloguers and translators to it, is controversial in various aspects, such as: "date of authorship, attribution of the book to the author, sanads and content of the book". One of these problems, which needs to be considered, is the review of the sanads of this book; both in terms of examining the form of sanads in manuscripts, and in terms of examining the narrators of sanads, in terms of omission and rijālī translation. In the present study, while introducing five types of sanads of this commentary and also the rijālī study of the narrators of the sanads of this commentary up to Sheikh Ṣadūq, it was found that this work, which most likely belongs to Nāṣir Aṭrūsh and is from Zaidi heritage, has about two hundred years old; Also, in the rijālī study of ten narrators of its sanads up to Sheikh Ṣadūq, it was found that apart from the Irsāl of these sanads, most of the narrators of this work are "unknown or weak". It also seems that Sheikh Ṣadūq did not have this book, at least in its current form.

The meaning of the word mawālī used on the Quranic verse 19:5 and the thing which is inherited by John was a subject of debate in exegetic literature, without any clarification about its lexical origin. In this survey, the main question is about the lexical origin of the word, as well as the cultural roots of the position which the story is speaking of. Also, the article is seeking a proper understanding of the word and the verse being relevant to the context and make the Zachariah’s story in the Sura 19 consistent.Concerning methodology, the article uses etymology of keyword mawālī based on comparative Semitic studies from one side and clarification of the story as a whole by a comparison between the Quranic account with relevant passage in the New Testament and some connected material in Jewish literature. According to given evidence, the word mawālī in the verse 19:5 is supposed to be a term coming from the New Testament. The basis is the Geez word mawāʿǝl meaning 'daily (duties)', used in Ethiopian version of Gospel of Luke to refer to ‘priestly division’ in Jewish tradition. The secondary layer is South-Arabian and Ethiopian root meaning 'to guard' which contaminated to the previous term and relates to the Jewish Rabbinic term mišmārōt. It is a Christian-Jewish blending appeared in pre-Islamic Ethiopia. Then, the Quranic word mawālī in the verse 19:5 was not a regular Arabic word, but a Judeo-Christian arabicized term with Ethiopian origin.  

Shari’at Sanglaji, as one of the activists of the contemporary Shia Qur'an-Sufficiency attitude, seeks to narrow the scope of personal exegesis   with anything other than the interpretation of the Qur'an to the Qur'an. Updating the religion by purifying it from non-Qur'anic teachings is the ideal of the defenders of this movement. This research critiques this religious rethinking approach by a descriptive-analytical method. Shari’at Sanglaji, through understanding the Qur'anic phrases, concludes that the Nubuwwah and Wilayah Sunnah are not original in anything other than Āyāt al-Aḥkām, and emphasizes the need to interpret the Qur'an in the light of other verses, as the best and only source for the correct interpretation of verses. He considers a non-independent role for the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) in explaining the divine verses and considers them as the commentator of the Prophet’s Sunnah (PBUH), and not the commentator of the Qur’an’s verses. Among the contradictions of this approach with Imamiyyah thoughts are incompatibility with the nature of intercession, a shaky position for the intellect in interpreting verses, and the fallacy of referring to the companions in referring to the interpretation of the Qur'an without any explanation regarding accepting the narrations received from them. Most Imamiyyah theologians emphasize the position of the Prophet and the saints in the direct news of God and organizing the spiritual and social life of the people, as well as the authority that God has given to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his esteemed saints. And they consider obedience to the Prophet and the saints necessary because of their immunity from sin and error in personal and social actions. From this perspective, intercession is impossible without God's permission, and the authority of intercession is expressed.