Interpretation of the Qur’an

The peresent study aims to address the issue of how occasions of revelation <em>(asbāb al-nuzūl</em>) affect the understanding of the Qur’an. It also provides a basis for evaluating the impact of cultural studies on Qur’anic comprehension in prospective research. To accomplish this objective, the narratives of occasions of revelation were collected from three well-known resources, regardless of their documental and textual credibility, and their role in understanding the relevant verses was quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated. Consequently, twelve qualitative roles were identified and each narration was quantitatively assessed with a score ranging from zero to three. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that 10% of the entire Qur’anic verses have occasions of revelation in the mentioned sources. About 10% of the studied verses (1% of the Qur'an) are completely dependent on the occasions of revelation to be understood, according to the evaluation method and assumptions of the survey. In 72% of the verses (7% of the Qur'an), the occasions of revelation have an impact on a better understanding of the verse, even though in the first encounter the verse has a customary appearance and no ambiguity. Likewise, 8% of the occasions of revelation examined have no impact on the understanding of the verse. Thus, the role of the occasions of revelation on the apparent meanings of the verses, although undeniable, does not create a significant dependency, since the impact of most of these narrations (82%) is as much as a slight improvement in the initial understanding of the verse (scores 1 and 2), so that the occasions of revelation is not the sole means of achieving a secondary understanding of the verse.

Throughout history, numerous exegetes of the Qur’an have presented interpretations of the verses of the Qur’an in accordance with the customary understanding, while not methodically specifying the extent of the validity of the customary understanding, in the process of interpreting the Qur’an. Hence, it is essential to properly clarify the validity and position of customary understanding in the interpretation of diverse types of verses, such as doctrinal verses, ethical verses, verses concerning social and cultural issues, and scientific verses.<br />The results of this study indicate that the customary understanding is admissible as an indication and evidence in the interpretation of the Qur’an and can be used to understand all the concepts of the verses at the level of literal meaning, however, at the level of intended meaning it is only allowed for the understanding of specific verses referring to customary practices, not for metaphysical concepts or verses with specific Qur’anic terminology.