نشریه پژوهش های قرآنی
سال بیست و سوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 86، بهار 1397)

One of the significant approaches in linguistic studies of the text is Halliday’s functionalist theory of textual consistency. The functionalist textual cohesion consists of a collection of textual relations that connects an element of a sentence to the elements of previous sentences through lexical, grammatical, or semantic relations. Following the teachings of this school, a group of the Muslim contemporary Qur’an researchers have examined the relation of the verses in the Sūras of the Qur’an and announced that with respect to the factors of cohesion mentioned in this theory, the textual consistency of each of the Sūras of the Qur’an can be well-proven. In this writing, after introducing Halliday’s functionalist theory of textual cohesion and stating the factors of textual cohesion from the point of view of this theory, six critiques on this theory have been mentioned. Although the critiques mentioned on the theory of functionalist cohesion do not mean that the cohesion are by no means used in analysis of text and speech, given the features of the functionalist theory of textual cohesion and the critiques mentioned on it, it is concluded that this theory is not sufficient for analysis of all dimensions of textual cohesion and enjoyment of the entire factors of textual cohesion only elucidates the linear relation of the sentences of one text with each other.

According to the apparent denotation and conventional appearance of the verse 33 of Sūrat al-Aḥzāb (āyat al-taṭhīr), the interpreters of the caliphate school have, by negligence of other evidences, relied on the context of verses 28-34 of this Sūra for inclusion of the Prophet’s (S.A.W.) wives among the “Ahl al-Bayt”. In contrast, the Imamī scholars have generally ruled out the validity of the principle of context (siyāq) in these verses and by restricting the inclusion scope of the concept of Ahl al-Bayt, they have viewed its referent to be only the “Five Purified Ones” (Khamsa-yi Ṭayyiba). Upon critically reviewing the viewpoint of the two major sects (Shī‘a and Sunnī) concerning the validity or invalidity of context in the above verses, the present research presents a new working procedure with the help of the principle, “Ta‘līq al-ḥukm ‘alā al-waṣf mush‘irun bi al-‘illiya” (lit. meaning: suspension of precept upon description is cognizant of causality) in the format of the standard approach. According to this theory, the principled description, “O Wives of the Prophet!” (yā nisā’ al-Nabī) in the verses related to the wives in terms of the above-mentioned principle, has elucidated the climate of Revelation of the verses, which are based on the legal personality of the Noble Prophet of Islam (S.A.W.), and following that, indicated the general rule, which in itself is a causal inference to and an emphasis on the content of the verses related to the wives in the verse of taṭhīr. The findings of the research show that by preserving the exclusive referent of the verse concerning the purified Imams (A.S.), the principle of context in these verses is quite justifiable and does not entail any obstacle. Similarly, among other functions of this principle in the verse in question is that the inclusion of the referent of “Ahl al-Bayt” can be proven about other Infallibles, as well.

One of the significant key topics underlying justice and security is the discourse concerning the importance of justice or security. There are three hypotheses worth studying. In one hypothesis, justice is of importance and it is more important than security. In the second hypothesis, security is important and justice is second in importance; and in the third hypothesis, both justice and security are of equal importance and none is superior to the other.
The present research has been conducted with library method and analytical study of the verses of the Qur’an and concluded the proof of the importance of justice, and its documentation to the definition of justice and security is the verses of the Qur’an and traditions.

One of the frequently used phrasings in the Qur’an in relation to the preceding Revealed Scriptures is “Torah and Evangel”. The basic question is whether this phrasing concerns the “Holy Scripture” or it refers to the books that existed in the life time of the Prophets Moses and Jesus (A.S.). We recognized two common perspectives about the meaning of these phrasings and their application to the Testaments and tried, by textual (internal evidences of the verses) and contextual (external evidences) studies and free from theological partialities, to approach the intention of the Qur’an. Regardless of whether the Revealed Books historically existed in the time of the Prophets Moses and Jesus (A.S.) or not, the Qur’an’s explanation does not concern proving as such; rather, it refers to the Books common among the People of the Scripture at the time of the Revelation, as they exist today, too.

One of the very important principles in field of semantics and particularly in translation technique is the recognition of parts of words in a language. “Analysis of Semantic Components of Words” as one of the theories of semantics and semantic studies deals with separating the lingual units into their components, pays attention to extracting the meaning hidden in the word, and uncovering its semantic layers. It is also of importance in identifying the semantic differences between synonymous words. While trying to introduce this method as an important approach in the field of semantics and creating a translational balance, the present research has tried to address with a descriptive-analytical method and with a critical approach to the method of finding equivalents based on analysis of the semantic components in a selection of words from Sūras of Ṭāhā and Mu’minūn in translations of Messrs. Ayati, Elahi Qumshei, Rezaei Esfahani, Fouladvand, and Mu’izzi. The findings of the research show that in the translations of Messrs. Ayati, Elahi Qumshei, Fouladvand, and Mu’izzi in most cases not enough attention has been paid to the accurate conveyance of constructive components of the meaning of a word from the source language to the target language and this inaccuracy has caused presenting a primitive and core meaning of the words. Although not very successful, Rezaei Esfahani’s translation has conveyed the semantic components of the words better than other translations.

The exegetical principle is applied to the interpreters’ general principles in elucidation of the verses, as predicating the singular commands of the Qur’an to the general public instead of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) himself is regarded as one of these principles. As one of the most frequently used exegetical principles of all the interpreters throughout history, this principle has been more used under the verses that in view of the interpreters are in contrast to the dignity of the Prophet in such a way that although this principle is not exclusive to the admonition verses, its maximal use under the admonition verses has turned this principle to a hideaway for solving the interpreters’ theological problems to the extent that the farther we distanced from the ancients over time and approached the present era, there has been more reliance on this principle in the interpretation of admonition verses. Nevertheless, despite frequent reliance on this exegetical principle, the interpreters have not only failed to clarify their criteria for using it; they have also used it in a disorderly, or rather contrasting and sometimes contrary to the absolute context of the verses. Furthermore, the Prophet’s being addressed in many of the singular commands and the Muslims’ conjectures about this issue show that the principle in the Qur’an’s commands has been the Prophet’s being addressed rather than the general public and any inference other than that would require serious evidences.

The most consistent and certain method in exposition of the verses is finding the way into the profundity of the meaning of the Qur’an’s vocabulary, which paves the way for enunciation of the intention of the All-wise Allah. This method has been employed by the orientalists such as Izutsu and some Muslim researchers. The present research addresses the semantics of the concept of patience in the Qur’an in three steps of lexical semantics, semantic fields, and textual studies. In the first step, the concept of patience in the Qur’an is compared with the concept of patience in the pre-Islamic period by presenting the semantic definition of patience and enunciation of its worldview from the viewpoint of the Qur’an. In the second step, the fields of semantics and the semantic extent of words in the Qur’an are examined. And in the third step, the textual studies of patience are taken into consideration.
The first outcome of the study of the lexical semantics of patience based on basic meaning and with the study of the worldview and the ethnic culture of the pagan Arabs in the pre-Islamic period, is that this word has been used before Islam and the major meaning of the word patience and other words synonymous with it are the same as perseverance and tolerance and it has not undergone semantic evolution. However, according to the Islamic worldview, this word has had a sublime ethical semantic evolution and certain spiritual worldly and other-worldly values have been delineated for it.