پژوهش نامه قرآن و حدیث
پیاپی 18 (بهار و تابستان 1395)

Relying on their inferential principles, i.e. considering everything quitted by the predecessors heresy and also the immoderate avoidance of the esoteric interpretation of the Quranic verses, Takfiri Salafists have come up with some conclusions which have led them into issuing peculiar tacfiri fatwas. In some of his books, ibn Taymiyyah has remarked that practicing something which was avoided by the predecessors is heresy and violating this principle is a blamable innovation. For instance, with regard to the Sariah rule of celebrating the Prophet’s (p.b.u.h.) birthday, he believes such celebrations were not hold by the predecessors although they could be hold and there was no obstacle to holding them. He adds that if holding such celebrations were a pious act, it would be worthier of the predecessors as they had more affection for the Prophet (p.b.u.h.), were more respectful toward him, and were greedier for good deeds. Ibn Taymiyyah consider scholars of the Islamic sects ignorant and believes that such legal Islamic celebrations as the Prophet’s (p.b.u.h.) birthday are blamable innovations since the predecessors did not approve of them. In modern times, following ibn Taymiyyah, some Wahhabi scholars have declared holding celebrations on the Prophet’s (p.b.u.h.) birthday illegal. They believe that this practice is one of the blamable innovations in Islam, because the Prophet (p.b.u.h.), the orthodox Califs, the Companions and the Successors did not do it. The principles drawn from the Quran and the definitive sunna of Imams disclose the fact that many of the claims of Salafism in this context are not rooted in Islam and, hence, they cannot be accepted.

Introducing Yousef D. Haddad (1913 – 1979), the Lebanese and Syrian-born writer and Christian bishop, and his most important works briefly, the present paper reviews his most important arguments on the Christian nature of the Quran. These arguments, which have been developed mainly on the basis of interpreting the Quranic verses, are as follows: "the Quran’s exclusive addressing ‘the children of Israel’ as ‘People of the Book’”; “the meaning of ‘Christianity’ in the Quran”; “the unity of the Bible”; “limitation of Christ’s mission to the scope of the Torah”; and “limitation of Christ’s da’wah (calling people unto God) to the meaning of the Oneness of God in the Torah”. Then, Haddad’s ideas and arguments are evaluated on the basis of semantic methods and his mistakes are pointed out. The most important criticisms leveled against Yousef D. Haddad’s theory are "lack of attention to all the verses related to the topic", "lack of sufficient attention to philology and the way Arabic speakers use words", "lack of attention to historical issues", and "lack of valid scientific reasons".

The language of the Quran is an issue which has been under the focus of scholars and Quranic researchers both in recent times and the past. However, following the debates on the ‘philosophy of religion’ and ‘body language’, this issue has been investigated more extensively. In this context, ‘language’ refer to ‘making someone understand something and reaching a mutual understanding’ and the phrase ‘the language of the Quran’ denotes how the Quranic sermons are made and this is the issue about which Muslim scholars have various understandings. The debates on the ‘language of the Quran’ have given rise to the conclusion that the language of this holy book is multi-layered and, of course, some Muslim scholars have acknowledged this idea as well. In fact, the present article in intended to deal with ‘the language of the Quran’, ‘its role in understanding the Quran’, ‘the background to this debate’ ‘a review of the prominent views on this issue (common parlance and technical parlance) and presentation of a reasonable outlook on this issue.

Islam meaning submission to God's commandments and prohibitions is of different ranks and stages and since man’s essence changes gradually, the various ranks of Islam are materialized in man over time. To remunerate this submission, God fills man’s heart with peace and tranquility and there is a reciprocal relationship the submission and peace. Allameh Tabatabaei believes Islam is of four ranks and each rank has a corresponding rank of faith. Therefore, man’s material and spiritual life has certain stages and ranks and the holder of each rank has a duty to uplift his rank with the assistance of those residing in higher ranks and to be vigilant and gracious toward those in lower ranks so that they may rise to higher ranks as well. Thus, Muslims have various ranks in understanding religious truths and their realization in their existence and what is of main concern among Muslims is having dialogue, understanding, cooperation and mutual assistance.

Abdullah bin Masud is one of the prominent figures in the history of early Islam. He is a reciter of the Quran and has his own copy of this holy book. The assessment of his personality is of interest since the Islamic schools of thought confirm his familiarity with the sciences of the Quran, hadith, recitation and interpretation. His performance before the martyrdom of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) as a follower of the revelation school and after his demise as a defender of Islam is of concern. Bin Masud is among the Companions who clearly expressed his views recurrently during his lifetime even if this practice and following the school of the truth apparently harmed his social position. This outspokenness makes an independent school out of Abdullah bin Masud’s thoughts and this school made a foundation for the activities of Imam Ali (a.s.) during the time of his apparent rule in Kufa. His cooperation, mainly in the field of cultural activities, with the second Caliph, on the one hand, and his outspoken stance against the performance of the three caliphs after the Prophet (p.b.u.h.), especially Osman, on the other, has been evaluated differently by different people. However, as he was permitted by Imam Ali (a.s.) to cooperate with the caliphate, his general performance can be considered positive and the only serious criticism levelled against him from Ahl al-Beyt (a.s.) in different resources is his omission of the last two chapters of the Quran from his copy of this holy book. Hence, other accusations brought against him can be justified on the grounds that he defended Imam Ali (a.s.).

The language of the Quran is among the most controversial issues that has not gone unnoticed by the experts in this field during the many Islamic centuries. A precise look at this issue and its historical evolution may reveal that Muslim scholars have had varied views on it and their views have been influenced by the dominant and exclusive discourse of each period. In the second century, some serious debates were provoked on the temporality of the Quran among various sects of Muslims and every group sought to prove their own ideas by providing intra-school proofs and reasons. The idea of the temporality of the Quran and the theological disputes which were considered a state charter, especially during the rule of Mamun the Abbasid, were not the only political weapon utilized against the opponents of this theory, but a careful look at these developments may reveal that this issue was a prelude to the views on the language of the Quran and the interpretative commentaries of the interpreters of each branch of Muslims. In this paper, we seek to deal with the evidence of this issue relying on the views of theologians and commentators of Mutazilites, Asharites and other Muslim sects.