Revisiting the concept of “Nur” in Quran interpreted as “the authority of infallible Imams”

In interpreting narrative accounts and Hadiths attributed to Imami sect, there are instances believed to have the deep hidden meaning of “Nur” (transcendental light) possessed by Imam Ali in them. This interpretation has paved the way for accusations heaped on Shias by malicious misbelievers, who claim that Shias have gone astray from the path of righteousness in that they pay too much attention to hidden meanings and not enough to surface, obvious meanings. The current study adopts a semantic approach towards the term “Nur” and aims to identify its semantic field and cite all the verses carrying this term as evidence. It then seeks to shed some useful insight on the meaning of the term and its various interpretations. Later the current study seeks to prove that based on the rational reference of the words, the term “Nur” refers to Imams. The findings suggest that the surface meaning of “Nur” as light is a strong valid basis for interpretation. In addition, the hidden meaning of “Nur” refers to concepts such as “the Book” and “Imam” since they both have the major indicator of providing guidance in them. This interpretation is given validation since it sits easily with other proofs such as rationality, the discourse method and other verifiable events recorded in both Shia and Sunni resources. Therefore, as findings suggest, the allegation of going astray from the surface meaning at the expense of paying attention to deep meaning is completely rejected. Furthermore, the interpretation of “Nur” as Imam is absolutely harmonious with narrative historical accounts, the principles of semantics, discourse methods and the rational reference of words and concepts.