The Paradox of Similarity/Difference in Migration and its Function in the Migrant's Attitude toward the Homeland.(Study Case: Migrations of Josef and Moses in the Quran)

There are a few Quranic stories including the notion of migration and in these stories the purpose is mostly expressing religious concepts along with the prophet's mission. These stories, however, can be significant, due to their inclusion of cultural issues. It is worth investigating to see to what extent such stories are capable of being adapted with the theories of migration discussed in social sciences. Among these theories, the theory of paradox of similarity/difference about the interaction with the host and the immigrant and as a cultural-sociological approach toward the issue of migration can be used to indicate that in the interaction both similarity and difference should be taken into account. The important question which needs to be answered is what effects the quantity of each of similarity or difference may have on the attitude of the migrants toward their homeland or the migration destination. This question has not been clearly answered yet by the supporters of the above mentioned theory. It this study, applying this theory, the Quranic stories about the migration of Josef and Moses have been analyzed and different patters regarding the interaction between the hosts and the migrants have been extracted.