Journal of the Quran: Contemporary Studies
Volume:3 Issue: 7, Spring 2024

The primary focus of this research is to elucidate the views of two esteemed contemporary Qurānic exegetes and jurists regarding changes that have occurred in Islamic international law. Islamic international law, also known as siyar (lit. conducts), has, for a long period, not seen the same sort of expansion and change witnessed in the methods and subject-matters of current international relations. Some of these failings are related to the methodology of this Islamic and international discipline lacking relevant development. In the present research, which has been conducted in a descriptive-analytical manner, the theoretical foundations and legal workings of the two mentioned scholars have been compared based upon the most important subject of international law, i.e., the international relations of Islamic countries with their counterparts in the two areas of war and peace.  The findings of this research, conducted as a comparative study, indicate that the views of Ayatullah Khamenei are resolutely sound, as they are based on a well-grounded method in understanding the verses of the Glorious Qur’ān and on a new and precise analysis of expediency that runs parallel with the apparent meanings of the verses dealing with war and peace. This, in its own place, has the potential to generate substantial changes in the field of Islamic international law and create avenues for it to have appropriate interactions with current international law.

The Quran is the eternal miracle of the Prophet and includes the plan for the guidance and salvation of mankind. Many orientalists, including Rippin, consider this divine book a literary or historical text. This research attempts to analyze some of Andrew Rippin’s Quranic foundations with a descriptive-analytical method to highlight their shortcomings compared to the correct Quranic foundations. Some of Rippin’s Quranic foundations are as follows: The Quran does not provide a method of exegesis, and Muslims’ understanding of the Quran is mainly based on the life of the Prophet. The Quran should be examined as a literary or historical text. The Prophet gradually wrote the Quran. Differences in readings indicate ambiguity in certain Quranic verses. This research shows that the Quran, the hadiths of the Prophet and the Ahl al-Bayt provide methods for the tafsir of the Quran. The Quran is an eternal miracle of God which should be interpreted with correct methods, not with opinion-oriented method (tafsīr bi ra’y). Not only the meanings and words, but also the arrangement of the verses of the Quran is based on divine revelation, and the Prophet is not the author of the Quran. The difference in readings should be evaluated according to authentic sources to determine the correct reading. As long as Orientalists such as Rippin are not guided to the revelatory aspect of the Quran, they cannot provide a fair and accurate evaluation of the Quran, its structure, and its teachings.

The hadiths of “jary” (flow) and “taṭbīq” (application) constitute an important part of the Shiʿi hadith sources. A significant portion of the Shiʿi hadith sources have been dedicated to the hadiths of Jary and taṭbīq. ʿAllāma Muḥammad Ḥusayn Ṭabāṭabā’ī has dealt with these hadiths with extreme precision. His unique approach, concerning the hadiths of jary and taṭbīq, enjoys two unprecedented characteristics: 1) He has quoted many such hadiths being accompanied by his own brief, thoughtful accounts; 2) He has drawn a distinct line between the two realms of tafsīr and application (taṭbīq). Paying attention to such a subtle difference brings about an accurate understating of applicable hadiths in general. It wipes out many misunderstandings from the hadiths of Jary and taṭbīq in particular. Given the aforementioned points, it will be made clear from ʿAllāma Ṭabāṭabā’ī’s views how necessary and important is to separate the hadiths of jary (flow) and taṭbīq (application). Proper attention to this separation and distinction leads to a better understanding of applicable hadiths. Additionally, one of the significant achievements of this practice is preventing potential misinterpretations and religious misunderstandings. However, this separation solely prevents applicable hadiths from the exegetical process in its specific sense, otherwise, the fundamental assistance of these hadiths to exegetes in understanding the overall meanings of the verses remains intact.

Ayatullah Muḥammad Hādī Maʿrifat (1309-1385 SH) is one of the renowned scholars of Quranic exegesis (tafsīr) and Quranic sciences in the Qum Seminary in the recent century. He received his primary education in the seminaries of Karbala and Najaf and completed the latter part of his higher education in the Qum Seminary after migrating to Qom. Most of his scholarly activities and works have been focused on Quranic sciences within the Qum Seminary. Alongside numerous Quranic studies, he is the author of the encyclopedia “Al-Tamhīd fi Ulūm al-Qur’ān,” which is well-recognized in the Islamic world. The Quranic works of Ayatullah Maʿrifat have distinctive features including subject-centeredness, necessity-centeredness, school-orientedness, comprehensive outlook and foresight, free-thinking and innovation. His influential perspectives and opinions have contributed significantly to various Quranic topics such as compilation and arrangement of the Quran, Quranic readings, abrogation in the Quran, interpretation of the Quran, and safeguarding the Quran from distortion, attracting the attention and reference of researchers in Islamic and Quranic studies. In addition to his valuable research and creation of works in the field of Islamic sciences, particularly Quranic sciences, Ayatullah Maʿrifat also devoted himself to educating a generation of young students in Quranic sciences and played a key role in establishing multiple educational and research centers in this field in Qum and Iran.

Since the establishment of seminaries, special attention has been paid to interpreting the Holy Quran which has experienced significant growth in recent centuries. Consequently, it is rare to find a book written with as much detail and explanation as the Quran. Many scholars and interpreters have delved into the interpretation of the Quran, among whom Ayatullah Nāṣir Makārim Shīrāzī stands out as a prominent figure in the field. His exegetical and Quranic works have garnered attention from various sectors, significantly impacting Quranic activities and research in the present era. Research findings indicate that in Ayatullah Makārim’s tafsīr, areas such as addressing both thematic and sequential tafsīrs, reviving the methods of Shia exegetes, employing a rational style in processing verses, addressing contemporary issues and doubts, and attention to the ijtihādīmethod have been highlighted.

Qurʾānic studies constitute a field where the essential and unique characteristics of the Qurʾān are explored. This article uses textual and historical analysis to review influential scholarship from the Seminary of Qom regarding Qurʾānic studies over the past century. Research findings indicate that scholars and intellectuals within the Seminary of Qom, particularly after the Islamic Revolution of Iran, have produced remarkable research on various issues related to Qurʾānic studies. In addition to the work of scholars in the fields of jurisprudence (uṣūl al-fiqh), theology (kalām), and jurisprudence (fiqh) on relevant Qurʾānic issues, numerous comprehensive or relatively comprehensive works have emerged in the field of Qurʾānic studies. These include Methodology of Qurʾānic Exegesis, Qurʾānic Exegetical Schools, History of Qurʾānic Exegesis, An Evaluation of Qurʾānic Exegetical Strands, and An Analysis of the Qurʾānic Language and a Methodology of Its Understanding. Furthermore, the introduction of the al-Mīzān exegesis of the Qurʾān and a large portion of the first volume of the Tasnīm exegesis (encompassing ten chapters) are notable contributions. Within the comprehensive exegeses of the Qurʾān produced in the past century, including al-Mīzān, issues such as abrogation (naskh) and the miraculous nature of the Qurʾān have also been addressed under the relevant Qurʾānic verses.