Document Type : Academicm and Research
Authors
1 Assistant Professor, Shiraz Faculty of Quranic Sciences, Uloom va Maaref-i Quran-i Karim University, Qom, Iran .Email: zeinabroostaee@yahoo.com
2 Masters in the Exegesis of the Holy Quran, Shiraz Faculty of Quranic Sciences, Uloom va Maaref-i Quran-i Karim University, Qom, Iran. Email: haghighi75z@gmail.com
Abstract
Highlights
The Exegetic Method of Majd al-Bayān and Comparing it to the Exegetic Method of al-Ṣāfī *
Zeinab Roostaei1 and Zahra Mahmoud Haghighi2
1 Assistant Professor, Shiraz Faculty of Quranic Sciences, Uloom va Maaref-i Quran-i Karim University, Qom, Iran (corresponding author). Email: zeinabroostaee@yahoo.com
2 Masters in the Exegesis of the Holy Quran, Shiraz Faculty of Quranic Sciences, Uloom va Maaref-i Quran-i Karim University, Qom, Iran. Email: haghighi75z@gmail.com
Majd al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾan, written by Muhammad Husayn Isfahani, is one of the contemporary exegeses that is similar to Fayz Kashani’s Tafsīr al- Ṣāfī in terms of the early structure of the book, exegetic sources, scientific personality, and inclinations of the exegete. On the other hand, in some instances, Isfahani has been influenced by the views of Fayz. Nevertheless, no study has been performed yet regarding the method of Isfahani in Majd al-Bayān and comparing it to the method of Fayz Kashani in Tafsir Ṣāfī. What methods did Isfahani use and what are the similarities and differences between his work and that of Fayz Kashani? These are questions that this study seeks to answer. This study shows that the narrative, rational-jurisprudential, and literary methods are the three prominent methods used by Isfahani in Majd al-Bayān. Isfahani’s plentiful analyses along with the use of narrations remove this exegesis from among the narrative exegeses. Among the manifestations of the rational-jurisprudential method in Isfahani’s exegesis are the following: considering rationalization to be correct, using the argument method in analyzing issues, considering the types of contexts, conceptual development, and eliminating the particularity of verses. Isfahani’s method is not fixed in literary discussions and he has different methods according to the intent. He believes in the Theory of the Spirit of Meaning in analyzing terms even though his view has some differences in some of the details of this theory with other experts. He has also paid less attention to the topics of the morphology, syntax, and rhetoric of the verses.
Keywords: Tafsīr al- Ṣāfī, exegetic methods, Fayz Kashani, Majd al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾan, Najafi Isfahani
One of the exegeses that have been written in the contemporary age is Majd al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾan by Ayatollah Muhammad Husayn Isfahani, known as Najafi Isfahani and despite the high position of this exegesis among scholars, it is obsolete due to the short life of the exegete and the incompleteness of his book. Thus, it is necessary to introduce, examine, and present the method and inclination of the exegete in this book as well as to study and analyze his views in different Quranic sciences and various interpretative materials. Due to this very necessity, the methods of this exegete in analyzing the verses of the Quran will be examined. A study regarding this exegesis has not been done before this and only a summarized translation of it has been written by Mahdi Haeri Yazdi.
Due to the many similarities between Majd al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾan and Tafsīr al- Ṣāfī as well as the similarity in the academic personalities and inclinations of the two exegetes and Isfahani’s use of the views of Fayz Kashani, a comparison will also be made between these two exegeses. Therefore, the present study strives to find the main exegetic methods of Majd al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾan with proofs and documentation as well as to present the similarities and differences of each of Isfahani’s exegetic methods with that of Fayz Kashani.
After the beginning sermon of the book and explaining the goal and method of his writing, Isfahani explains twelve premises that include his views regarding Quranic sciences and some of his principles in exegesis in short. In the second part, he delves into the exegesis of the Opening Chapter and twenty verses of the Chapter of al-Baqarah. Fayz Kashani has also explained twelve premises at the start of his book and the titles of the premises are similar in both exegeses; however, Fayz Kashani’s premises are much shorter than those that Isfahani has explained. Both exegetes have also acted very similarly in choosing the sources to use in their exegesis.
The exegetic methods of Majd al-Bayān and Tafsīr al- Ṣāfī
In Majd al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾan, the narrative, rational-jurisprudential, and literary methods are prominently seen. The use of the narrative method in the whole of the exegesis is accompanied by the analyses of the exegete. Thus, it is not considered a purely narrative exegesis. The use of narrations in this work is for the interpretations of the terms used in a verse, as proofs to corroborate his exegetic views, the interpretation and analysis of a verse, and to explain the merits of the chapters. Similarly, his method in using narrations is that he has not dedicated a specific part of the exegesis to narrations and narrations have been mentioned by giving references to their source and, in some instances, by relying on memory. He has done very little documentation and contextual examination of narrations and follows the method of comparing narrations against verses. In addition, in many instances, he has tried to resolve the contradictions between narrations. Compared to this exegesis, Tafsīr al- Ṣāfī is also similar regarding the role of narration in explaining the verses, using Shiite sources, and resolving the contradictions between narrations; however, Fayz is closer to a purely narrative exegesis and has also sufficed with citing the gist of narrations in some instances.
The rational-jurisprudential method in Majd al-Bayān manifests in considering reasoning to be right, the intellectual efforts of the exegete, the use of the argument method in analyzing issues, attention to types of contexts, conceptual development, and eliminating the particularity of verses, applying referents, analysis and concept analysis, analyzing and critiquing the views of experts, the precise analysis of narrations, discovering the relationship between verses, and arriving at the macrostructure. Even though Tafsīr al- Ṣāfī possesses a less jurisprudential aspect; however, it is jurisprudential in some aspects due to characteristics such as citing the views of exegetes and expressing his view, having a criterion for selecting narrations, and resolving their contradictions, generalizing the words of the verses, and not stopping at the referents of verses.
The exegete has not chosen a fixed method in the literary part and has used various methods according to the intent he has. His method in analyzing terms is mostly based on the theory of the “Spirit of Meaning” even though he is different regarding some details of this theory from other experts. Similarly, it was found that the volume of the topics of the morphology and syntax of verses as well as their rhetorical analysis is lesser compared to other parts. Fayz Kashani has also acted similarly to Isfahani in literary discussions including morphology, syntax, and rhetoric.
Based on the findings of this study, Majd al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾan has clearly used the narrative method. However, due to the use of rational principles in dealing with narrations as well as their all-round analysis, and not sufficing with merely mentioning narrations in the exegesis of verse, it also possesses a rational method. The author was also not heedless of literary discussions; however, they appear less compared to the previous two methods. Fayz Kashani has also acted similarly in his exegetic method with the difference that Fayz’s use of narrations and method of dealing with them indicates that his main exegetic method is purely narrative with a little indulgence.
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* Received: 2023 Sep 30 | Received in revised from: 2023 Nov 21 | Accepted: 2023 Dec 14 | published online: 2023 Dec 21
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