Comparative Analysis of the Interpretive Responses of Allameh Tabatabaei and Ayatollah Javadi Amoli to the Major Sunni Objections Concerning the Verse of Wilayah
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Assistant Professor, Department of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Ilam University
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Full Professor, Ilam University
10.22091/ptt.2026.14547.2553
Abstract
Verse 55 of Sūrat al-Māʾidah is among the most contested Qurʾānic verses in Shiʿi–Sunni discourse concerning the relationship between faith, wilāyah, and religious leadership. The primary aim of this study is to provide a comparative analysis of the exegetical responses of Ṭabāṭabāʾī in al-Mīzān and Jawādī Āmulī in Tafsīr Tasnīm to the major Sunni interpretive objections, particularly those related to the meaning of walī and the referent of alladhīna āmanū. This research adopts a descriptive–analytical and comparative methodology, examining six central objections articulated by Sunni exegetes such as Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī and al-Ālūsī. The findings indicate that Ṭabāṭabāʾī, employing a “rational–narrative” exegetical approach grounded in the interpretation of the Qurʾān by the Qurʾān, syntactic analysis, and reliable transmitted reports, conceptualizes wilāyah as a coherent link within the divine–prophetic–ʿAlid chain of authority. In contrast, Jawādī Āmulī, through a “systematic wilāyah-centered” exegetical model, interprets wilāyah as a hierarchical and legislative structure within the post-Prophetic system of guidance of the Muslim community. The study concludes that although both exegetes reject a purely affective understanding of wilāyah and deny the apparent unity of context, they concur on the exclusivity of legislative authority vested in God, the Messenger, and Imam ʿAlī. The divergence in their epistemological reasoning reflects a significant shift in contemporary Shiʿi exegesis from identifying referents toward articulating the structural foundations of wilāyah.
khalilizadeh, M., Mohammadi Anvigh, M., & Akbarnejad, M. (2026). Comparative Analysis of the Interpretive Responses of Allameh Tabatabaei and Ayatollah Javadi Amoli to the Major Sunni Objections Concerning the Verse of Wilayah. Comparative Interpretation Research, (), -. doi: 10.22091/ptt.2026.14547.2553
MLA
morteza khalilizadeh; Mojtaba Mohammadi Anvigh; Mehdi Akbarnejad. "Comparative Analysis of the Interpretive Responses of Allameh Tabatabaei and Ayatollah Javadi Amoli to the Major Sunni Objections Concerning the Verse of Wilayah". Comparative Interpretation Research, , , 2026, -. doi: 10.22091/ptt.2026.14547.2553
HARVARD
khalilizadeh, M., Mohammadi Anvigh, M., Akbarnejad, M. (2026). 'Comparative Analysis of the Interpretive Responses of Allameh Tabatabaei and Ayatollah Javadi Amoli to the Major Sunni Objections Concerning the Verse of Wilayah', Comparative Interpretation Research, (), pp. -. doi: 10.22091/ptt.2026.14547.2553
VANCOUVER
khalilizadeh, M., Mohammadi Anvigh, M., Akbarnejad, M. Comparative Analysis of the Interpretive Responses of Allameh Tabatabaei and Ayatollah Javadi Amoli to the Major Sunni Objections Concerning the Verse of Wilayah. Comparative Interpretation Research, 2026; (): -. doi: 10.22091/ptt.2026.14547.2553
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