Recognition of the Concept of Mathānī in the Holy Qur’ān with an Emphasis on Āya 23 of Sūrat al-Zumar

علوم قرآن و حدیث

Article 4, Volume 45, Issue 2 - Serial Number 91, October 2013   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/naqhs.v45i2.12088

Authors

Mahdī Muṭī^* ; Fāṭima ‘Alī‘asgarī

Abstract

The Holy Qur’ān possesses a specific Divine structure and various semantic levels and layers, in which an endless ocean of Divine meanings and knowledge encompassed by evident Arabic letters and words are compiled, introducing itself as ﴾Allah has sent down the best of discourses, a scripture [composed] of similar motif.﴿ (Q. 39:23). The term “mathānī” is among the terms describing the state of the Qur’ān, used by the Qur’ān for the first time to describe itself. Therefore, it is to be attempted to get the concept of mathānī from the Qur’ān itself.
In this respect, presuming as necessary some preliminary actions, the present writing, by searching into the word mathānī, has first considered it as meaning, “flexibility and twist that requires two pivots”, so that a study of the derivatives of the word mathānī in other verses of the Holy Qur’ān would also confirm such a meaning. Then, it goes on to critically review the views of the interpreters and orientalists about the concept of mathānī and, considering that most of the views of the Qur’ān interpreters have originated from an extra-textual outlook and independent from the context of āya 23 of Sūrat al-Zumar, it is intended to recognize the concept of mathānī with regard to the context and climate governing this āya. In conclusion, it is maintained that the Qur’ān as being mathānī represents two manifestation of the Qur’ān; one manifestation is in the Guarded Tablet and the other is the Revealed Qur’ān
in the form of clear Arabic words, which are both a single reality in two forms and manifestations that are related to each other.

Keywords

the Qur’ān; mathānī; interpretation; context; cause of revelation