Tafsir or Speculative Interpretation: The Criticisms Levelled at the Validity and Content of the Riwayas about the Location and Persons Mentioned in the Parable of the Companions of the City
| dc.contributor.author | Sicak, Ahmet Sait | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-09-18T20:59:16Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-09-18T20:59:16Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021 | |
| dc.department | Hatay Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | The parable of the Companions of the City (A ab al-Qarya) was narrated in the 13rd-29th verses in Sura Ya-sin, yet the location and persons mentioned are left vague. In this article, the possibility of dispelling the vagueness regarding the parable of the Companions of the City will be tried, and comments and their objectivity in the tafsir tradition will be presented. In this study, it was found that first period mufassirun tried to elucidate the vagueness about the parable and offered a number of riwayas. This study focuses on preferences among riwayas made in 4th century of Hijra and criticism levelled at information regarding the parable in the 6th and 7th centuries of Hijra. Such criticism was made on the basis of literal meanings of the verses, the New Testament, historical information and Islamic theology. All the information gained from Qur an, hadith, the New Testament, history, geography, and archaeology until this day neither fully confirms riwayahs about the parable nor definitely refutes them. Based on comments made about the parable and the investigation made in this article, it was found in this study that in tafsir, trusting transmissions (riwayas) unconditionally can be misleading. In the same extent absolute trust in elements of logical deduction, criticisms and sagacity (diraya) without an objective foundation can also veil the truth. Extended Summary The science of tafsir aims at clarifying the meaning of the Holy Qur an to its addressees. Throughout the history of Qur anic tafsir, some interpretations commentators made have led to a cloud of secrecy over the intended message of the holy book. Although they were carried out in good intentions and contained no piece of information that is absolutely wrong, such interpretations may be called speculative interpretations. They refer to baseless comments which do not serve any purpose in helping their addressees comprehend the main message of the verses (divine will) and are not grounded in real life, though they have expressed a great deal both theoretically and conceptually. Although a partial benefit of such interpretations is mentioned in the tafsir tradition, their results are not on a par with the efforts made by mufassirun and even they lead commentators and their readers to waste a lot of time and energy. The parable of the Companions of the City (a man coming from the farthest part of the City) was narrated in the verses 13-29 in Surat Yasin, yet the location, time and persons mentioned are left vague in the verses of this surat. Made by using elements of transmission (riwaya) and sagacity (diraya) without precise information, all the explanations and interpretations of the parable are considered excellent examples which show mufassirs' understanding of Tafsir, deeper meanings elements of sagacity (diraya) add to tafsir, and speculative interpretations incorporated into them. In this article, the possibility of dispelling the vagueness regarding the parable of the Companions of the City will be tried and comments and their objectivity in the tafsir tradition will be presented. What is intended in this study is to protect the readers from unwarranted debates and piles of information which have been accumulated in the tafsir books throughout the history and which run the risk of taking the attention of the readers away from the divine will. In doing so, it is aimed that readers will concentrate on the main message of the Qur an. In this regard, this study draws on not only various tafsir sources but also sources of kalam and history and maintains a multidisciplinary approach to the issue so as to clarify the intended meaning of the parable. In this study, it was found that first period mufassirun tried to elucidate the vagueness about the parable and offered a number of riwayas. Such riwayas mainly center on claims that Antioch was the city from which the messengers came and the prophets were either messengers of Allah or three disciples of Jesus along with their names. This study focuses on preferences among these riwayas made in 4th century of Hijra and criticism levelled at information regarding the parable in the 6th and 7th centuries of Hijra. Such criticisms were made on the basis of literal meanings of the verses, the New Testament, historical information and Islamic theology. All the information gleaned from Qur an, hadith, the New Testament, history, geography, and archaeology until this day neither fully confirms riwayas about the parable, nor definitely refutes them. The reasons why criticisms made and information narrated fail to help mufassirs get a better understanding of the parable are as follows: a) reducing the purpose of parable narrated in the Qur an to historicity, b) identifying pertinent points regarding the parable as irrelevant and leaving them out, c) failing to act on concrete information and instead mistaking the means for the end, d) making inferences by using false and imprecise information, e) basing one's claims on weak evidence while refusing others the right to use similar proofs, f) making weak generalizations, g) failing to gain access to the early resources while interpreting the parables, and h) attributing the mistakes in the sources in later centuries to the first riwayas. Based on comments made about the parable and the investigation made in this article, it was found in this study that in tafsir, unconditionally trusting transmissions (riwayas) can be misleading. In the same extent absolute trust in elements of logical deduction, criticisms and sagacity (diraya) without an objective foundation can also veil the truth. Without objective information acquired after considerable effort was made, presenting speculative interpretations on the basis of possibilities will bear no fruit, which would be a great waste of effort and time. Furthermore, the inaccuracy of some of the information narrated prevented the making of reasonable inferences. Obtaining objective information will make taking into consideration even small details precious in addition to eventual aim, message, meaning and other related elements of discourse. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.29288/ilted.885871 | |
| dc.identifier.endpage | 63 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2458-7508 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2602-3946 | |
| dc.identifier.issue | 55 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.startpage | 39 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.trdizinid | 1149029 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://doi.org/10.29288/ilted.885871 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://search.trdizin.gov.tr/tr/yayin/detay/1149029 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12483/12484 | |
| dc.identifier.wos | WOS:000668199300003 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.wosquality | N/A | en_US |
| dc.indekslendigikaynak | Web of Science | en_US |
| dc.indekslendigikaynak | TR-Dizin | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | tr | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Ataturk Univ | en_US |
| dc.relation.ispartof | Ilahiyat Tetkikleri Dergisi-Journal of Ilahiyat Researches | en_US |
| dc.relation.publicationcategory | Makale - Uluslararası Hakemli Dergi - Kurum Öğretim Elemanı | en_US |
| dc.rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess | en_US |
| dc.subject | Tafsir | en_US |
| dc.subject | Speculative Interpretation | en_US |
| dc.subject | Vagueness of Meaning | en_US |
| dc.subject | Mubhamat al-Qur an | en_US |
| dc.subject | Yasin | en_US |
| dc.subject | A ab al-Qarya | en_US |
| dc.subject | Antioch | en_US |
| dc.subject | Rasul | en_US |
| dc.subject | Apostle | en_US |
| dc.title | Tafsir or Speculative Interpretation: The Criticisms Levelled at the Validity and Content of the Riwayas about the Location and Persons Mentioned in the Parable of the Companions of the City | en_US |
| dc.type | Article | en_US |
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