Comparative Studies of Quran

Comparative Studies of Quran

A Comparative Analysis of the expression “Yawma Yukshafu ‘an Sāqin” and the Validation of the Narrations below it in the Sources of the Two Schools of Thought

Document Type : review paper

Author
Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The expression “Yawma Yukshafu ‘an Sāqin” (Qur’an 68:42) is one of the metaphorical verses of the Qur'ān that have been the point of disagreement among the Qur’anic exegetes and its meaning has not been properly explained. The Sunni exegetical sources, based on some narrations attributed to the Prophet (PBUHH), have considered the intended meaning of the verse to refer to the incarnation of God on the Day of Judgment, and they believe that God will reveal His leg on that day. There are other meanings in the exegetical sources of the two schools of thought that do not conform to the context of the verse. 
The present article using a critical-descriptive method aims to criticize the narrations quoted under the verse and find a suitable meaning based on the context of the verses in an attempt to provide an answer to the question, ‘What is the most appropriate meaning of the expression “Yawma Yukshafu ‘An Sāqin”’? For this purpose, after expressing and analyzing the opinions of the Qur’anic exegetes of the two schools of thought on the interpretation of the verse, it is obvious that the expression was addressed to the polytheists who denied the truthfulness of the Prophet's message and they were promised that they will witness the revealed facts on the Day of Judgment. It is therefore better to consider the meaning of “removing the dress and revealing the leg” as a metaphor which means the revelation of hidden truths. That given meaning contradicts the context of the verses, and authentic narrations and the use of this recent meaning in Arabic poetry also confirm its preference over other meanings.
Keywords

Subjects


The Holy Qur’ān
1. Ālūsī, Maḥmūd ibn ‘Abd Allāh (1415 AH): “Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī fī Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-‘Azīm wa al-Sab’ al-Mathānī”, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyyah.
2. Bahrami, Muhammad Hossein, Miqdadi Davoudi, Abbas, Miqdadi Davoudi, Mahdi (1398 SH): "I‘tibār sanji khabar wāḥid dar fiqh wa tafsīr bā ta’kīd bar naẓari Ayatollah Fadil Lankarani" [Validation of solitary Hadith in Fiqh and Tafsīr, with an emphasis on the opinion of Ayatollah Fadil Lankarani], Research Journal of Comparative Hadith Sciences, 6 (11), 47-66.
3. Bahrānī, Hāshim ibn Sulaiman (1416 AH): “Al-Burhān Tafsīr fī al-Qur’ān”, Tehran: Bunyad Bi’that.
4. Bayḍāwī, ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar (1418 AH): “Anwār al-Tanzīl wa asrār al-Ta’wīl”, Beirut: Dār Iḥyā Al-Turāth Al-‘Arabī.
5. Faḍlullah, Seyyed Muḥammad Hossein (1419 A.H): “Tafsīr min Waḥy al-Qur'ān”, Beirut: Dār Al-Milak Publisher.
6. Fakhr Rāzī, Muḥammad ibn ‘Umar (1420 AH): “Mafātiḥ Al-Ghayb”, Beirut: Dār Iḥyā Al-Turāth Al-‘Arabī.
7. Farāhidī, Khalīl ibn Aḥmad (1409 AH): “Kitab al-Ain”, Qom: Hijrat Publisher
8. Fayḍ Kāshānī, Molla Muḥsin (1415 AH): “Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī”, Tehran: Sadr Publications.
9. Ḥākim Neishabūri, Muḥammad ibn Abdullah (1420 AH): “Al-Mustadrak 'ala al-Ṣahihayn”, Beirut: Maktabah al-‘Aṣriyah.
10. Ḥuwayzī, ‘Abd ‘Ali ibn Juma’ (1415 AH): “Tafsīr Nūr al-Thaqalain”, Qom: Ismā’iliyān Publications.
11. Ibn ‘Ᾱshūr, Muḥammad Ṭāhir (n.d): “Al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr”, Beirut: Mu’ssasat al-Tārikh.
12. Ibn al-Sa’ūd, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad (n.d): “Irshād al-‘Aql al-Salīm ila mazāyā al-Qur’ān al-Karīm”, Beirut: Dār Iḥyā Al-Turāth Al-‘Arabī.
13. Ibn Babawey, Muḥammad ibn ‘Ali (1398 AH): “Al-Tawḥīd”, Qom: Jāmi’ah Mudarrisīn, Qom Seminary”,
14. Ibn Fāris, Aḥmad ibn Zakariya (1404 AH): “Mu‘jam Maqāyīs al-Luqqah”, Annotator: ‘Abd al-Salām Muḥammad. Qom: Daftat Tabliqāt. 
15. Ibn Kathīr Damashqi, Ismā'īl ibn ‘Umar (1419 AH): “Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-Azīm”, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyyah.
16. Ibn ShahrĀshūb, Muḥammad ibn ‘Ali (1410 AH): “Mutashābih al-Qur’ān wa Mukhtalafihi”, Qom: Dār al-Bidār Publications.
17. Ma’rifat, Muḥammad Hādi (1380 SH): “Al-Tamhīd fī ‘Ulūm al-Qur'ān”, Qom: Tamhīd Publications.
18. Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir et al (1374 SH): “Tafsīr Nemuneh”, Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah.
19. Meybudī, Aḥmad ibn Abi Muḥammad (1371 SH): “Kashf al-Asrār wa ‘Iddat-e-Abrār”, Tehran: AmirKabir Publications.
20. Muḥammad RayShahri, Muḥammad (1397 SH): “Shanākht-nāne Ḥadith”, Qom: Dār Al- Ḥadith.
21. Muṣṭafawī, Ḥasan (1360 SH): “Al-Taḥqīq fī Kalimāt al-Qur'ān”, Tehran: Book Translation and Publishing Company.
22. Nasāi, Aḥmad ibn Ali (1410 AH): “Tafsir al-Nasāi”, Beirut: Institute of Cultural Books.
23. Neishabūri Niẓām al-Din, Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad (1416 AH): “Tafsīr Gharīb al-Qur’ān wa Raghā’ib al-Furqān”, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah.
24. Qurṭubī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad (1364 SH): “Al-Jāmi’u li-Aḥkām al-Qur'ān”, Tehran: Nasser Khosro.
25. Rāghib Iṣfaḥānī, Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad (1412 AH): “Mufradat fī Gharīb al-Qur’ān”, Beirut: Dār al-Ilm.
26. Shaokāni, Muḥammad ibn ‘Ali (1414 AH): “Fatḥ al-Qadīr”, Beirut: Dār al-Kalim al-Ṭayyib.
27. Suyūti, Jalāl al-Dīn (1404 A.H): “Al-Durr al-Manthūr Fī al-Tafsīr al-Mathur”, Qom: Ayatollah Mar’ashī Najafī (r.a) Library. 
28. Ṭabarī, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr (1412 AH): “Jāmi’u al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al- Qur'ān”,  Beirut: Dar al-Ma’rifah. 
29. Ṭabarsī, Faḍl ibn Ḥasan (1372 SH): “Majma’ Bayān fī Tafsīr al- Qur'ān”, Tehran:  Nasser Khosro.
30. Ṭabāṭabāī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn (1417 AH): “Al-Mīzān Fī al-Tafsīr al- Qur'ān”, Qom: Intishārāt Islami, Jāmi’ah Mudarrisīn, Qom Seminary.
31. Ṭayyib, Seyyed ibn al-Husayn (1378 SH): “Aṭyab al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qur'ān”, Tehran: Islam Publications.
32. Ṭūsī, Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan (1367 SH): “Al-Tibyān fī Tafsīr al- Qur'ān”, Beirut: Dār Iḥyā Al-Turāth Al-‘Arabī.
33. Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd ibn ‘Umar (1407 AH): “Al-Kashshaf 'an Ḥaqā'iq ghawamid al-Tanzil wa 'uyun al-Aqāwīl fī wujuh al-Ta'wīl”, Beirut: Dār al-Kitab Al-‘Arabī. 
Volume 8, Issue 2 - Serial Number 16
January 2024
Pages 210-229

  • Receive Date 06 September 2023
  • Revise Date 18 February 2024
  • Accept Date 04 November 2023
  • Publish Date 22 December 2023