Assistant Professor, Department of Qur'anic and Tradition Sciences, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/mishkat.2024.194049
Abstract
According to most commentators, the common interpretation of the verse "so smite above the necks, and smite every finger of them!" in verse 12 of Surah Anfal, is cutting off the neck and the fingers. The research with a descriptive-analytical method, while examining Shia and Sunni interpretations in different centuries, critically analyzed the popular interpretation of this verse, and by reflecting the meanings of the verse words and relying on the register and other clues, a different approach is provided. According to this approach, the audience is angels, not believers; on the basis of God's providence, while making peace for the believers, they surround the infidels by creating terror and take away the power from them and cut off their hands from any effective action. The result of this research and interpretation can be another reason to reject the Islamophobia and the accusation Islam to violence.