MISHKAT

MISHKAT

A Metatextual Analysis of Interpretative Disagreements in the Sixth and Seventh Centuries AH with Emphasis on Najm Surah, Verse 2

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Seyyed Ruhollah Tabatabaei Nadushan
PhD, Nahjul-Balagha Sciences and Education, Meybod University, Meybod, Iran
10.22034/mishkat.2026.539928.2613
Abstract
The second verse of Najm Surah (your comrade is not astray, neither errs,), despite its explicitly that denies any misguidance or error on the part of the Prophet (S.A.W.), has been an arena for various and even contradictory interpretations in the Islamic thought history, and has become a focus for theological ruptures. This research, using an analytical-comparative approach, explores three fundamental gaps in the interpretation of this verse in the sixth and seventh centuries AH: 1. Semantic discontinuity in the interpretation of the word "errs", 2. Contradiction in the narratives of the revelation cause as a reproduction of power discourses, and 3. Silence on the infallibility issue despite the inherent implications of the verse, which was due to theological limitations and defensive priorities of that era. The findings suggest that these three ruptures are interconnected loops in a hermeneutic system that has been shaped by the religious preconceptions of the interpreters, the dominant discursive authorities, and the limiting historical frameworks. This research, by going beyond the mere description of the differences, presents a systematic model for explaining the logic underlying the interpretability of religious texts in the context of theological disputes.
Keywords
Najm Surah
Qur&‌‌‌rsquo
an hermeneutics
theological ruptures
religious preconceptions
historical horizon
textual authority
Subjects
1.      Cross, F. L. and Livingstone, E. A., "infallibility" in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Oxford University Press, Oxford, .1997
2.      Foucault, Michel, The Archaeology of Knowledge, Routledge, .1972
3.      Gadamer, Hans-Georg, Truth and Method, Translated by Joel Weinsheimer and Donald G. Marshall. 2nd revised edition, Continuum, London,2004.
4.      Guzman ,Gregory G, "Were the barbarians a negative or positive factor in ancient and medieval history?", The historian 50, 568-70, 1988.
5.      Guillaume , Alfred, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of ibn Isḥāq's Sīrat Rasul Allāh, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1955.
6.      Heidegger, Martin, Being and Time, Translator: John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson, Harper Collins, 1962.
7.      Hirsch, Eric Donald, Validity in Interpretation ,   Yale University Press, New Haven 1967.
8.      . Hofstede, Geert, Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, McGraw-Hill Book Company, London, 1991.
9.      Lammi, Walter, Hans- Georg Gadamer's “correction“ "of Heidegger, Journal of the History of Ideas" Vol.52, No .3, University of Pennsylvania Press, .1991
10.   Makdisi, G. (1981). The rise of colleges: Institutions of learning in Islam and the West. Edinburgh University Press.
11.   Somers, M. R, "The Narrative Constitution of Identity: A Relational and Network Approach", Theory and Society, 23(5), pp. 605–649, 1994.