Comparative Study of the Commentaries on the Verse "God does not change what any people may have until they change whatever they themselves have ... "(Q:XIII-ll)based on the Concept of Social Convention in Historical Eras

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Professor of Tehran University

2 Ph.D. Student in Quran and Hadith sciences of Ferdosi University at Mashad

Abstract

The development of social sciences has given new explanations for the cause
of different commentaries on a text in different historical eras. The concept of
social convention and its affect on understanding a text is one of these views.
Using this concept,we can contribute to the better understanding of the
changing interpretation of Quran in the Muslim history. in this article we
have considered exegetes' view on the verse ".God does not change what any
people may have until they change whatever they themselves
have ... "(Q:XIIJ-ll ),classifyiedit and analyzed it according to the concept of
social convention. Our study reveals that in the contemporary era,due to
Muslim's revival and the introduction of reformist movement, a new
interpretation of the word change(tagyiir)in the above mentioned verse has
been seen i.e. change from the bad condition to a good one,while the word
was interpreted earlier as change from good conditions to a bad one. With
regard to the historical study of the social grounds for such a change in the
contemporary commentaries, this article has introduced "positive aspect of
change" as the social convention effective in the development of this new
understanding of the verse.
         

Keywords