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God’s Meanings or Interpreter’s Meaning? A Case Against Disambiguation

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The Edinburgh Companion to Qur’anic Literary Studies

Swansea University Author: Salwa El-Awa Orcid Logo

Abstract

Ambiguous expressions of all sizes and levels of complexity are commonplace in the Qur’an; they are observable at all planes of text and in various Qur’anic themes and significantly affect interpretation of their meanings. This paper focusses on lexical ambiguity which is studied in tafsīr and ʿulu...

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Published in: The Edinburgh Companion to Qur’anic Literary Studies
Published: Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press 2024
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63040
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This paper focusses on lexical ambiguity which is studied in tafsi&#x304;r and &#x2BF;ulu&#x304;m al-Qur&#x2BE;a&#x304;n under the auspice of alfa&#x304;z&#x323; al-wuju&#x304;h and under al-mushtarak al-lafz&#x323;i&#x304; in us&#x323;u&#x304;l al-fiqh and fiqh al-lughah. Those works include lists of lexical items and exegetical remarks on their variety of meanings and, particularly in tafsi&#x304;r and us&#x323;u&#x304;li&#x304;, arguments leading to disambiguation with the aim of identifying one meaning as &#x2018;al-wajh&#x2019; or &#x2018;ar-ra&#x304;jih&#x323;&#x2019; (plausible) meaning. However, apart from the us&#x323;uli&#x304; distinction between types of lexical items as Mut&#x323;laq (unqualified) and muqayyad (qualified) &#x2BF;a&#x304;m (general) and kha&#x304;s&#x323;s&#x323; (specific), discussion of alfa&#x304;z&#x323; al-wuju&#x304;h is often characterised by a lack of a systematic approach to categorisation of the multiple-meaning words in the Qur&#x2019;an and the source of their ambiguity. Moreover, it does not go much beyond the references to grammatical analysis and usage in pre-Islamic texts, in offering a methodological explanation of how the &#x2018;intended&#x2019; or &#x2018;plausible&#x2019; meanings suggested by the interpreters have been arrived at. Discussions of their interpretations aim to disambiguate those lexical items by eliminating all their possible meanings (wuju&#x304;h) except one as &#x2018;al-wajh&#x2019; or &#x2018;al-ma&#x2BF;na&#x304; ar-ra&#x304;jih&#x323;&#x2019;. The questions perused in this chapter are what type of ambiguity multiple-meaning lexical items in the Qur&#x2019;an exhibit (a question of definition), whether they should be interpreted by resolving or maintaining their ambiguity and the impact of either approach on recipients&#x2019; understanding and application of the text (questions of interpretation). The chapter proposes a combination of a linguistic classification and a pragmatic approach to the interpretation of alfa&#x304;z&#x323; al-wuju&#x304;h and applies it to a number of words found in aya&#x304;t al-ah&#x323;ka&#x304;m contexts. The categorisation is drawn from Zhang (1998) where multiple-meaning words are classified into fuzzy, vague, general and ambiguous. It aims to identify a number of alfa&#x304;z&#x323; al-wuju&#x304;h under each category and propose a clearer understanding of the causes of their ambiguity than that offered by the classical approaches. The process of interpretation is then analysed using a pragmatic Relevance Theory-based approach to identifying the intended meanings and the implications of both disambiguation and maintaining the ambiguity. The chapter concludes that ambiguity in the Qur&#x2019;anic text is an intentional communication tool utilised to broaden the scope of the text and allow wide-ranging applications and that by disambiguating an ambiguous expression without an explicit textual indication, the interpreter would be unjustifiably narrowing down the text&#x2019;s intended broad range of meanings and thus defying the purpose for which the text is formed the way it is.</abstract><type>Book chapter</type><journal>The Edinburgh Companion to Qur&#x2019;anic Literary Studies</journal><volume/><journalNumber/><paginationStart/><paginationEnd/><publisher>Edinburgh University Press</publisher><placeOfPublication>Edinburgh</placeOfPublication><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic/><keywords/><publishedDay>31</publishedDay><publishedMonth>12</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2024</publishedYear><publishedDate>2024-12-31</publishedDate><doi/><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Modern Languages</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>AMOD</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>Other</apcterm><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2023-03-28T13:32:24.5280100</lastEdited><Created>2023-03-28T13:25:03.0514646</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2"/></path><authors><author><firstname>Salwa</firstname><surname>El-Awa</surname><orcid>0000-0002-1879-633X</orcid><order>1</order></author></authors><documents/><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2023-03-28T13:32:24.5280100 v2 63040 2023-03-28 God’s Meanings or Interpreter’s Meaning? A Case Against Disambiguation 405f7cf25595f68f9bff6c5af640fdda 0000-0002-1879-633X Salwa El-Awa Salwa El-Awa true false 2023-03-28 AMOD Ambiguous expressions of all sizes and levels of complexity are commonplace in the Qur’an; they are observable at all planes of text and in various Qur’anic themes and significantly affect interpretation of their meanings. This paper focusses on lexical ambiguity which is studied in tafsīr and ʿulūm al-Qurʾān under the auspice of alfāẓ al-wujūh and under al-mushtarak al-lafẓī in uṣūl al-fiqh and fiqh al-lughah. Those works include lists of lexical items and exegetical remarks on their variety of meanings and, particularly in tafsīr and uṣūlī, arguments leading to disambiguation with the aim of identifying one meaning as ‘al-wajh’ or ‘ar-rājiḥ’ (plausible) meaning. However, apart from the uṣulī distinction between types of lexical items as Muṭlaq (unqualified) and muqayyad (qualified) ʿām (general) and khāṣṣ (specific), discussion of alfāẓ al-wujūh is often characterised by a lack of a systematic approach to categorisation of the multiple-meaning words in the Qur’an and the source of their ambiguity. Moreover, it does not go much beyond the references to grammatical analysis and usage in pre-Islamic texts, in offering a methodological explanation of how the ‘intended’ or ‘plausible’ meanings suggested by the interpreters have been arrived at. Discussions of their interpretations aim to disambiguate those lexical items by eliminating all their possible meanings (wujūh) except one as ‘al-wajh’ or ‘al-maʿnā ar-rājiḥ’. The questions perused in this chapter are what type of ambiguity multiple-meaning lexical items in the Qur’an exhibit (a question of definition), whether they should be interpreted by resolving or maintaining their ambiguity and the impact of either approach on recipients’ understanding and application of the text (questions of interpretation). The chapter proposes a combination of a linguistic classification and a pragmatic approach to the interpretation of alfāẓ al-wujūh and applies it to a number of words found in ayāt al-aḥkām contexts. The categorisation is drawn from Zhang (1998) where multiple-meaning words are classified into fuzzy, vague, general and ambiguous. It aims to identify a number of alfāẓ al-wujūh under each category and propose a clearer understanding of the causes of their ambiguity than that offered by the classical approaches. The process of interpretation is then analysed using a pragmatic Relevance Theory-based approach to identifying the intended meanings and the implications of both disambiguation and maintaining the ambiguity. The chapter concludes that ambiguity in the Qur’anic text is an intentional communication tool utilised to broaden the scope of the text and allow wide-ranging applications and that by disambiguating an ambiguous expression without an explicit textual indication, the interpreter would be unjustifiably narrowing down the text’s intended broad range of meanings and thus defying the purpose for which the text is formed the way it is. Book chapter The Edinburgh Companion to Qur’anic Literary Studies Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh 31 12 2024 2024-12-31 COLLEGE NANME Modern Languages COLLEGE CODE AMOD Swansea University Other 2023-03-28T13:32:24.5280100 2023-03-28T13:25:03.0514646 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Salwa El-Awa 0000-0002-1879-633X 1
title God’s Meanings or Interpreter’s Meaning? A Case Against Disambiguation
spellingShingle God’s Meanings or Interpreter’s Meaning? A Case Against Disambiguation
Salwa El-Awa
title_short God’s Meanings or Interpreter’s Meaning? A Case Against Disambiguation
title_full God’s Meanings or Interpreter’s Meaning? A Case Against Disambiguation
title_fullStr God’s Meanings or Interpreter’s Meaning? A Case Against Disambiguation
title_full_unstemmed God’s Meanings or Interpreter’s Meaning? A Case Against Disambiguation
title_sort God’s Meanings or Interpreter’s Meaning? A Case Against Disambiguation
author_id_str_mv 405f7cf25595f68f9bff6c5af640fdda
author_id_fullname_str_mv 405f7cf25595f68f9bff6c5af640fdda_***_Salwa El-Awa
author Salwa El-Awa
author2 Salwa El-Awa
format Book chapter
container_title The Edinburgh Companion to Qur’anic Literary Studies
publishDate 2024
institution Swansea University
publisher Edinburgh University Press
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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description Ambiguous expressions of all sizes and levels of complexity are commonplace in the Qur’an; they are observable at all planes of text and in various Qur’anic themes and significantly affect interpretation of their meanings. This paper focusses on lexical ambiguity which is studied in tafsīr and ʿulūm al-Qurʾān under the auspice of alfāẓ al-wujūh and under al-mushtarak al-lafẓī in uṣūl al-fiqh and fiqh al-lughah. Those works include lists of lexical items and exegetical remarks on their variety of meanings and, particularly in tafsīr and uṣūlī, arguments leading to disambiguation with the aim of identifying one meaning as ‘al-wajh’ or ‘ar-rājiḥ’ (plausible) meaning. However, apart from the uṣulī distinction between types of lexical items as Muṭlaq (unqualified) and muqayyad (qualified) ʿām (general) and khāṣṣ (specific), discussion of alfāẓ al-wujūh is often characterised by a lack of a systematic approach to categorisation of the multiple-meaning words in the Qur’an and the source of their ambiguity. Moreover, it does not go much beyond the references to grammatical analysis and usage in pre-Islamic texts, in offering a methodological explanation of how the ‘intended’ or ‘plausible’ meanings suggested by the interpreters have been arrived at. Discussions of their interpretations aim to disambiguate those lexical items by eliminating all their possible meanings (wujūh) except one as ‘al-wajh’ or ‘al-maʿnā ar-rājiḥ’. The questions perused in this chapter are what type of ambiguity multiple-meaning lexical items in the Qur’an exhibit (a question of definition), whether they should be interpreted by resolving or maintaining their ambiguity and the impact of either approach on recipients’ understanding and application of the text (questions of interpretation). The chapter proposes a combination of a linguistic classification and a pragmatic approach to the interpretation of alfāẓ al-wujūh and applies it to a number of words found in ayāt al-aḥkām contexts. The categorisation is drawn from Zhang (1998) where multiple-meaning words are classified into fuzzy, vague, general and ambiguous. It aims to identify a number of alfāẓ al-wujūh under each category and propose a clearer understanding of the causes of their ambiguity than that offered by the classical approaches. The process of interpretation is then analysed using a pragmatic Relevance Theory-based approach to identifying the intended meanings and the implications of both disambiguation and maintaining the ambiguity. The chapter concludes that ambiguity in the Qur’anic text is an intentional communication tool utilised to broaden the scope of the text and allow wide-ranging applications and that by disambiguating an ambiguous expression without an explicit textual indication, the interpreter would be unjustifiably narrowing down the text’s intended broad range of meanings and thus defying the purpose for which the text is formed the way it is.
published_date 2024-12-31T04:23:30Z
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