Validation of the Approaches to Discursive Unveiling of the Intention of the Sūras of the Qur’ān

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Abstract

There are two descriptive and discursive approaches for identifying the intention of the sūra among the interpreters who believe in the existence of a single intention in each sūra of the Qur’ān. In the discursive approach, the interpreter tries to uncover the intention of the sūra with reliance on the intra-textual and extra-textual evidences and explains his quality of gaining access to the intention of the sūra in a well-reasoned and systematical way. The interpreters who have attempted the discursive unveiling of the intention of the sūras have employed six different approaches to this end. Through evaluation and validation of different approaches, the writer tries in this research to specify the degree of validity of each approach in the process of unveiling the purpose of the sūra. In conclusion, he suggests an inclusive approach for unveiling the intention of the sūra.