Analysis of Bassam al-Jamal Approach to the Causes of Revelation of Quranic Verses

Abstract

The interaction between the Qur'an and the events of the time is a subject that has been considered by scholars since the beginning of the formation of the Qur'anic sciences. The commentators of the Qur'an have always expressed and analyzed the narrations that the causes of revelation of verses and have used it to understand the verse; However, the emergence of modern thinker theories paved the way for changes in Qur'anic studies and everyone was encouraged to study the historical Qur'an as a novel method and a range of views and opinions have emerged among scholars and thinkers of Qur'anic studies in this field. Despite the denial of the need for causes of revelation of verses in the understanding of some modern thinkers, some considered knowledge of the cause of revelation necessary in understanding verses. By presenting a new reading of the knowledge of the causes of revelation, Bassam al-Jamal has gone beyond traditional views and believes that understanding a small number of verses depends on knowing the cause of revelation. In the present study, by descriptive-analytical method, the manner of dealing with the knowledge of the causes of revelation is investigated. The most important findings indicate that Bassam al-Jamal, by carefully considering the factors as well as the stages of formation of the science of revelation, emphasizes the effect of narrations causes of the revelation on the interpretation of verses in the evolution of the history of interpretation and believes in the symbolization of the reports indicating the causes of revelation.