An Introduction on the Evidences and Indices of the Reference Groups in the Holy Qur’ān
Journal Title: رهیافتهایی در علوم قرآن و حدیث - Year 2014, Vol 46, Issue 92
Abstract
In addition to drawing attention to the individual and social responsibilities, the Holy Qur’ān has also talked about the importance of the social groups and emphasized on the efficacy of groups on individuals and other groups and the impressionability of those individuals and other groups. In the meantime, the reference groups have a significant role in the development and degeneration of individuals and communities. A reference group is a group whom one would set as a criterion for comparison, judgment, and decision making about one’s beliefs and behavior, whether one is a member of that group or not. Reference groups have also been talked about in the Holy Qur’ān, too. The Holy Qur’ān divides reference groups into two general categories: the true reference groups and the false reference groups; and provides indices and evidences for each category to place human beings in a realistic atmosphere so that they may make a true decision on a rational and spiritual basis about becoming a member in any group of the reference groups. Accordingly, the most important indices of true and false reference groups that have a bipolar nature were examined, including: guidance/misguidance, knowledge/ignorance, serving God/serving oneself, justice/injustice. In various verses, the Holy Qur’ān has brought up these indices next to one another so that while drawing attention to the relationship between them, it would emphasize their coherence and influence and effects on one another as subsystems in line with the social and cultural changes of society. According to these indices, the evidences of “the truthful”, “the pious”, etc. can be placed in the true reference groups and the evidences of “the affluent”, “the [Pharaoh’s] elite”, etc. in the false reference groups
Authors and Affiliations
Sayyid MuḥSin MīRsundusī, Sayyid MuṣṭAfā AḥMadzāDa
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP197777
- DOI 10.22067/naqhs.v46i1.10876
- Views 122
- Downloads 0
Word as a Tool to Analyze the Qur‘ān’s Discourse
The Muslim Qur’ān researchers and exegetes have all ben unanimous that any ta’wīl (esoteric interpretation) or commentary of the Book of Allah has to begin with words, which are the only tools for analyzing discourse, or...
Typology of the Manners of Petition (Ḥājat) Prayer: A Prolegomenon to the Historiography of Types
Performing petition prayer, as one of the prevalent rituals in the Islamic culture, has been commonly performed and received attention since long time ago. Various manners and different practices have been noted in diffe...
Critique of a Tradition concerning Signs of Lack of Wisdom
Among the traditions concerning the signs of wisdom, there is a tradition related from Imam al-Ṣādiq (A.S.) introducing the person wearing a long beard, the signet of his ring, and his nickname, as indications of his lac...
The Structure and Expanse of the Qur’ānic Ma‘ārif
The Qur’ān is the last of the Revealed Scriptures that undertakes the guidance of humankind till the end of the history. The continuous development of human life and the appearance of new needs have turned this Divine gu...
Reappraisal of the Abrogation Phenomenon from Abū Zayd’s Point of View
Dr. Naṣr Ḥāmid Abū Zayd is a forward-looking thinker, who has presented viewpoints on the Qur’ānic sciences different from those of the earlier scholars. Studies on abrogation is one of the areas that he has taken into c...