Interpretive Analysis of the Term "Sabīl" in Verse 141 of Surah al-Nisāʾ: A Critique of Common Views and the Presentation of a Novel Theory

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Lecturer, Department of Islamic Education, Farhangian University, Iran, Tehran.

Abstract

The present study examines the interpretation of the term "Sabīl" in verse 141 of Surah al-Nisāʾ (And Allah will never grant the disbelievers a way over the believers) and, through a descriptive-analytical approach grounded in principles of Ijtihād, evaluates the implication of this term within the linguistic structure and contextual setting of the verse. A review of previous scholarship shows that exegetes and jurists have interpreted "Sabīl" in various senses, including: authority in the Hereafter, doctrinal and legislative authority, psychological domination, or absolute domination in general. However, a critical analysis of these interpretations reveals that some of them are inconsistent with the apparent meaning of the verse and involve conflating divine ordainment with social and historical realities.
Focusing on the relationship between the lexical meaning of "Sabīl" and the role of syntactic and contextual elements of the verse, especially the construction "Lil Kāfirīna ʿalā al-Muʾminīna," (for the disbelievers over the believers) this study argues that the central implication of the verse is the negation of God’s establishment of paths and mechanisms that produce domination, rather than the negation of all means and instruments that exist in the world. The findings indicate that this reinterpretation, while preserving consistency with the apparent meaning of the verse, provides a more precise analytical framework for understanding divine intent and reduces previous exegetical tensions.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Diyari Bidgoli, M; Davari, R. (2021 AD/1400 SH). "The Impact of the Verse of Nafy al-Sabīl on the Foreign Policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Qur’anic Maʿārif Research Journal. (44), 7-40.
Faghani, M; Momeni, A; Mosleh, M. (2026 AD/1405 SH). "Jurisprudential-legal Study of Employing and Utilizing non-Muslims’ Capacities in an Islamic Government Based on a New Interpretation of the Verse of Nafy al-Sabīl." Jurisprudential Research Journal. 22(1), 34-43.
Farāhīdī, Kh. (1988 AD/1409 AH). Kitāb al-ʿAyn. Qom: N.n.
Fakhr Rāzī, M. (1999 AD/1420 AH). al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr (Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb). Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī.
Fayyūmī, A. (1993 AD/1414 AH). al-Miṣbāḥ al-Munīr fī Gharīb al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr. 2nd Ed. Qom: Dār al-Hijrah.
Haji Ali, F. (2007 AD/1386 SH). Reflection on the Verse of Nafy al-Sabīl with Emphasis on the Meaning of Sabīl." Journal of Qur’anic and Hadith Studies. 4(2), 129.
Ḥalabī, I. (1996 AD/1417 AH). Ghanīyat al-Nuzūʿ ilā ʿIlmīy al-Uṣūl wa al-Furūʿ." Qom: Imam Sadiq (AS) Institute.
Ḥillī, A. (1993 AD/1414 AH). Tadhkirat al-Fuqahāʾ. Qom: Ahl al-Bayt Institute.
Heidari, M. (2023 AD/1402 SH). "Criteria of the Principle of Dignity and Nafy al-Sabīl from the Perspective of Respected Exegetes." Social Science Studies. 9(4), 149-160.
Rāghib Iṣfahānī, H. (1991 AD/1412 AH). Mufradāt Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān. 1st ed. Beirut: Dār al-ʿIlm - al-Dār al-Shāmiyyah.
Ḥurr ʿĀmilī, M. (1988 AD/1409 AH). Wasāʾil al-Shīʿa. Qom: N.p.
Sabzevari, A. (n.d.). Tahdhīb al-Uṣūl. Qom: al-Manār Institute.
Sulṭān ʿAlī Shāh, S. (1987 AD/1408 AH). Bayān al-Saʿādah fī Maqāmāt al-ʿIbādah. Beirut: al-Aʿlamī Publications Institute.
Ibn Ashʿath, M. (n.d.). al-Jaʿfarīyāt (al-Ashʿathīyāt). Tehran: N.n.
Ibn Jawzī, A. (2001 AD/1422 AH). Zād al-Masīr fī ʿIlm al-Tafsīr. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī.
Ibn Fāris, A. (1983 AD/1404 AH). Muʿjam Maqāyīs al-Lughah. Qom: Office for Islamic Propagation of the Seminary.
Ibn Kathīr, I. (1998 AD/1419 AH). Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah.
Ibn Manẓūr, M. (1993 AD/1414 AH). Lisān al-ʿArab. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr lil-Ṭibāʿah wa al-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ & Dār Ṣādir.
Ibn Shahr Āshūb, R. (1949 AD/1369 AH). Mutashābih al-Qurʾān wa Mukhtalifuhu. Qom: Dar al-Bidar lil Nashr.
Kashshī, M. (1983 AD/1404 AH). Ikhtīyār Maʿrifat al-Rijāl. 2 vols. 1st Ed. Qom: Ahl al-Bayt Institute for Revival of Heritage.
Kohantorabi, M; Fartoosi, H. (2022 AD/1401 SH). "Re-examining the Theoretical and Practical Challenges of the Principle of Nafy al-Sabīl." Comparative Studies of Jurisprudence and Principles of Islamic Schools. 5(2), 22-41.
Khuʼī, A. (1996 AD/1417 AH). Muḥāḍirāt fī Uṣūl al-Fiqh. 4th Ed. Qom: Foundation for reviving the works of Imam al-Khuʼī.
Mazandarani, A. (1994 AD/1415 AH). Dalīl Taḥrīr al-Wasīlah – Iḥyāʾ al-Mawāt wa al-Luqatah. Qom: Islamic Publishing Office of the Seminary Teachers Society.
Muhammadi, A. (2022 AD/1401 SH). "Prohibition of Domination of Unbelievers over Islamic Lands from a Jurisprudential Perspective." New Horizons in Political Jurisprudence. (12), 125-138.
Mughnīyah, M. (2003 AD/1424 AH). al-Tafsīr al-Kāshif. Qom: Dār al-Kitāb al-Islāmī.
Mughnīyah, M. (2004 AD/1425 AH). al-Tafsīr al-Mubīn. Qom: Dār al-Kitāb al-Islāmī.
Makarem Shirazi, N. (1992 AD/1371 SH). Tafsir Nemooneh. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyyah.
Muʾmin Qummī, A. (2000 AD/1421 AH). Jāmiʿ al-Khilāf wa al-Wifāq. Qom: Zamīnah Sāzān Ẓuhūr al-Imām al-Mahdī.
Mūsawī Khūʾī, A. (n.d.). Miṣbāḥ al-Faqāhah (al-Makāsib). N.p.: N.p.
Nāʾīnī, M. (1973 AD/1352 SH). Ajwad al-Taqrīrāt. 1st Ed. Qom: al-ʿIrfān Press.
Nāʾīnī, M. (1992 AD/1413 AH). al-Makāsib wa al-Bayʿ. Qom: Islamic Publishing Office of the Seminary Teachers Society.
Muṣṭafawī, H. (1981 AD/1402 AH). al-Taḥqīq fī Kalimāt al-Qurʾān al-Karīm. 1st Ed. 14 Vols. Tehran: Markaz al-Kitab lil-Tarjamah wa al-Nashr.
Muẓaffar, M. (2008 AD/1387 SH). Uṣūl al-Fiqh. (5th ed., with commentary by Zarʿī). Qom: Boostan Ketab, Office for Islamic Propagation Publishing.
Nahavandi, M. (2007 AD/1386 SH). Nafahāt al-Raḥmān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: al-Baʿtha Institute, Printing and Publishing Center.
Najafī, M. (1983 AD/1404 AH). Jawāhir al-Kalām fī Sharḥ Sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī.
Omidi Naqlbari, M. (2024 AD/1403 SH). "Civilizational Requirements and Capacities of the Verse of Nafy al-Sabīl." Islamic Government. (113), 87-114.
Bakhshi Shahrokhabadi, H; Ahmadi, M; Askari, A. (2024 AD/1403 SH). "Comparative Study of the Principle of Nafy al-Sabīl from the Perspective of Imami and Sunni Jurists." New Achievements in Public Law. 3(9), 21-34.
Bayḍāwī, A. (1997 AD/1418 AH). Anwār al-Tanzīl wa Asrār al-Taʾwīl. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī.
Qāsimī, J. (1997 AD/1418 AH). Tafsīr al-Qāsimī (Maḥāsin al-Taʾwīl). Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah.
Qurṭubī, M. (1985 AD/1364 SH). al-Jāmiʿ li Aḥkām al-Qurʾān. Tehran: Naser Khusraw.
Sidīq Ḥasan Khān, M. (1999 AD/1420 AH). Fatḥ al-Bayān fī Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah.
Rashīd Riḍā, M. (1993 AD/1414 AH). Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Ḥakīm (Tafsīr al-Manār). Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifah.
Saʿdī, A. (1987 AD/1408 AH). Taysīr al-Karīm al-Raḥmān fī Tafsīr Kalām al-Mannān. Beirut: Maktabat al-Nahḍah al-ʿArabīyyah.
Ṣāḥib ibn ʿAbbād, I. (1993 AD/1414 AH). al-Muḥīṭ fī al-Lughah. Beirut: ʿĀlam al-Kitāb.
ʿAskarī, H. (1979 AD/1400 AH). al-Furūq fī al-Lughah. 1st Ed. Beirut: N.n.
Fazel Movahhedi Lankarani, M. (2006 AD/1385 SH). Īḍāḥ al-Kifāyah. Qom: Nashr Nooh.
Sajjadi, A; Mohebbi, S. (2011 AD/1391 SH). "Historical and Descriptive Semantics of the Word "Sabīl" in the Qur’an." Hosna Journal. (15), 83-102.
Ḥillī, H. (1993 AD/1414 AH). Tadhkirat al-Fuqahāʾ. Qom: Ahl al-Bayt Institute.
Shujjaeiyan, M. (2019 AD/1399 SH). "The Evolution of the Concept of Nafy al-Sabīl in Shia Political Jurisprudence." Transcendent Politics. (30), 110-128.
Shirkhani, A. (2017 AD/1397 SH). "A Political Interpretation of the Verse of Nafy al-Sabīl (al-Nisāʼ: 141)." Transcendent Politics. (23), 27-46.
Sobhani Tabrizi, J. (1993 AD/1414 AH). al-Maḥṣūl fī ʿIlm al-Uṣūl. 1st Ed. Qom: Imam Sadiq (AS) Institute.
-Soharabi, H. (2019 AD/1399 SH). "The Concept of Nafy al-Sabīl and Its Place in Iran’s Legal, Historical, and Social Relations." Strategic Studies of Humanities and Islamic Sciences. (27), 113-130.
Ṭabarī, M. (2001 AD/1422 AH). Jāmiʿ al-Bayān ʿan Taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān. Cairo: Hajar.
Ṭabāṭabāʾī, M. (1973 AD/1393 AH). al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: al-Aʿlamī Publications Institute.
Tavakkoli, H. (2024 AD/1403 SH). "The Principle of "Nafy al-Sabīl," Independence, Unity, and Coexistence of Islamic Countries in the Statement of the Second Phase of the Revolution." The idea of Approximation. (51), 25-54.
Tūnī, A. (1994 AD/1415 AH). al-Wāfīyah fī Uṣūl al-Fiqh. 2nd Ed. Qom: Islamic Thought Institute.
Ṭūsī, M. (n.d.). al-Tibyān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī.
Ṭūsī, M. (1953 AD/1373 SH). Rijāl al-Ṭūsī. 3rd Ed. Qom: Islamic Publishing Institute of Qom Seminary.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics