Journal of Quranic Knowledge

Journal of Quranic Knowledge

The Methodological Theory of Resistance in al-Kāshif: A Comparative Analysis with Contemporary Exegeses and Marenko’s Structuralist Approach

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Azam Hoseinpourasl 1
Roghayeh Sadeghi Nayyeri 2
Shahrbanoo Mardani 3
1 Faculty Member, Department of Islamic Studies Education, Farhangian University, P.O. Box 14665-889, Tehran, Iran.
2 Faculty Member, Department of Quran and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Azarbaijan, Iran
3 Lecturer, Farhangian University, Tabriz.
10.22054/rjqk.2026.93173.3337
Abstract
During the fourteenth century AH, concurrent with the political and social transformations taking place in the Islamic world, a new trend known as "Social Exegesis" emerged. Among the works belonging to this trend, Muhammad Jawad Mughnīyah’s al-Kāshif (1322-1979 AD/1400 AH) merits particular attention because its author integrates three methodological components "Rationality," "Contemporaneity," and "Social Orientation," within a coherent structure. The present article revisits the methodology of al-Kāshif, elucidates its implications for a theory of resistance, and compares this theory with three contemporary exegetical trends represented by Ṭabāṭabā’ī, Sayyid Quṭb, and Makarem Shirazi, as well as with Marenko’s structuralist framework. The present study is fundamental in terms of its purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of its methodology. Data were extracted through qualitative content analysis of the seven volumes of al-Kāshif, the twenty volumes of al-Mīzān, the six volumes of Fī Ẓilāl al-Qur’an, and the seven volumes of al-Amthal. Reliability was established through peer review (0.86) and recoding (0.89). The findings indicate that Mughnīyah employed instrumental-critical rationality to critique contemporary doubts and challenges, transnational contemporaneity to open the Qur’an to emerging issues, and an institution-oriented social approach to place collective structures at the center of analysis. These three components, respectively, led to ethical constraint and strategic calculation, realism and the transformation of resistance into a "Civilizational Project," and a "Rapprochement-oriented Approach." Compared with Ṭabāṭabā’ī, Sayyid Quṭb, and Makarem Shirazi, Mughnīyah is distinguished at five points: "Ijtihadi realism, a systemic perspective, a transnational rapprochement-oriented outlook, avoidance of extremist violence, and commitment to justice and human rights." The comparison with Marenko likewise reveals four areas of conceptual convergence. Overall, the theory of resistance in al-Kāshif can be regarded as a systematic inference from the Qur’an with the capacity to engage in dialogue with contemporary theorizing.
Keywords
al-Kāshif Exegesis
Muhammad Jawad Mughnīyah
Resistance
Social Exegesis
Marenko
Subjects
The Holy Qur’an.
Nahj al-Balaghah.
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Journal of Quranic Knowledge

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 04 October 2026