Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
CUMHURIYET ILAHIYAT DERGISI-CUMHURIYET THEOLOGY JOURNAL, cilt.26, sa.2, ss.803-822, 2022 (ESCI)
Surah al-Maun is one of the most debated suras of the Holy Qur'an. The dispute primarily is about whether the surah belongs to the Meccan or Medinan periods. Besides those who believe that the surah, which consists of seven verses, was revealed at Medina entirely, some mufassirs think that three verses of the sura were revealed at Mecca and the remaining verses at Medina. Behind the disagreements are diverse riwayats transmitted from the.a.aba. Furthermore, various arguments have been made about the meaning of such words as sahun and maun in the surah; and there are strong disagreements about the identity of the people mentioned in the surah. This study tries to understand the dispute by focusing on its historical background rather than reconciling these contradicting riwayat. To this aim, the data that constitutes the basis of the disagreements will be analyzed to make it more comprehensible. This methodology is utilized to demonstrate an example of the Qur'anic hermeneutics. Here, our objective is to emphasize the significance of the comprehensive approach to the Qur'anic tafsir in general. As a matter of fact, such an endeavor will reveal that we need a new point of view not only for the Surah al-Ma`un but for any problem faced in the field of Qur'anic tafsir. The present study argues that this is the original point of view of the first generation, a point of view historical distance made obliviated. The most crucial disagreement in the surah is over the meaning of verses 4-6 "So woe to those who pray (mu.allin), but are heedless of their.alat, those who perform only to show off (yuraun)". Therefore, the present study focuses on the disagreements on these verses. According to different accounts of the circumstances of revelation of these verses, this surah was revealed about some polytheists in the Meccan period. Among them, al-`A. bin Vail's name stands out. However, the narrations about the expressions mu.allin and yuraun in the surah have led to the emergence of the opinion that the later part of the surah was revealed in Medina. For, according to these narrations, mu.allin here describes those who perform.alat, and yuraun describes munafiqun. In this case, the people in question in the verses are the munafiqun of Medina who are heedless and perform their.alat for hypocrisy. Among the companions from whom these narrations transmitted, the names of Ibn `Abbas and Qatada stand out. Therefore, some mufassirs thought that the second part of the surah was revealed in Medina. However, the narrations stating that the surah was revealed in Mecca were also transmitted from these two companions. It is even narrated from Ibn `Abbas that the entire surah had been revealed in Mecca. Thus, some early mufassirs endorsed this opinion. Those who say that the people who are described in the aforementioned verses are some of the Meccan polytheists have also associated the expression mu.allin with the concepts of muka' and ta.diyya' mentioned in al-Anfal 8/35. According to the narrations regarding the verse "Their.alah at the Kaaba was nothing but whistling and clapping" the polytheists were worshiping in the Kaaba by whistling and clapping. This is the.alah condemned in Surah al-Ma`un. However, when we look at the background of the related narrations, it is clear that this conflict stems from the hadiths of the Prophet. Because, when the Prophet was asked about the identity of those described in these verses in the Medina period, on one occasion he said that they were munafiqun and those who postpone their.alats..a. aba and Tabi`un scholars, notably Ibn `Abbas, said these were munafiqun. The fact that.a.aba and Tabi`un scholars interpreted the verses in terms of the hadiths of the Prophet on the incident in Medina, led to the emergence of the opinion that these verses were revealed in Medina. It resulted in the emergence of disagreements about the place of revelation of the verses, which constitute the second part of the surah, and the identity of the people condemned. However, one can argue that the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad merely point out that some of the facts mentioned in the surah are in the semantic field, not that these verses were revealed in Medina. Therefore, instead of viewing the differences in the narrations as inconsistencies, it is more appropriate to consider that the new problems have been included by Prophet Muhammad in the scope of the semantics of the verses that were revealed earlier. Thus, Prophet Muhammad set an example for the interpretation of the Qur'an by including the munafiqun of Medina and the people who wasted their.alats by delaying them, into the scope of the verses that were revealed about some polytheists who were heedless and who performed their.alats with hypocrisy in the Meccan period. Thus, he confirmed that the verses cannot be assigned to the people who caused them to be revealed and should not be limited to the times and places where they were revealed.