نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 نویسنده مسئول، دانشیار گروه معارف اسلامی دانشگاه تبریز، دانشکده الهیات وعلوم اسلامی، ایران
2 دانشجوی کارشناسی ارشد دانشگاه تبریز، ایران
چکیده
کلیدواژهها
عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسندگان [English]
The concept of Furqan in the Noble Qur’an - as a criterion distinguishing truth from falsehood - and its connection to fasting in the month of Ramadan and the Jewish Yom Kippur fast constitute a contentious topic in comparative religious studies that has attracted the attention of various Orientalists and Sunni scholars. This study, employing an explanatory-analytical method, critiques and evaluates the views of Orientalists such as Nöldeke, Watt, Kees, Baldick, and Margoliouth, as well as certain Sunni exegetes, concerning the origins of Islamic fasting and its relationship to Furqan. These views often, based on superficial similarities, regard Islamic fasting as a borrowing from Jewish or Christian rituals, linking Furqan to the deliverance of the Israelites or the victory at Badr.
The findings reveal three major shortcomings in these interpretations: first, an incomplete and selective analysis of Islamic sources, which ignores the profound historical and religious depth of fasting in Islam; second, a failure to recognize the fundamental differences in the aims and rites of fasting among the Abrahamic religions, particularly the contrast between the piety-centered nature of Islamic fasting and the repentance-centered nature of Yom Kippur; and third, a narrow interpretation of the term Furqan, which in Islamic exegesis refers not only to deliverance or victory but also to divine knowledge, revealed scripture, and legal rulings. This study, grounded in Qur’anic verses, authentic traditions, and classical exegeses, presents Ramadan fasting as a divine obligation with deep roots in monotheistic traditions that, through systematic reforms in early Islam, became a distinctive and elevated form of worship. The results underscore the need to reassess Orientalist approaches and to engage Islamic texts and concepts more carefully to appreciate the exalted place of fasting and Furqan within the Islamic epistemic framework.
کلیدواژهها [English]
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