An Analyzing Rosalind Gwynne’s View on the Structure of Covenant in the Quran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Comparative Studies, Research Institute of Islamic Sciences and Culture, Qom, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Shia Studies, Faculty of Theology, University of Qom, Qom, Iran

Abstract

The doctrine of the covenant is one of the most important religious teachings that has been prominent in different religions. The testament is so important in Judaism and Christianity that the holy books of these two religions are referred to as the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Holy Quran, the issue of the covenant between God and mankind is emphasized, and the servants are asked to adhere to their covenant. Some contemporary theologians have tried to link the issue of the covenant in the Bible to the treaties of ancient times by extracting covenant characteristics from ancient treaties. Rosalind Gwynne, a contemporary Quran scholar, has tried to provide an analysis of the covenant structure in the Holy Quran by using these indicators. In this article, while trying to present a clear picture of these studies, it is concluded that although the mentioned studies have good advantages, they are not very successful in adopting the results of the discussion in some cases, and some of their conclusions are a place for reflection and problems. One of the problems of Gwynne is that he considers all the verses of the Holy Quran to be related to the covenant. Although this kind of broadening greatly increases the ability of the narrators to analyze, it is doubtful whether it can be considered an analysis of the Quranic covenant. In addition, some of Gwynne’s interpretations of the verses related to the covenant are also flawed, and more suitable interpretations can be presented. It seems that the most important feature of the covenant in the Holy Quran is its knowledge-giving aspect, which has been neglected in the mentioned research, and yet it can be considered as a fundamental difference from the covenant in the Holy Bible

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 12 February 2022
  • Revise Date: 19 May 2022
  • Accept Date: 29 June 2022

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