Abstract:

This article is about examining the effect of innocence (being free from sin), one of the attributes of prophets, on interpretations of Qur’an. One of the factors that effect Qur’an interpretations is the title ‘innocence’ which exists in Islamic belief. The title ‘innocence’, which is known to have come to existence in political-based topics and then appeared in theological matters, is an attribute that is one of the mandatory features for prophets and imams in Shiah belief. On the other hand it is a mandatory feature for only prophets in Ahl al-sunnah and Mu‘tazila belief. In Qur’an, while it is being addressed to prophets’ supreme features such as sincere, privileged, honest, faithful and so on, it does not mention anything about being free from committing sin. On the contrary mistakes of some prophets are told in the Qur’an. And yet some scholars have interpreted the related verses by innocence principle. In this study, a brief assessment about the nature of innocence title will be primarily done by taking opinions of different word madhabs/sects into consideration. Then, interpretation of the related verses pursuant to innocence title that is adopted as a principle/belief will be discussed in the scope of Prophet Adam example. As the aim of this study is about the approaches to relevant verses in the frame of innocence title, it is not going to be emphasized on the reality, historicity, and mythological elements of the parables.

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