The 85th session of the “Method on Sundays” series of sessions titled “The Impact of the Holy Quran on the Method of Generating Hypotheses and Theories in Islamic Sciences” was held under the auspices of the Research Institute of Contemporary Jurisprudence Studies.

According to the information center of the Research Institute of Contemporary Jurisprudence Studies, in this scientific session, Ayatollah Ahmad Moballeghi was present as the main presenter, and Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Haqani-Fazl, Director of the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Jurisprudence, served as the scientific secretary, introducing the program, explicating the subject’s importance, and addressing the foundational relationship of the Holy Quran with the formation of Islamic sciences and the necessity of theorizing within the religious knowledge constellation.

At the outset, pointing to the Quran’s central standing in Islamic thought, he emphasized that the Holy Quran is the primary source of all religious knowledge and the foundation of Islamic sciences’ formation, and correct understanding of religion will be impossible without referring to this foundational source. The Director of the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Jurisprudence added: “Although a form of disregard for the Quran is observed in certain minority currents, in the view of the prevailing majority of Muslim thinkers, the Quran remains the primary, foundational, and uncorrupted source of religious thought.”

Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Haqani-Fazl further considered the second dimension of this session’s importance to pertain to the issue of theorizing in Islamic sciences, stating: “Today, expressing opinions in disciplines, particularly in the realm of humanities and Islamic sciences, without relying on a coherent theory can no longer yield the necessary efficacy.”

The scientific secretary, posing the session’s central problem, recalled: “If we wish to maintain a system of thought where the opinion expressed by a researcher and expert across various sections is coherent with one another, supporting and not refuting each other, this is virtually impossible without possessing a theory.”

The Director of the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Jurisprudence also referred to the Research Institute of Contemporary Jurisprudence Studies’ planning to focus on the Quranic axis in certain sessions last season, recalling that this trend remained incomplete due to conditions arising from the “unequal and imposed war,” and its continuation has now been placed on the agenda, with the present session held in continuation of this very approach and aiming to examine “the impact of the Holy Quran on hypothesis and theory generation.”

Subsequently, Ayatollah Ahmad Moballeghi delivered his remarks, emphasizing the necessity of precise refinement of the discussion title, stating that this topic connects with several aligned titles sharing the same horizon, and a distinction must be made among several categories and levels of discussion.

1. Deducing theory from the synthesis of the Quran and non-revelatory sources: This approach comprises two aspects; one being the “preparatory and capacity-building” role of non-revelatory data which merely provides the environment for understanding, and the other being the “constitutive” role of this data which, in synthesis with the Quran, directly forms the theory.

2. Pure deduction of theory from the Quran: This approach addresses direct deduction of theory from the Quran itself, which, as Ayatollah Moballeghi noted, may not be sufficient on its own in today’s world without some form of preliminary preparation.

3. Deducing method from the Quran: This axis extracts the very “method” of theory generation from the Quran and possesses a methodological dimension.

The professor of advanced jurisprudence and principles lectures (dars-e kharij) in the Qom Seminary considered the first category to be “deducing theory from the synthesis of the Quran and non-revelatory sources,” stating: Here the subject is “theory,” and the effort undertaken is “deduction”; however, this deduction is directed toward a composite set of revelatory and non-revelatory data; meaning the Quran on one hand, and human data on the other, encompassing sciences, experience, and other human knowledge.

Ayatollah Moballeghi, in explicating this category, differentiated two states or aspects from one another. According to him, in the first state, non-revelatory data possess a preparatory and capacity-building role; meaning this data is not itself a direct constituent part of the theory, but provides the environment for understanding and deduction for the researcher. In such a situation, human data can stimulate the theorist’s mind, offer a angle of vision, open a new horizon, and provide a literature in whose light a new understanding of the Quran is attained; nevertheless, the theory is ultimately deduced from the Quran itself, not from the actual and structured synthesis of the Quran with that external data.

Explaining the second state, he spoke of the constitutive role of non-revelatory data, specifying that in this assumption, the theory is formed not merely with the help of human data’s environmental preparation, but through the actual joining of two types of data—revelatory data and non-revelatory data. Here non-revelatory data are no longer merely preparatory, but share in the final structure of the theory, and must be synthesized with Quranic data in a systematic and coherent constellation to enable theory generation.

Ayatollah Moballeghi, emphasizing that both forms are both possible and exist in practice, considered this discussion an important methodological topic in the sphere of Islamic sciences and humanities, adding that activating such an approach in seminaries can serve as a path out of the current dead-end in utilizing the Quran.

In a portion of his remarks, maintaining a critical outlook toward the current situation, he specified that the central problem in our era is the abandonment of the Quran’s methodological capacities in solving real-life problems. Referring to Muslims constantly speaking of adhering to the Quran, he noted that in practice, effective and problem-solving utilization of the Quran in confronting today’s life complexities has materialized less.

The professor of advanced seminary lectures emphasized that existing inefficiency must not be charged to the sacred text, but must be considered as stemming from weakness in methods of interpretation and deduction.

Ayatollah Moballeghi, critiquing certain prevalent interpretive procedures, explained that despite the value of existing commentaries, these commentaries in many instances have failed to reach a level of efficacy enabling them to directly play a role in solving behavioral, model-based, directional, and complex living problems of contemporary man. According to him, a portion of interpretive products, although possessing scientific and epistemological importance, have rarely been translated into the language of life and have rarely exerted an impact in the arena of social action and organizing contemporary man’s objective issues.

In this connection, he emphasized the necessity of scholarly, precise, and patient attention to this issue, stating that if the dimensions of this discussion are pursued scientifically and non-superficially, one can hope for a serious transformation to occur in the realm of exegesis and Quranic utilization—a transformation opening new horizons for the relationship between the Quran and theory generation in Islamic sciences.

Ayatollah Moballeghi recalled in his remarks that the category of “deducing theory from the synthesis of the Quran and non-revelatory sources” would serve as the most important axis of his discussion in this session, and subsequent discussions would be pursued based on this conceptual introduction.

Referring to the late Shahid Sadr’s perspective on thematic exegesis (tafsir mawdu’i), he considered this approach among the most important efforts undertaken in this field, but specified that this method is insufficient to respond fully to the problem. According to him, the main problem is “by what method and with what tools do you wish to deduce and extract Quranic thoughts and place them in the view and perspective of a society requiring these thoughts.”

He considered the comparative role an approach prevalent during certain eras of religious intellectualism, but emphasized that direct and definitive application of verses to scientific theories lacks guaranteed backing and should not serve as the primary basis for understanding the Quran.

Ayatollah Moballeghi recalled in another section of his remarks that if certain applications turn out correct in practice, this correctness does not necessarily stem from the application itself, but stems from an authoritative scientific theory being attained first, and subsequently the meaning and instance of the verse being understood based on it.

He considered the primary problem to be lack of mental discipline and stereotypical methods for approaching the Quran, emphasizing the necessity of acquiring deep specialized knowledge and subsequently referring to the Quran, adding: “If the preparatory method acquires discipline, it is among the best, most frequent, and most effective methods of approaching the Quran.”

Ayatollah Moballeghi, to clarify the subject further, stated several examples of Quranic verses, referring to the verse “And tell My servants to say that which is best” (Surah Al-Isra, Verse 53) as an excellent example for Quranic deduction in the realm of communication sciences. He explained that considering a presupposition in communication sciences that “communication is not merely speech, but encompasses tone, body language, and behavior,” one can analyze this verse.

Based on this presupposition, communication rests on two pillars: speech and behavior, and harmony between these two elevates message efficacy. The verse “And tell My servants to say that which is best,” considering this background that human communication primarily rests on speech (without necessarily seeking to refute it), commands that “the best speech” be spoken.

Ayatollah Moballeghi added: When the word “best” (ahsan) is employed as an attribute of speech (qawl), it demonstrates that this “best” is not restricted merely to logical content of speech, but encompasses tone, body language, and speech’s appropriateness with temporal and spatial conditions. These behavioral aspects conform completely with modern communication sciences theories emphasizing speech and behavior harmony. He recalled that in this analysis, “context of the verse” (siyaq) and “semiotics” play an important role.

Following this presentation, Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen Haqani-Fazl, scientific secretary of the session, expressing gratitude for Ayatollah Moballeghi’s presentation, added regarding the main axis of his remarks: Ayatollah Moballeghi in this session, in addition to this overall framework, referred to certain other issues which, although not the session’s primary subject, are worthy of reflection from a methodological perspective; including fundamentally what methods exist for utilizing the Quran in theorizing, and whether these methods are usable identically across all fields or whether more specific methods must be designed for various sciences, particularly humanities.

The session’s scientific secretary concluded by thanking Ayatollah Moballeghi for his “coherent and useful presentation,” inviting attendees to raise their viewpoints and points so the continuation of dialogue could be pursued in the master’s presence.

The session was subsequently pursued through Q&A between attendees and the master. In a section of this dialogue, one attendee in a question to Ayatollah Moballeghi addressed the challenge of the relationship between revelatory (fixed) sciences and human (variable) sciences in the theorizing process, raising the question that given the variability of human sciences, how can one generate a theory based upon them?

Ayatollah Moballeghi explained that in the method of deducing theory from the synthesis of revelatory and non-revelatory data, every human data item is not meant to be attached directly and unmethodically to the Quran. Rather, the researcher must reach reassurance through methodology, scenario-building, back-and-forth between Quranic data and human data, and comparing hypotheses. He emphasized that:

• Human data are at times numerous and variable, and this very diversity enables better examination and selection.

• Certain human data are also definitive and established, such as the law of supply and demand in economics, and can be used in understanding the Quran.

• The ultimate value in this process is not the human data item itself, but the reassurance the researcher attains following assessment and comparison.

• Through examples such as the primacy of the individual or society, he demonstrated that the commentator can present human theories to Quranic verses and reach a reassuring result.

• In conclusion, he emphasized that the goal is reaching certainty or scientific reassurance from conjecture and probability, not relying on guesswork.

One attendee asked whether the theory generated in this process is not definitive and final, and might later be replaced by another theory? Ayatollah Moballeghi responded that:

In jurisprudence and principles of jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh) as well, theories are not absolutely definitive, and the multiplicity of viewpoints itself demonstrates that we possess no absolute final theory, and to reduce error, the method of theorizing must be reinforced and refined to lower the error margin. Repeated and deep reference to the Quran can lead to discoveries accompanied by reassurance for the researcher. The social and scientific validity of a theory increases when others accept it or at least consider it noteworthy. Even if most theories are set aside, a few correct theories remain, and these are worth the effort.

This session demonstrated that in Ayatollah Moballeghi’s view, the Quran can play an active and illuminating role in hypothesis and theory generation in Islamic sciences, but this role is fruitful only when accompanied by systematic methodology, a preparatory outlook, and precise utilization of scientific and human data. The session’s summary is that the Quran, not in the position of hasty applications, but in the format of an inspiring source for discovering theories, can open new horizons in humanities, communications, art, and sociology.