The Semantics of the Word "Ahl" in the Holy Quran, and the Study and Explanation of Ahl al-Kitab in the verse of unity (verse 64 of Al-Imran)

Subject Areas : Two quarterly scientific commentary of the revelation texts

Zahra Aghababaei ¹ , Hossin Moradi ² , Mohammad Hossin Saeibi ³ , Frhad Edrisi ⁴

1 - phD Candidant, Department of Quran and Hdis, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran
2 - Assistant Professor, Department of Quran and Hdis, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran
3 - Assistant Professor, Department of Quran and Hdis, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran
4 - Asociate Professor, Department of Quran and Hdis, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran

Received: 2021-08-15 Accepted : 2021-09-16 Published : 2021-08-23

Keywords: semantics, AHL, People of the Book, Ahl al-Kitab Quran, Verse of unity,

Abstract :

The word "Ahl" is one of the most widely used words in Quran; along with its derivatives, it has been used more than 125 times. This breadth of use of this word in the Holy Quran and its combination with other words and Quranic concepts indicates the special place of the word and the need to study its semantics. One of the important combinations of the word "Ahl" is its combination with the word "Kitab". Ahl al-Kitab, ot the People of the Book, are those to whom the scripture belongs. In this article, we try to discuss the lexical and idiomatic meaning of "Ahl" and "Ahl al-Kitab" in the verse of unity using a descriptive method to explain them by reflecting on different dimensions of the word "Ahl" and understanding its semantic domains and to deal with the revelatory concept of the subject of Ahl al-Kitab, its Quranic uses, and its examples in the Holy Qur'an. It is noteworthy that according to verse 64 of Al-Imran, God wants Muslims to unite and show solidarity with the People of the Book.