Journal of College of Sharia and Islamic Studies

The Sum of Letters in Qur’anic Chapters and its Implications for the Uthmanic Script: A Case Study of Surahs Al-Zalzalah and from Al-Qāriᶜah to Al-ᶜAsr

2025-07-15T13:11:44+03:00

Objectives: This study examines the significance of letter counting in early sources on verse enumeration and its implications for early Qur’anic manuscripts and modern printed editions. It highlights the relevance of this issue for Qur’anic orthography committees and specialists, as it emphasizes that early scholars’ engagement with letters enumeration was not arbitrary but carried practical implications for Qur’anic script.

Methodology: The research uses an inductive approach to collect data on letter counts from early sources, followed by a comparative analysis of these figures against early Qur’anic manuscripts and modern printed editions, and finally a critical analytical approach analytical method to access the findings.

Findings: The study underscores the need for both Qur’anic scholars and script committees to consider early letter-enumeration traditions and manuscript evidence to ensure greater alignment between modern printed Qur’ans and classical sources.

Originality: This research sheds light on an overlooked yet foundational aspect of Uthmanic script —letter counting as recorded in early sources on verse enumeration— and demonstrates its potential role in guiding the orthography of printed Qur’ans.

Rebuilding the Unity of the Muslim Umma: Strategic Pathways in the Wake of the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation (Ṭūfān al-Aqṣā)

2025-07-16T07:51:49+03:00

Objectives: This article explores the question of rebuilding the unity of the Muslim umma within the recent context of the Al-Aqsa Storm operation or Ṭūfān al-Aqṣā, whose impact has transcended the Islamic world to affect various other communities. This event has placed the Palestinians’ struggle at the center of all struggles, which, in the face of the international community’s complacency against the Palestinian people, revived the calls and increased the need for ways to unite Muslims.

Methodology: The scholarly approach pursued in this study includes reviewing material from its diverse sources, establishing concepts, analyzing questions, justifying different opinions and stances, comparing them with others, and critiquing them as needed. It adheres to both a maqāṣid-based approach (related to the higher objectives of the Sharia) and a sunan-based approach (grounded in the Quran’s reading of the divine patterns in the history of societies, i.e., sunan). It also documents references from various sources and presents the research in its final form.

Findings: This research concludes that the strategic restoration of the Muslim ummah must be founded on two methodological grounds: the foundational principles and divine patterns of God (sunan), and a practical implementation process.

Originality: The originality of this work lies in harnessing the current geopolitical changes in the context of Al-Aqsa Storm operation to design a comprehensive strategy to uniting the Muslim Ummah.

Polysemes and Synonyms (wujūh and naẓāᵓir) in Hanbali Legal Terminology: An Inductive Analysis of Kashshāf al-Qināᶜ

2025-07-16T07:52:03+03:00

Objectives: This research contributes to the Hanbali legal corpus an expert study of the methodology of “wujūh and naẓāᵓir” (the lexical classification of polysemous and synonymous expressions). It identifies the various meanings of specific terms within this tradition and investigates the underlying reasons for their differences.

Methodology: The study pursues an inductive approach that traces the occurrences of polysemous statements in the Hanbali legal tradition, with a particular focus on al-Bahūtī’s book Kashshāf al-qināᶜ ᶜan matn al-iqnāᶜ. Additionally, it employs an analytical approach to present, compare, and critically examine the different meanings of these statements while explaining the reasons behind their variations.

Findings: The research highlights the significance of the wujūh and naẓāᵓir typology in legal texts, and its role in facilitating comprehension and enhancing accessibility for scholars and practitioners. It identifies and classifies statements with multiple meanings, including those uniquely engaged and clarified by al-Bahūtī and those whose meanings can only be discerned through contextual analysis within the same work. Also, this study attributes the variation in meaning to four principal factors.

Originality: This research represents the first dedicated study to systematically examine polysemous statements within the Hanbali legal tradition and explore the causes of their semantic multiplicity. It is expected to stimulate further scholarly engagement with legal terminology in other jurisprudential works.

Deferred Discounts in Financial Exchange Contracts–A Foundational Legal Study

2025-07-16T07:52:17+03:00

Objectives: This research aims to establish the juristic foundation of deferred discounts in contemporary and renewed financial exchange contracts. It typologizes the various forms of these discounts based on their contractual conditions and examines whether the discount constitutes a form of compensation (such as subscription fees exceeding mere administrative costs) or whether it is subject to conditions that do not entail direct compensation for the same discount.

Methodology: The study adopts three methodologies. It employs an inductive approach to collect and categorize prevalent forms of deferred discounts in marketing practices, a descriptive approach to analyze these forms, and a deductive approach to establish their legal foundation and validity.

Findings: Deferred discounts fall into two categories. First, if the refund amount is initially unknown and tied to a subscription fee that constitutes consideration, it is considered a gift given with an expectation of return (hibat al-thawāb) and is impermissible. If the fee is incidental, it qualifies as a gift and is valid. Second, if the discount amount is fixed upfront, non-cash refunds are permissible, while cash refunds are prohibited due to the prohibition of combining loans with reciprocal benefits.

Originality: The significance of this research lies in its examination of emerging marketing practices that are widely prevalent but have not been previously studied as independent juristic issues.

Structural Foundations of Equity (Insaf) and Equilibrium (iᶜtidāl) in Hadith Criticism–A Methodological Study

2025-07-16T07:48:05+03:00

Objectives: This study explores the methodologies engaged by Hadith scholars to maintain fair judgement and equity (inṣāf) and equilibrium and moderation (iᶜtidāl) in their criticism—an endeavor that represents one of the most complex evaluative methodologies in determining the reliability of reports and their narrators. For Hadith criticism (taḥqīq), with its intricate epistemic tools and evaluative criteria, demands a rigorous commitment to objectivity and impartiality.

Methodology: The research uses an inductive approach through gathering and analyzing the statements of Hadith critics and scholars. Additionally, it employs an analytical method to derive key insights and systematically synthesize them into a structured framework.

Findings: The study highlights that collective scholarly critique, when freed from excessive rigor and peer or sectarian bias, serves as a cornerstone for achieving equity in Hadith criticism. Only those with comprehensive expertise in the intricacies of Hadith narration and narrators can render sound judgments, while uninformed or subjective criticism undermines the integrity of the discipline. Personal motives and biases must be avoided to ensure just and reliable critical outcomes. Additionally, the safeguarding of the transmitted reports (marwiyyāt) lies at the heart of the critical enterprise, as the evaluation of narrators is inseparably linked to the authenticity of the transmitted content itself. .

Originality: Establishing these foundational principles as integral components of the pedagogical framework for Hadith students is essential for cultivating scholarly rigor, ‘inṣāf’, and ‘iᶜtidāl’ in their critical engagements.

Early Personal Quranic Manuscripts in Light of the Sana’a Palimpsest (DAM 01-27.1): An Analytical and Foundational Study

2025-07-16T07:48:19+03:00

Objectives: This research focuses on the issue of the methodology of engaging with personal Quranic manuscripts (muṣḥafs) attributed to the early centuries of Islam. Based on a thorough examination of the Sana’a Palimpsest DAM 01-27.1, this study rebuts the Orientalist assertion that the Quran read by Muslims today has evolved from a lost, original text. This study is structured into three sections and seeks to fulfill three main objectives. First, to establish and clarify the relationship between orthography books (rasm) and the documentation of Quranic manuscripts, and to examine how these books define the orthographical features of the text. Second, to examine how Islamic sources addressed private muṣḥafs and provided rulings on them. Third, to provide an examination of the Sana’a Palimpsest.

Methodology: This study adopts a foundational and analytical approach, which focuses on establishing the phenomenon’s roots and origin and then analyzing it.

Findings: The authenticity of the Quran is attributed to its uninterrupted oral transmission, its agreement with the rasm of the muṣḥaf, and the soundness of its Arabic language. The writing of muṣḥafs involved meticulous review by leading reciters (qurrāᵓ). In addition, the Sana’a Palimpsest serves as direct evidence that supports Uthmān Ibn ᶜAffān’s decision of eliminating personal muṣḥafs and adopting the standard version corresponding to what was written during the time of Prophet Muhammad. This evidence substantiates the ruling that private muṣḥafs contained anomalous readings (shādh), with high probabilities of omissions, alterations, and personal renditions, thus cannot be considered a “lost original text” as Orientalists suggested.

Originality: The originality of this research lies in its exploration of how Islamic sources engage with private muṣḥafs and the rulings associated with them. This study examines the implications of these rulings on the reliability of Quranic manuscripts and provides a comprehensive analysis of Sana’a Palimpsest, which has been the subject of significant debate among Orientalist scholars.

The Term ‘Zīnah’ (Adornment) in the Noble Qur’an

2025-07-16T07:48:33+03:00

Objectives: This study focuses on the Quranic term ‘zīnah’ adornment to examine its conceptual framework, elucidate its meanings, and clarify its significance in relation to human existence. By undertaking this term within its Quranic context, the study seeks to broaden and enhance our understanding and usage of it.

Methodology: The study engages a terminological approach, which integrates three methods. It uses the inductive method for statistical and lexical analysis, the analytical method for textual examination, and the deductive method to derive a comprehensive definition from the term’s various meanings across different contexts.

Findings: The term ‘zīnah’ is distinguished by its frequent occurrence and diverse morphological forms, which testifies to its conceptual centrality in the Quranic discourse. The research establishes its pivotal role in shaping human destiny as reflected in its contextual nuances. It then defines ‘zīnah’ as: “a manifestation of divine creativity in the universe and an excellence in word and deed that Allah bestowed upon humanity as a test, and so that it may benefit the righteous in both this world and the hereafter, while misleading those who pursue superficial embellishments devoid of true virtue.”

Originality: By analyzing the term ‘zīnah’ across its many Qur’anic occurrences, this study highlights its intricate relationship with human experience. The examination of its linguistic variations and contextual usage contributes to a deeper understanding of its conceptual network, and offers new insights into its theological and ethical dimensions.

A Value-Based Approach to Qur’an Exegesis: A Study of Qur’anic Address (nidāᵓ) in Surahs Luqman and Al-Ḥujurāt

2025-07-16T07:48:48+03:00

Objectives: This study seeks to draw scholarly attention to an important exegetical approach —value-based — which, despite being implicitly recognized by several exegetes, has not been systematically explored as an independent field. It applies the value-based approach to the Qur’anic address (al-nidāᵓ al-qurᵓānī) to humanity in two specific verses from the chapters of Luqman and Al-Ḥujurāt (The Private Apartments).

Methodology: The study employs a deductive method to derive and reconstruct ethical values embedded in the Qur’anic address within select verses in these two surahs. Additionally, it adopts a descriptive-analytical approach to categorize, analyze, and contextualize the derived values in relation to contemporary realities.

Findings: This research defines a value-based in Qur’anic tafsīr as the exegetes’ inclination to interpret verses based on the values they, explicitly or implicitly, convey. It argues that this approach facilitates internalizing Qur’anic teachings and actualizing them in practice. Furthermore, this study identifies 13 key values in the two examined verses of al-nidā within surahs Luqman and Al-Hujurat, eight are considered positive values and five are negative.

Originality: Investigating the value-based approach underscores its relevance in fostering ethical education and shaping human behavior. The study is expected to opens new avenues for further exploration of value-based interpretations in the Qur’an.

Hārūt and Mārūt in Books of Tafsir– A Comparative Study

2025-07-15T13:11:30+03:00

Objectives: This study aims to determine the preponderant view regarding the truth about Hārūt and Mārūt and examine its implications on the epistemological and theistic aspects.

Methodology: The research employs an inductive, comparative, critical, and historical approach by analyzing exegetical discussions on Hārūt and Mārūt. It traces the views of exegetes, reconstructs and assesses their proofs and their counter argents, and finally determines the most substantiated views.

Findings: This study concludes that the preponderant view is that Hārūt and Mārūt are angels, based on various considerations. These include the consensus of both classical and contemporary scholars, the strength of the supporting evidence, and the absence of definitive objections to this view. Additionally, recent scholarship rebutted claims that the story of Hārūt and Mārūt was derived from the Talmud. Establishing the dominant interpretation of Hārūt and Mārūt also serves to counter allegations that the Qur’ān borrows from earlier scriptures, which reinforces its divine origins and negated claims of human authorship.

Originality: This research contributes novel insights by addressing recent objections to the classification of Hārūt and Mārūt as angels and exploring its epistemological and theistic implications. Furthermore, it demonstrates the ways the Qur’an’s precise details challenge Orientalist claims that it has been derived from earlier scriptures, and thus it reaffirms its divine authenticity.

Table of Content

2025-07-14T12:27:35+03:00

Strengthening the Trust and Authority of Fatwa Institutions in the Digital Era: Lessons from Indonesia

2025-07-15T13:11:58+03:00

Objectives: This study explores how digital platforms, especially YouTube, influence public perception and trust in fatwas issued by institutions such as the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in an increasingly digital world. It specifically examines MUI fatwas on cryptocurrencies, vaccinations, and boycotts of Israeli products, assessing the impact of digital dissemination on these religious edicts.

Methodology: This study employed qualitative content analysis using QSR NVivo 12, focusing on sentiment and thematic elements in YouTube discussions. The methodology incorporates sentiment coding to assess general perceptions and thematic coding to explore the nuances of digital dissemination, public understanding, and trust in religious guidance online.

Results: The analysis indicates a predominantly negative sentiment within the Indonesian online community towards MUI’s fatwas on vaccines, cryptocurrencies, and boycotting Israeli products. This negativity reflects a disconnect between the public’s understanding and acceptance of these religious edicts. Additionally, variations in netizens‘ comprehension of religious and economic concepts significantly shape their responses to fatwas. This study highlights the need for broader education and more effective communication strategies concerning fatwas, stressing the importance of transparency and context.

Originality: This research underscores the criticality of aligning fatwas with Indonesia’s contemporary socio-economic and cultural contexts. It advocates for enhancing the capacity and credibility of fatwa institutions in the digital era, focusing on improving communicative capabilities and increasing religious knowledge to ensure fatwas’ continued relevance and effectiveness in addressing contemporary challenges.

Exegetical Qur’an Translation: Theoretical and Practical Considerations

2025-07-15T13:12:13+03:00

Objectives: This paper assesses the ongoing practice of Qur’an translation based on Arabic exegetical works and explores theoretical considerations and practical issues facing various projects. It aims to inform the approach of individual translators and state and non-state institutions that intend to use exegesis as a basis for accuracy and consistency.

Methodology: The study analyzes primary texts (Qur’an and tafsīr translations and their Arabic sources) and references secondary literature concerning the relationship between tafsīr and translation.

Results: The study demonstrates the value of “instructive” exegesis over the commonly used “paraphrastic” type. By identifying examples of errors caused by misreading of exegetical works, it highlights the necessity of assigning translators who are qualified to engage with both the Quranic text and the tafsīr genre.

Originality: The paper highlights problems not previously identified in the use of exegesis in translation and provides practical solutions of value to subsequent projects on an individual or institutional level.

Editorial Foreword

2025-07-14T13:12:05+03:00

Editorial Foreword

2025-07-14T13:05:33+03:00

Front Matter

2025-07-14T12:46:17+03:00

Back Matter

2025-07-14T12:40:35+03:00

Table of Content

2025-07-14T12:36:10+03:00