The Ideological Interpretation of Qur'an: The Azariqa Case
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Date
2022
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Publisher
Sirnak Univ
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info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Abstract
This study tries to identify the ideological approach to Qur'an by the Azariqa sect of Kharijite, whose ideas have been a matter of discussion from past to present although they had a brief time in history. Within this context, the fact that there are no studies conducted on Azariqa's ideological approaches to the Qur'an makes the article important. Among the problematic issues related to the topic are concerns such as the effect resulting in political and social circumstances that Azariqa emerged, their distinguishing characteristics from Kharijite, and the matters they applied subjective interpretations of religious texts. The scope and limits of the subject are the emergence and characteristics of Kharijite and Azariqa's break with the Kharijites with its basic criteria. The focus of the article is Azariqa's ideological approaches to the Qur'an. In line with this scope, the subject has been discussed with a descriptive method by making use of the works in the fields of Tafsir, Islamic History, Kalam and History of Islamic Sects. The reasons for this study's handling of Azariqa are as follows: Although Azariqa came out of Kharijite, they had their own views, adopting a radical path and using the Qur'an, the main source of religion as a reference to support their views. In the emergence of Kharijite, which led the first differentiation movement by leaving the general structure of Islamic society, the political and socio-cultural environments of the time were effective. Azariqa showed up under the leadership of Nafi' ibn al-Azraq from among the Kharijite as a result of the political disturbances in Basra following the death of Umayyad caliph Yazid. The followers of Azariqa ruled for about fifteen years in and around Ahvaz, and therefore they had a field to practise the principles they believed in. Because they were constantly at war with Ibn Zubayr and Umayyads, and because they always acted with extremism and radicalism towards their opponents, they disappeared from the scene of history in a short time. Differently from Kharijite, Azariqa deemed those who are not their followers not only as infidels, but also as polytheists (mushrik), and considered it lawful to loot their belongings and even to kill or enslave the wives or children of those people. In addition, they regarded the other Kharijites who did not fight on their side or who did not move to the area where Azariqa ruled as infidels, and they made tests if any of them wanted to join their group, and if something was stolen, regardless of the size or quantity of the item, they practised the punishment of cutting the thief's arm from the shoulder. As the largest and the most radical fraction of Kharijite, the effect of the policies they adopted those days on their approach to the Qur'an was obvious. The members of Azariqa approached the Qur'an within the context of their own ideology and perceived what they could comprehend from Qur'an as the religion itself. While trying to understand Qur'an, they had a superficial approach to the nass, they did not pay attention to the Prophet's or the Companion's discourses or practises, they ignored the historical and social context of the verses and only acted according to the principles and views they had set. Thus, it is possible to state that they facilitated making room for subjective and ideological interpretations while referring to verses for justifying their political and faith-related ideas. Consequently, Azariqa tried to impose their ideas on the society by taking the ideas of Kharijite, which emerged after the Event of Arbitration, one step further, and by taking references from Qur'an. In this context, it can be said that the ideological interpretation by early Kharijite reached a peak with Azariqa. Furthermore, it can also be stated that by using the name of Islam, today the views of Azariqa form a background for the radical groups who murder thousands of innocent men, women and children considering them to be infidels (including Muslims) only because they do not belong to their group.
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Keywords
Tafsir, Qur'an, Ideological Interpretation, Kharijite, Azariqa
Journal or Series
Sirnak University Journal of Divinity Faculty
WoS Q Value
N/A
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Volume
Issue
28
