Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi participated in the Return to the Holy Qurʾan Conference, held between 1/4/ and 4/4/2008 CE in Syria, which the Hawza of al-Qaʾim holds every year. The title of the conference this year was (Understanding the Text between the Present and the Dominance of Heritage), and Sayed Mahmoud participated with a research paper under the title (The Definitive and the Metaphorical and the Generation of Knowledge: A Developmental Model for the Sciences of the Qurʾan)..
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The hall of the Safir al-Sayyida Zaynab Hotel witnessed a large attendance, as well as contributions and interventions engaging with the research papers presented by nine researchers from eight different countries, namely Tunisia, Sudan, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait..
The conference was opened with a speech by His Eminence the religious authority (marjaʿ) Grand Ayatollah Sayed Muhammad Taqi al-Modarresi (may his shadow endure), and on the sidelines of the conference there was an exhibition of books from the writings of the Marjaʿ al-Modarresi..
Among what came in the conference report concerning the paper of Sayed Al-Mosawi:
(The paper of His Eminence Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi from Bahrain, which came under the title (The Definitive and the Metaphorical and the Generation of Knowledge: A Developmental Model for the Sciences of the Qurʾan)
At the beginning of his paper he indicated that the importance of studying the topics of the sciences of the Qurʾan, among them the definitive and the metaphorical, comes from the importance of the Qurʾan itself, which represents the eternal and final message for humanity; this is because they are a gateway to understanding the Qurʾanic text, so that knowledge may be generated in us through the signs spread in the horizons and in the souls.
He indicated that he would not go into the details of the definitions that the scholars have set forth for the definitive and the metaphorical, and would suffice with pointing to an important truth about many of the definitions, namely that many of them lack the aspect of producing knowledge and the aspect of uncovering realities and penetrating with insight from the outward appearances of matters to their inner depths and their outcomes; and this is the matter that constitutes the definition of the definitive and the metaphorical in which we are placed by the narrations that have spoken of the sciences of the Qurʾan, among them the definitive and the metaphorical.
Then the researcher turned to the linguistic definition of the definitive and the metaphorical, saying that al-muhkam (the definitive) in language is taken from ihkam, which is perfecting; and “ahkamahu” means he made it firm; and it also means prevention. And al-mutashabih (the metaphorical) is likeness between two or more things, and from it ishtibah (confusion) is taken.
Then His Eminence reviewed a group of narrations which, he affirmed, give us indications and criteria through which we come to know the concept of the definitive and the metaphorical. He concluded from this that the metaphorical is the areas of ignorance generated by intellectual confusion, and the definitive is the process of arriving at knowledge and perfecting judgment; it is the scholarly reference to which one resorts in a state of confusion and ambiguity; and that engaging in the process of making the metaphorical definitive is a process of generating knowledge and discovering diverse realities. He added, in other words, that the definitive matters are the constants of the Qurʾan and of religion in one of their aspects, and the metaphorical matters are the variables among sudden and ambiguous events.
Then His Eminence reviewed a group of examples that confirm this truth, showing that the Qurʾan strives to clarify concepts for the human being even through clear matters, so that the human being may apply them in ambiguous matters.
Then His Eminence touched on the mechanism of making the metaphorical definitive through the model of the verses of wilāyah, and through this mechanism he arrived at the conclusion that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, established the rule of (the Loftiest Exemplar), which consists in that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, set out the ideal, highest, best and most perfect model in the Holy Qurʾan, as opposed to the lowest exemplars and the exemplars of evil. The highest and best exemplar is the model that ought to be followed, and from it the applied realities are uncovered. He clarified that this is the difference between purely theoretical realities and practical realities, which perform the task of clarifying and defining, as a realistic approximation for the intellect.
His Eminence concluded his words by saying: When we establish that the dimension of generating knowledge is the most important dimension, our research on the definitive and the metaphorical can take forms different from what prevails in dealing with the sciences of the Holy Qurʾan.
