A Digital-Qualitative Study of Power, Justice, and Obedience in Sunni and Shiʿi Qur’anic Exegesis: Toward a Model for Analyzing the Political Discourse of the Qur’an

Document Type : Research Article

Author

Assistant Professor of the Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of theology and Islamic Studies, Allameh Tabataba`i University, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/isqs.2026.54706.2503
Abstract
This article examines the concepts of power, justice, and obedience in selected Sunni and Imami Shiʿi Qur’anic commentaries through a digital-qualitative approach. It asks how these three concepts are constructed in the exegetical traditions of the two schools and how they shape the political discourse of the Qur’an. The study analyzes relevant verses concerning authority, command, sovereignty, justice, equity, trust, obedience, and ulū al-amr in nine major commentaries: al-Ṭabarī, al-Zamakhsharī, Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Ṭūsī, al-Ṭabrisī, ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī, and Tafsīr-i Nemūneh. The method combines close reading, qualitative coding, thematic analysis, and comparative discourse analysis. The findings show that power is generally understood not as mere domination, but as trust, judgment, guidance, and responsibility. Justice functions as an internal criterion of legitimacy and a means of limiting authority. Obedience, likewise, is not absolute; it is tied to truth, divine command, justice, and legitimate authority. The main difference between the two exegetical traditions appears in their interpretation of ulū al-amr. The article argues that a digital-qualitative approach can provide a transparent and comparable model for analyzing the political discourse of the Qur’an.

Keywords

Subjects

قرآن کریم
ابن‌کثیر، اسماعیل‌بن‌عمر. (۱۴۱۹ق). تفسیر القرآن العظیم. تحقیق محمدحسین شمس‌الدین، بیروت: دارالکتب العلمیة.
زمخشری، محمود بن عمر. (۱۴۰۷ق). الکشاف عن حقائق غوامض التنزیل. چاپ سوم، بیروت: دارالکتاب العربی.
طباطبایی، سیدمحمدحسین. (۱۴۱۷ق). المیزان فی تفسیر القرآن. قم: دفتر انتشارات اسلامی جامعۀ مدرسین حوزۀ علمیۀ قم.
طبرسی، فضل بن حسن. (1372). مجمع البیان فی تفسیر القرآن.  چاپ سوم. تهران: ناصر خسرو.
طبری، محمد بن جریر. (۱۴۲۰ق). جامع البیان. تحقیق احمد محمد شاکر، چاپ اول، بیروت: مؤسسه الرسالة.
طوسی، محمد بن حسن. (بی‌تا). التبیان فی تفسیر القرآن. تحقیق احمد حبیب قصیر العاملی، بیروت: دار إحیاء التراث العربی.
قرطبی، محمد بن احمد. (۱۳۸۴ق). الجامع لأحکام القرآن. تحقیق احمد البردونی و ابراهیم أطیفش، چاپ دوم، قاهره: دارالکتب المصریة.
مکارم شیرازی، ناصر و همکاران. (1374). تفسیر نمونه. تهران: دارالکتب الإسلامیة.
فخرالدین رازی، محمد بن عمر. (۱۴۲۰ق). مفاتیح الغیب. چاپ سوم، بیروت: دار إحیاء التراث العربی.
Bazeley, Pat, and Kristi Jackson. (2013). Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo. 2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications.
Berry, David M., and Anders Fagerjord. (2017). Digital Humanities: Knowledge and Critique in a Digital Age. John Wiley & Sons.
Bode, Katherine. (2019). A World of Fiction: Digital Collections and the Future of Literary History. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Dar, Owais Manzoor. (2022). “Obedience to ‘Political Authority’ (Ulū Al-Amr): A Discursive Analysis of Modern South Asian Exegesis.” Australian Journal of Islamic Studies, 7(1), pp. 141–167. 
Fedeli, Alba. (2020). “Digital Humanities and Qur’ānic Manuscript Studies: New Perspectives and Challenges for Collaborative Spaces and Plural Views.” Journal of College of Sharia and Islamic Studies, 38(1), pp. 147–158. doi: 10.29117/jcsis.2020.0260.
Gibbs, Graham R. (2018). Analyzing Qualitative Data. 2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications.
Pink, Johanna. (2019). Muslim Qur’anic Interpretation Today: Media, Genealogies and Interpretive Communities. Sheffield: Equinox Publishing.
Quraishi-Landes, Asifa. (2019). “Legislating Morality and Other Illusions about Islamic Government.” In Sohaira Z. M. Siddiqui, ed., Locating the Sharīʿa: Legal Fluidity in Theory, History and Practice, pp. 176–204. Leiden: Brill.
Silver, Christina, and Ann Lewins. (2014). Using Software in Qualitative Research: A Step-by-Step Guide. 2nd ed. London: SAGE Publications.
Taji-Farouki, Suha, ed. (2015). The Qur’an and Its Readers Worldwide: Contemporary Commentaries and Translations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zaman, Muhammad Qasim. (2012). Modern Islamic Thought in a Radical Age: Religious Authority and Internal Criticism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Volume 10, Issue 2
Summer 2026
Pages 133-158

  • Receive Date 29 May 2026
  • Accept Date 28 June 2026