A New Analysis of God’s Active Attributes in the Noble Qur’ān Based on Georges Dumezil’s Mythology Theory

Document Type : Scholary

Authors

1 PhD Holder of Qur’ān and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Qur’ān and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

Abstract

One of the important topics in the Islamic theology that is discussed by the scholars of theology and interpretation is God’s active attributes like sustenance provision which originates from the relation of Supreme Essence with His creatures. For the first time, based on the theory of Georges Dumezil in the field of comparative mythology, the active attributes of God or gods are studied in the form of a three-fold pattern, and the viewpoint of the Qur’ān is explicated about it. This study shows that the pre-Islam Arabs – being influenced by the beliefs of Indian and European tribes – have categorized the active attributes of gods into three main classes: ruling, war, and production, and have deemed each of the gods possessing one of those attributes. The noble Qur’ān also has employed this three-fold pattern for mentioning the active attributes of God.  It is different in that the noble Qur’ān has replaced the many gods of Ignorant Era with the unique God. It also has taken the aforesaid three-fold functions altogether in the unique God, in place of ascribing them to three groups of gods.  

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Classical and Contemporary Islamic Studies (formerly known as Journal of Contemporary Islamic Studies)
Volume 4, Issue 2
Summer & Autumn
July 2022
Pages 267-279

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