Qoran Shenakht

This study investigates the problem of understanding the "attributive descriptions" (ṣifāt khabarīya) in the Holy Quran as one of the significant theological and hermeneutical challenges. The theory that "linguistic usages are established for the spirits of meanings" (waḍʿ al-alfāẓ li-arwāḥ al-maʿānī) claims that Quranic terms are posited for a universal and comprehensive reality, and that by relying on this theory, the attributive descriptions can be understood without corporealism (tajsīm), esoteric interpretation (taʾwīl), or relegation of meaning (tafwīḍ). Employing a descriptive-analytical method and drawing upon discussions from the philosophy of language, hermeneutics, and legal theory (uṣūl al-fiqh), this article explicates and subsequently critiques the linguistic and epistemological foundations of this theory. The findings indicate that this theory faces several fundamental challenges: first, from a linguistic and historical perspective, it is incompatible with the social and conventional nature of language; second, in legal theory, it relies on a conjectural cause (ʿillat ẓannīya) and oversteps the boundaries of linguistic usage; third, it conflates the universal mental concept with the lexical object of signification (mawḍūʿ lah); and fourth, functionally, it lacks comprehensiveness in the interpretation of verses. The conclusion of the research is that this theory is less a valid linguistic foundation than a systematic mystical hermeneutics that imposes its ontological presuppositions upon language; consequently, it cannot serve as a general and reliable rule for understanding the Quran.