The Semantic Evolution of the Concept of “Shākilah” in the Range of Exegeses and the Period of Origin and Classics

Abstract

The source and main factor of human actions is among the most important issues have always being concerned by scholars. The holy Qur’an addresses this fundamental issue in the verse 17:84, with the key term of "shākilah". There are other relevant concepts with shākilah in Qur’anic discourse, such as effects of divine providence, individual authority and social factors on human performance. The concept of shākilah is the most important word, which exegetes have put forward different opinions on its meaning in the course of interpretive history. Specifically, in two periods of the emergence (the era of the Prophet (PBUH) and Imams (AS)) and the classics (from the second half of the third to the sixth centuries), we witness the evolution of the attitudes toward this notion; during the period of its origin and development, the commentators’ ideas are mostly simple and short, but by next centuries in the classical era, various methods have been adopted to explain the meaning of this notion and discover its ambiguity. The first approach of explanation is the use of narratives that communicate between the shākilah and “believer’s intention (nīyyah)”. Then, the mixed opinions are observable. Also, the use of verbal, mystical, and literary presuppositions is visible in order to explain its meaning. Therefore, observing the evolution of perspectives on the meaning of shākilah expresses a semantic development in the meaning of this notion.

Keywords

• keywords: shākilah
• history of concept
• the origin period
• the classic period
• interpreting schoolsativism"