The Meaning of “Messenger” in Verse 96 of Surah Taha According to Tafsir al-Mizan
Keywords:
Al-Mizan Commentary, Surah Taha, Musa (peace be upon him), Messenger , TraceAbstract
There are verses in the Holy Qur’an whose referents are not explicitly clear, leading commentators to present various interpretations. One such verse is: “He said, ‘I perceived what they did not perceive, so I took a handful from the trace of the Messenger and threw it, and thus did my soul entice me.’” (Taha, 20:96). This verse records the response of the Samiri to the question of Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) regarding the calf worship practiced by the Children of Israel. The present study seeks to investigate the identity of “the trace of the Messenger” (athar al-rasul) from the perspective of exegetes—particularly ‘Allamah Ṭabāṭabā’ī—using a descriptive-analytical method. In addressing the question “Who is the Messenger?”, ‘Allamah reviews the opinions of other commentators and refutes each with rigorous reasoning. Strikingly, however, he leaves his own discussion unfinished, refraining from affirming any view, and consequently invites the reader to pursue the answer independently by considering the contextual clues.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Ali Iranmanesh (Author); Abbas Esmailizadeh; Mohammad Hassan Rostami (Author)
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