Al-Bakhs in Tafsīr al-Munīr

Contextual Meanings and the Reconstruction of an Anti-Bakhs Principle from al-Zuḥaylī’s Interpretation

Abstract

Justice in the Qur’an is expressed through both commands to fulfil rights and prohibitions against their unjust diminution. This study examines the contextual meanings of al-bakhs in Wahbah al-Zuḥaylī’s al-Tafsīr al-Munīr and reconstructs a specific anti-bakhs principle. It employs qualitative library research, theory-guided content analysis, Charles J. Fillmore’s Frame Semantics, and limited exegetical comparison. The primary corpus comprises al-Zuḥaylī’s interpretations of seven Qur’anic occurrences of the root term al-bakhs. Each occurrence is analyzed through its grammatical construction, participants, object, standard of comparison, realization relationship, polarity, and normative evaluation. The findings identify three configurations. Four occurrences prohibit the diminution of acknowledged debts and other people’s rights, forming the violation configuration. One characterizes the price in Q.S. Yūsuf [12]: 20 as falling below its commensurate value, forming the assessment configuration. Two negate diminution in worldly recompense and the reward for good deeds, forming the guaranteed configuration. These uses share a relationship between an identifiable object, a contextually grounded standard, and a shortfall that is prohibited, described, or explicitly excluded. The study designates this relationship the normative-deficit frame. By interpreting the prohibitions against under-fulfilment alongside the relevant standards of rights and value, it reconstructs the anti-bakhs principle: legitimately grounded rights and values should be fully and proportionately realized without unjustifiable diminution. This principle offers a specific perspective on justice rather than a comprehensive account of Qur’anic justice. Applications for employment, professional recognition, and institutional procedures are distinguished from direct exegetical findings and require independently defensible standards.

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