Quran, Culture And Civilization

Quran, Culture And Civilization

Discourse Analysis of Quranic Citations concerning the Prophet's Campaigns in Tabari's Chronicle: Speech Acts and the Reproduction of Power

Document Type : Promotional

Authors
1 Associate Professor, Department of History, Faculty of Humanities, Arak University, Arak, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran.
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Arak University, Arak, Iran.
10.22034/jksl.2025.534737.1484
Abstract
By drawing on verses of the Holy Quran in its account of the Prophet's military campaigns, Tabari's Chronicle constructs a historical-religious discourse that reflects the interaction of language, ideology, and power. To analyze this interaction, the present study combines John Searle's speech act theory with Fairclough's critical discourse analysis. The study employs a descriptive-analytical method, and its data comprise a selection of Quranic verses concerning the Prophet's campaigns as cited in Tabari's Chronicle. The findings show that assertives, as the most frequent speech act at 47.31%, reinforce Tabari's predominantly descriptive style, while directives (20.43%) and declarations (15.05%) construct a discourse of the obligation of jihad and confer religious legitimacy on jihad in the cause of Islam. From a discourse-analytical perspective, the Quranic verses represent jihad as a religious duty and consolidate the authority of Islam in confrontation with its enemies. This occurs through mechanisms such as emphasizing obedience to God and His Messenger and foregrounding the role of angels in battle. The findings demonstrate that Quranic citations in Tabari's Chronicle function as a discursive instrument for reinforcing religious-political foundations and addressing the needs of the Islamic community in the face of challenges contemporary with the work's composition. The study provides a framework for analyzing the inseparable relationship between religious language and jihad in historical texts.
Keywords
Subjects

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Volume 7, Issue 3 - Serial Number 25
Autumn 2026
Pages 113-134

  • Receive Date 30 July 2025
  • Revise Date 09 November 2025
  • Accept Date 26 November 2025
  • Publish Date 23 September 2026