Imamate and Walāya in the Eclipse of a New Qurʾān Translation: A Critique of Muḥammad-“Alī Kūshā’s Translation

A new Persian translation of the Holy Qurʾān, accompanied by explanatory commentary and prepared by the respected scholar Muḥammad-‛Alī Kūshā and his collaborators after a decade of effort, has attracted considerable attention from both readers and critics. Previous issues of this journal have already published reviews of the work as well as responses to those critiques. The present study offers a different perspective, approaching the translation from the standpoint of Shi’i theology and Qurʾānic exegesis and evaluating it in light of established and well-documented Imāmī beliefs. The author argues that, in both its translation and commentary sections, the work places certain central doctrines of Imāmī thought—particularly the concepts of Imamate and Walāya—into eclipse under the influence of the translator’s own interpretive assumptions. As a result, many readers may remain unaware of significant divergences between the views presented in the translation and the positions commonly upheld within the Shi’i exegetical tradition, naturally assuming the work to be consistent with other Shi’i translations and commentaries. According to the author, such a situation risks creating a form of intellectual misguidance through the concealment of these difference To demonstrate this distinctive yet problematic interpretive approach, the article examines ten of the most important Qurʾānic verses traditionally regarded by Imāmī theologians, traditionists, and exegetes as foundational textual evidence for the doctrines of Imamate and the Walāya of the Ahl al-Bayt. These include the verses of Purification (Taṭhīr), Affection (Mawadda), the Proclamation of Imamate (Tablīgh), the Perfection of Religion (Ikmāl al-Dīn), Obedience to Those in Authority (Ulī al-Amr), Trial (Ibtilāʾ), Walāya, Khums and Anfāl, Fayʾ, and Dhū al-Qurbā. In the concluding section, the study further argues that a similar interpretive tendency can be observed in the treatment of verses specifically associated with the virtues of the Ahl al-Bayt, such as the verse “They give food, despite their love for it” (Q 76) and the verse “And he who possesses knowledge of the Book” (Q 13:43).