Sign of Water in the Holy Qur’ān: A Semiotic Study with De-Saussure and Sayyid Qutb’s Strategic Frames of Reference

Abstract

Thesis Title: Sign of Water in the Holy Qur’ān: A Semiotic Study with DeSaussure and Sayyid Qutb’s Strategic Frames of Reference The existing translations and commentaries with their traditional styles could not effectively communicate the universal meaning and message of the Holy Qur’ān. The main thrust of the research in hand is the exploration of Qutb’s claim that taswīr (artistic representation) is the preferred method of the Holy Qur’ān, which unfolds its abstract meaning concretely through visual and sensuous pictures and makes comprehension of the text easy and reflective for the receptor. The present study is a dialectical interaction of Qutb’s taswīr (artistic expression) and Saussure’s linguistic sign for linguistic semiotic analysis of the sign of water in the Holy Qur’ān. The blending of the two is a novel area of research and very significant to develop better communication and comprehension of the Qur’ānic Message which mark a radical departure from traditional legalistic, grammatical and historical styles of exegesis. So far this crucial and challenging task has not been given due consideration. The study in hand is a humble attempt to develop an interaction among linguistics, semiotics, the Qur’ānic translation and commentary, particularly focusing on: (i) marking lexical and syntactic choices using Nida's semantic categories for an in-depth linguistic semiotic analysis of the sign of water in the Holy Qur’ān, (ii) exploring contextual implications of the text through 'Tafsīr Ibn-i-Kathīr', (iii) highlighting lexical and syntactic categories reflecting different images in the sign of water in the Holy Qur’ān, (iv) comments and explanation on translation of the sign of water, employing Nida's 'Theory and Practice of Translation'; as well as on commentary to highlight Qutb's concept of taswīr (artistic expression), (v) semiotic manifestations of the sign of water in the Holy Qur’ān with certain comments on Saussure's linguistic sign. It may, however, be noted that interpreting and understanding meaning of the universal Message in its entirety is beyond human intellect and ability. Furthermore, a structured interview and a questionnaire have been developed by the researcher to collect the data and cross examine the conclusion drawn through the analysis of the sign of water in the Holy Qur’ān. The researcher also suggested further studies on linguistic semiotic analysis of various unexplored manifestations of the sign of water in the Holy Qur’ān.