A Semantic Analysis of the Quranic Word "Ḥukm" and the Feasibility of its Signification as Government

The word "Ḥukm" has been used ۳۰ times in the Holy Quran. Despite the frequent use of this word and its other derivatives in the Holy Quran which exhibit both clear and obscure semantic differences, lexicographers and authors of wujuh-wa-naẓāʼir have reported very general and restricted meanings for it. In this survey, we have explored its syntagmatic and contextual usages in the Holy Quran as well as its cognates in the Semitic languages and presented some of its meanings ignored by others. We have concluded that in addition to 'adjudication' which is the most used and certain meaning of this word in the Quran, the meanings 'the faculty of sound judgment', 'decree and ordinance', 'mission and responsibility', and possibly 'government' are among the other meanings of this word in the Holy Quran. The application of this last meaning, which we have seen its spread in classical and contemporary Arabic, seems to be restricted and uncertain in the Holy Quran and its main signifier in the Quran is the term "Mulk" and its derivatives.

کلیدواژه ها:

Ḥukm ، Holy Quran ، Etymology ، Semantics ، semantic relations ، Government ، Mulk