A Comparative Study of the Meaning of “Halū‘” from the Viewpoints of Martyr Muṭahharī and Ayatullāh Jawādī Āmulī

The human is a creature whose being is filled with instinctive and innate qualities. One of these qualities is the “Halū‘iyyat” which is noted in the Qur’ān 70:19 and discusses the sensitivity of the human to the good and the evil. There is a disagreement among the exegetes with regard to the interpretation of this verse. This article has adopted a descriptive-analytical method to examine the opinions of two contemporary exegetes, i.e. martyr Murtaḍā Muṭahharī and Ayatullāh Jawādī Āmulī in this regard. The results reveal that although the stances of both exegetes is in line with the viewpoint of those exegetes who consider the verse as a description of the human nature, Martyr Muṭahharī takes the human nature based on “Halū‘iyyat” per se as his perfection, while Ayatullāh Jawādī Āmulī believes that the perfection recognized by Islam and its jurisprudence is in the vicinity to God and the manifestation of the most sacred Divine Essence in the human. Nonetheless, the opinions of these two exegetes are not conflicting, because martyr Muṭahharī’s intention of this type of perfection is the primordial and organic perfection, while Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī refers to the true perfection.