Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study addresses the problem of decontextualized readings of the Qur'an that are often exploited in extremist narratives. While most counter-radicalization efforts rely on translation and legalistic exegesis (tafsīr fiqhī), they overlook the cognitive-linguistic layer of the Qur'ān itself. Using Cognitive Semantics, Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) of Lakoff and Johnson, and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this study analyzes 15 key Qur'anic verses related to jihād, qitāl, sayf, and sabīl in their original Arabic context. The unit of analysis is the verse as a discursive unit, examined together with its immediate co-text (preceding and following verses), its sabab al-nuzūl, and its interpretation in three tafāsīr: al-Ṭabarī, al-Rāzī, and Ibn 'Āshūr. The extremist reading of each verse is traced through selected excerpts from ISIS/Dabiq propaganda (2014-2017) and BNPT counter-narrative modules, as a comparative corpus. Findings reveal three dominant qualitative patterns of distortion, identified through close reading and conceptual mapping: (1) Literalization of War Metaphors, where a figurative expression such as ḍarb al-riqāb is collapsed into a literal instruction; (2) Erasure of Contextual Deixis (maḥw al-qayd), where limiting phrases such as fī sabīlillāh, allażīna yuqātilūnakum, and wa lā ta'tadū are omitted; and (3) Ignoring Qur'ānic Co-text (qaṭ' al-naẓm), where a verse such as QS. 9:5 is cited without QS. 9:4 and QS. 9:6, and QS. 2:191 without QS. 2:190 and QS. 2:192. Building on these findings, this paper proposes the Quranic Metaphor Deconstruction Model (QMDM) / Rahmah Framework as a theoretical proposition, not as an empirically tested intervention. The model consists of three steps: (1) Re-Metaphorization, restoring subulanā as journey; (2) Re-Deixis Restoration, restoring the qayd of QS 2:190; and (3) Re-Co-textualization, reading QS 9:5 together with QS 9:4, QS.9:6, and QS. 60:8. As a textual study, this research demonstrates the theoretical potential of QMDM to reframe extremist readings at the cognitive level. Its practical effectiveness in deradicalization programs, however, has not yet been demonstrated and requires further empirical testing, for instance through classroom action research, focus group discussions with dā'ī and santri, and pilot testing in pesantren and BNPT modules. This study therefore moves Applied Qur'anic Studies from theological refutation (radd) toward a proposal for cognitive intervention ('ilāj idrākī) — from talqīn to tafkīr — whose impact remains to be validated.
Institution: Universitas Islam Negeri Imam Bonjol Padang
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225588288