Quran and Hadith Studies

Quran and Hadith Studies

A Semantic Analysis of Ḍarb in the Narrations on the Children’s Ḍarb for Prayer: A Critique of “Commitment” and “Ja‘li shar‘ī” Readings

Document Type : Research Article

Author
Hojjatollah Dehghani
The researcher, Institute of Fiqhe Nezam, Qom, Iran
10.22067/jquran.2026.95276.1884
Abstract
One of the important challenges in jurisprudential and educational analysis of narrations concerning children’s ḍarb for prayer is disagreement over the meaning of the term “ḍarb”. The existing research background has primarily been based on two readings of this term: “corporal punishment” and “commitment”. However, no study has ever comprehensively examined all the possible meanings of the root “ḍ-r-b”. Furthermore, no one has yet proposed “ja‘li shar‘ī” (divine-juristic enactment) as a third interpretive possibility. Using a descriptive-analytical method and based on lexical examination, comparative study of Quranic usages, and contextual analysis of five main narrations, this article compares and analyzes three interpretations: “corporal punishment”, “commitment”, and “ja‘li shar‘ī”. The findings show that although the “ja‘li shar‘ī” reading is an innovative concept, it faces serious lexical and syntactic problems and is inconsistent with the context of traditions. Also, regarding the “commitment” reading, it does not possess sufficient soundness, as it lacks lexical support and conflicts with the syntactic structure of narrations. In contrast, by considering the lexical meaning of the root “ḍ-r-b”, textual indications in the narrations concerning the children and its similar usage in other educational traditions, it becomes clear that the “corporal punishment” interpretation is more consistent with the available evidence. Accordingly, the interpretation of the term “ḍarb” in the narrations regarding the children’s prayer is explicable within the framework of the concept “punishment”. This finding can serve as a basis for organizing educational views and resolving existing disagreements over the analysis of these narrations.
Keywords
Children’s prayer
Ḍarb narrations
Corporal punishment
commitment
Ja‘li shar‘ī
Subjects
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Quran and Hadith Studies
Volume 58, Issue 1 - Serial Number 116
Spring & summer 2026
August 2026
Pages 159-184

  • Receive Date 24 September 2025
  • Revise Date 14 November 2025
  • Accept Date 18 March 2026