A PhD thesis entitled “Semantic Interpretation at the Imamiyyah” was discussed in the Department of Arabic Language at the College of Arts at the University of Basrah.
The thesis presented by the student, Hatim Abdul Wahid Shwea, included three chapters. The first chapter discussed the perception of language in the Imamiyyah and its impact on understanding the semantics ,the second chapter discussed the foundations of semantic interpretation according to the Imamiyyah and the position of contemporary reading towards it ,and the third chapter dealt with the directions of understanding the religious significance according to the Imamiyyah.
The thesis aims to identify the interpretive practice of the Imamiyyah, and was this practice able to present a theory of reading that has the ability to enter into an active dialogue with different thought: traditional and contemporary? And what has the semantic interpretation of the Imamiyyah achieved at the level of understanding the religious significance, and taking the scientific and practical stance on it, or as a school that has something that distinguishes it in terms of clarity of visions and features, or in terms of followership, originality, and historical depth?
The thesis concluded that the Imamiyyah pioneered attempts to develop methods for revealing meaning and renewing scientific procedures in hermeneutical practice, as this practice is based on scientific objectivity and consideration of parallel readings in all cultures that revolve around the meaning of the religious text and its related rulings, which includes examining texts, and taking the appropriate critical stance on them, and this is what contributed to creating a special and distinct interpretive discourse, whether at the level of intellectual depth in analysis and investigation, or at the level of influence left by the previous discourse on the later.
