A Discoursal Analysis of Imam al-Mahdi’s Letters at the Time of Occultation

Abstract

Understanding the issue of Imam Al-Mahdi (PBUH) is not confined to his secret obscure birth or minor and major occultation. Various perspectives can be included. One of them is the scrutinization of his words or discourse. Specifically, his letters (or Tawqi’at) to some of his close followers during his occultation can be studied in terms of linguistics. It is a truism that these letters constitute a marvelous treasure that needs to be scrutinized in terms of jurisprudence, theology, and history, among others. This research, however, is a discoursal study of Imam’s letters during his occultation. His words convey all meanings of the noble Islamic doctrines, morals urged by the Glorious Qur’an, guidance, supplications, and many others. The aim of shedding light on these letters helps in closely knowing Imam al-Mahdi and being introduced to his instructions, orders, and prohibitions. This study aims to find out the basic discoursal aspects of Imam’s letters following Paltridge’s (2007) presentation of discoursal studies. It is a descriptive qualitative approach. Three letters have been selected randomly from his letters that are classified under the theological content to be under scrutiny. Analysis shows that ‘discourse grammar’ hosts cohesion, collocation, vocatives, questions, and negation whereas ‘discourse pragmatics’ houses directive speech acts and metaphorical use of language. The study ends with a number of conclusions the most important of which is that commanding, prohibiting, and supplicating are the distinct features in the data under investigation.