Criticism of Quranic references in the field of physiognomy

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 dAssistant Professor, Department of Quranic Sciences and Hadith, Faculty of Islamic Sciences and Researches, Imam Khomani University, Qazvin, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Quranic Sciences and Hadith, Faculty of Islamic Sciences and Researches, Imam Khomani University, Qazvin, Iran.

10.30512/kq.2024.20979.3797

Abstract

Discovering a person's character from his or her appearance and navigating from the outside to the inside is a simple yet complex way to understand the individual. To prove the effectiveness of this method in recognizing humans, experts in physiognomy cite verses from the Holy Quran that have not yet been scrutinized by Quran scholars. The present study, using a descriptive-analytical method, has examined the Quranic references in the field of physiognomy. In order to examine the accuracy or inaccuracy of the claims made, it is necessary to present the detailed view of the Holy Quran regarding the possibility or impossibility of this type of knowledge, which has long been a combination of superstition, reality, and exaggeration.
Based on the findings of this study, it appears that the principles of facial recognition are supported by the Holy Quran. However, The Quranic documentation of physiognomy is, on the one hand, not comprehensive and does not cover all relevant verses and, on the other hand, it is general and without explanation about how these verses relate to physiognomy. In addition to that the cited verses mostly refer to tawassam or farasah as a divine gift. This is different from conventional physiognomy, which means knowing morality through the type of creation. The verses related to the face indicate the effect of changing human behavior on the face .This does not support the idea in physiognomy that characteristics related to creation influence a person's behavior. In other words, a person's morality and behavior are not subject to his or her God-given appearance. Rather, sometimes the traces of morals and behavior can be traced on one’s face. 

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