The Pragmatic Use of Quranic Verses in Specific Situations

Abstract

Utterances are produced in a particular place and at a particular time. Much of what is said is assumed to be relevant to the place and time of the utterance. For example, if someone wants to greet his father in the morning, he must choose "Good morning", while at night he must say "Good evening". The fact that the context of situation is a decisive factor in determining the intended meaning of using a given Quranic verse in a certain situation is proved because it lets the hearer know the purpose behind saying this verse in this context and what the intent of using it in this situation. However, Leech's view (1983) of defining pragmatics as language in use is very applicable in this study and the situations in which the Quranic verses are cited, can be patterned into types. Context – dependency of certain verses according to the activity and relatedness is determined by the appropriateness between the situation and the linguistic environment of the utterance being uttered. The linguistic context is regarded as a parameter to determine the selectivity of verse. A variety of verses are cited in institutional, social, religious, political, sanitary, and decent situations according to the activity in which the utterances are employed.