Literary Quranic Researches

Literary Quranic Researches

The Qur’an’s Communicative Strategies for Different Audiences: A Pragmatic Analysis of Speech Acts in Surah Al-Baqarah Based on John Searle’s Theory

Document Type : Research Paper

Author
Hossein Rahmani
Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities and Foreign Languages, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/paq.2026.2091386.4153
Abstract
Speech act theory, introduced by J. L. Austin and subsequently developed by John Searle (1969), is an influential theoretical framework in pragmatics. It offers a perspective in which linguistic utterances are understood not merely as vehicles for conveying information or describing the external world, but also as actions that can transform, construct, and reproduce social relations. Drawing on this framework and employing directed qualitative content analysis, this study examines the communicative strategies used in the Qur’an’s Surah Al-Baqarah. It addresses the following research question: What distinct communicative strategies does the Qur’anic text employ in addressing four principal groups of addressees—believers, disbelievers, hypocrites, and the Children of Israel? The findings, informed by the rhetorical and pragmatic interpretations of prominent exegetes, including Zamakhshari in Al-Kashshaf and Ibn Ashur in Al-Tahrir wa Al-Tanwir, indicate that Surah Al-Baqarah employs all five of Searle’s categories of speech acts—assertives, directives, commissives, expressives, and declarations—through both direct and indirect forms. The analysis further suggests that the communicative strategies vary according to the characteristics attributed to each audience group. Believers are addressed through persuasive and reassuring speech acts; disbelievers through firm, refutational forms of address; hypocrites through metaphorical exposure and layered indirect parables; and the Children of Israel through a dialectical combination of reminders, reproaches, and renewed invitations. These findings highlight the diversity of speech-act patterns in the surah and their relationship to the rhetorical and communicative functions of its discourse.
Keywords
Surah Al-Baqarah, speech act analysis, John Searle, pragmatics, Qur&‌‌rsquo
anic communication strategy
Subjects
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