Journal of Interreligious Studies on the Quran and the Bible

Journal of Interreligious Studies on the Quran and the Bible

A Critical Discourse Analysis of Surah Ṭāhā based on James Paul Gee's Model

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Hossein Matoori
Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics, Arv.C, Islamic Azad University, Abadan, IRAN.
10.22034/qb.2026.2084989.1070
Abstract
This study conducts a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of the dialogue between Moses and God in Surah Ṭāhā of the Quran based on James Paul Gee’s discourse analysis framework. Drawing on Gee’s building tasks and tools of inquiry, the research investigates how divine-human interaction linguistically constructs identities, relationships, power relations, and theological meanings within a sacred text. Adopting a mixed-methods descriptive-analytic design, the study integrates quantitative frequency analysis of discourse features with qualitative interpretation of contextualized meanings and figured worlds. The findings reveal that identity construction and relationship building are the most prominent building tasks in the Moses-God discourse, highlighting the centrality of prophetic identity formation and divine authority. Among Gee’s tools of inquiry, situated meanings and figured worlds occur most frequently, indicating that theological concepts are communicated through context-dependent meanings and implicit models of divine–human relations. The analysis further demonstrates that power relations are asymmetrical yet compassionate, combining divine sovereignty with responsiveness to human concerns. By applying Gee’s comprehensive framework to Quranic discourse, this study bridges traditional Quranic exegesis with contemporary linguistic analysis. It contributes to critical discourse studies by extending the applicability of CDA to religious texts and demonstrates the analytical value of Gee’s model in examining spiritually and theologically complex discourse. Ultimately, the research advances interdisciplinary dialogue between linguistics and theology and enriches the critical study of sacred scriptures.
Keywords
Critical Discourse Analysis
James Paul Gee
Quran
Surah Ṭāhā
Moses
Religious Discourse
Identity Construction
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Online Resources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta-Ha
https://anhaar.com
https://quran.makarem.ir
https://quran.com/Ṭāhā