Report on a Master's Thesis Titled: Acceptance in the Holy Quran: An Objective Study

Abstract

This thesis examines the concept of divine acceptance (al-Qabūl) in the Holy Quran through a thematic methodological approach, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master's degree in Quranic interpretation and sciences. The study was motivated by the dispersal of related material across numerous classical and contemporary Islamic sources without a consolidated reference. The research aims to map the conditions, prerequisites, necessities, nullifiers, and signs of acceptance by Allah, while identifying Quranic figures honored with divine acceptance, elucidating Quranic rhetorical strategies that encourage seeking acceptance, and tracing the degrees and effects of acceptance—both its presence and absence—in this life and the hereafter. The thesis is organized into an introduction, a preface, four chapters, a conclusion, and indices. Key findings include: acceptance belongs solely to Allah and operates on graduated levels according to the spiritual soundness of the heart, conditioned by faith; the lowest degree is salvation from Hellfire while the highest is special divine love; there is a close correlation between the degrees of Paradise and the degrees of acceptance; and a critical distinction exists between the acceptance of a deed per se and the acceptance of the servant as a whole. The study also catalogues the rhetoric employed by the Quran to motivate believers toward seeking acceptance.