Iconicity, Indexicality, and Symbolism in the Name of Sūrah al-Nabaʾ: A Peircean Semiotic Analysis

Abstract

While the names of Qurʾānic sūrahs have been extensively studied for their thematic coherence and suitability (munāsaba), their semiotic function as interpretive structures remains comparatively underexplored. This article examines the name of Sūrat al-Nabaʾ through the triadic semiotic model of Charles Sanders Peirce. Employing a qualitative micro-semiotic textual analysis, the study argues that the name al-Nabaʾ operates simultaneously across three semiotic modes: as an icon through its phonetic and semantic properties, which reflect the gravity and urgency of the Great News; as an index through its deictic and socio-historical relation to the Makkan controversy surrounding resurrection; and as a symbol through its established theological conventionality within Islamic eschatological discourse, functioning as a Peircean Legisign. Together, these dimensions produce what the study describes as hermeneutic pre-positioning, whereby the sūrah name shapes the reader’s interpretive orientation prior to engagement with the body of the text. The findings suggest that sūrah names function not merely as thematic labels but as active semiotic structures participating in the communicative and rhetorical architecture of Qurʾānic discourse. The study contributes to Qurʾānic onomastics by proposing a functional-semiotic framework for analysing sūrah names and further demonstrates the analytical adaptability of Peircean semiotics within non-Western sacred textual traditions.