Author(s): Huda Ala’a Jabour, Abbas Lutfi Hussein

Abstract: The dual nature of supplication as both expressive and directive speech acts presents a challenge in understanding how religious language conveys feelings like trust, hope, and confidence while invoking a higher authority. Thus, this paper attempts to investigate the pragmatic behavior of supplication in Arabic Prophetic hadiths. Based on Searle’ (1969, 1979) model of speech acts, 25 Prophetic hadiths are selected to be pragmatically analyzed in terms of a mixed research method. The findings reveal that expressive acts manifest emotional pleas for strength and forgiveness, while directive acts focus on requests for divine help. This in turn highlights the dual function of supplication, as it serves both personal reflection and an appeal for action from God. This entails that Prophetic hadiths tend to evince morals and spiritual guidance.

Keywords: supplication, expressive-directive, speech act, Prophetic hadiths

Article Info: Received: 29 Sep 2024; Received in revised form: 01 Nov 2024; Accepted: 05 Nov 2024; Available online: 11 Nov 2024

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.96.8