THE REPRESENTATION OF THE CONCEPT OF “HOMELAND” IN THE QUR’AN (A LINGUOSEMANTIC AND LINGUOCULTURAL ANALYSIS)

Abstract

The concept of homeland is a complex cognitive and linguocultural structure encompassing space, memory, belonging, security, social solidarity, and spiritual values. This article examines the representation of the concept of homeland in the Qur’anic text through a linguosemantic and linguocultural analysis of spatial, social, and axiological units. Particular attention is devoted to the lexical units “balad”, “ard”, “dār”, and “qarya”, as well as the concepts of “hijra” and “muhājirūn”. The analysis demonstrates that the Qur’an does not represent homeland through a single direct lexeme corresponding to the contemporary Uzbek term “vatan”; rather, the concept is distributed across a network of lexical and semantic relations. The study identifies such semantic components as space, residence, belonging, security, sacredness, stability, community, separation, migration, and responsibility. The analysis also distinguishes the central and peripheral layers of the concept and proposes a linguocultural model in which homeland is understood as a space integrating geographical, social, spiritual, and axiological dimensions.