This study examines the meaning of minority group victory in the Qur’an through a semantic analysis of the word ghalaba in QS. Al-Baqarah [2]: 249 and links it with the theory of minority influence in social psychology. Using the Qur’anic semantic approach pioneered by Toshihiko Izutsu (Izutsu, 2002), this research traces the basic meaning, relational meaning, semantic field, and weltanschauung of the Qur’an concerning the victory of a small group (fi’ah qalilah) over a large group (fi’ah katsirah). Primary data, consisting of the verse text and its interpretations in classical and modern tafsir works, were analyzed qualitatively and descriptively through content analysis combined with an intertextual approach to the Qur’an (tafsir al-Qur’an bi al-Qur’an). The findings show that ghalaba in the context of verse 249 does not merely refer to physical-militaristic victory, but rather to a qualitative superiority born of steadfast faith, patience (shabr), and conviction in God’s permission (idznillah), rather than merely a function of troop numbers. The study also finds a conceptual convergence between the pattern of minority victory in the Qur’an and Serge Moscovici’s minority influence theory (Moscovici, 1976), especially in the dimensions of behavioral style, consistency of attitude, and the process of social conversion, although the two rest on different epistemological foundations: transcendental-theological in the Qur’an and psychosocial-empirical in social psychology. This study offers an interdisciplinary dialogical framework between Qur’anic exegesis and social psychology for understanding the dynamics of social change driven by small groups with firm conviction.
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