Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Levels of Understanding in the Interpretation of the Qurʾān - The Interpretation of those accused of al-Ghuluww: a Case Study

Document Type : Original article

Authors
Mahdi Faramarzi Palangar 1
Abbas Osku'ian 2
1 PhD in Qurʾān and Ḥadith Sciences, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Theology, Payām-e Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Among the movements of thought in the Islamic world that have presented an interpretation of the Qurʾān and their legacy of interpretation has remained there are those accused of exaggeration (al-Ghuluww). This term refers to those who are accused of exaggeration in beliefs and refusing religious rituals in the old Shiʿa religious sources. They had various activities and among other things they were active in various fields of Islamic knowledge in their era, such as interpretation of Qurʾān, and they had an effective presence in this field. A book of interpretation has been attributed to them, and many exegerical narrations of Shīʿa Imāms have been narrated by them. In addition, they are the founder of a type of interpretation called Tafsīr Bāṭin. Their commentary books are not left behind. However, many interpretive narrations have been reported from them in narrative sources. The special type of Tafsīr Bāṭin that was written only by them, the multitude of exegetical narratives of those accused of exaggeration in Shiʿa exegetical sources, their beliefs and special view of religion which is also reflected in their exegetical narrations make it necessary to know their foundations, sources and method of exegesis. The topic of the upcoming study is extracting the interpretive sources of them. In order to realize this goal, we will first explain the place of understanding in interpretation by using the topics of Translation Studies and the principles of interpretation, then we examine the interpretive legacy of those accused of exaggeration in order to know what are the different levels of understanding in their interpretation.
Keywords
Al-Ghulāt
Tafsīr Bāṭin
Levels of Understanding
Belief-Oriented Understanding
Context-oriented Understanding
Text-oriented understanding
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  • Receive Date 15 January 2023
  • Revise Date 14 March 2023
  • Accept Date 16 March 2023