Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Scientific Exegesis as Critique of Interpretive Tradition: the Prophetic Stories in Behboudi and Tabatabai's Reading

Document Type : Original article

Authors
Batul ʿAlamatSaz 1
Ahmad Zareʿ Zardini 2
Kamal Sahraʾi Ardakani 3
Sayyed Mohammad Musavi Bafruyi 4
1 PhD Student at Meybod University, Meybod, Iran.
2 Associate Professor of Quranic and Hadith Sciences,Faculty of Theology, Meybod University, Meybod, Iran.
3 Associate Professor of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology, Meybod University, Meybod, Iran.
4 Associate Professor of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Theology Meybod University, Meybod, Iran.
10.22034/naghdeara.2024.195027
Abstract
The research issue at hand is the analysis and examination of Mohammad Baqer Behbudi's approach to utilizing natural sciences in understanding and explaining the verses of the Quran, with a re-reading of his performance in understanding the stories of the prophets in the Holy Quran. The dominant approach to the research is qualitative, and a descriptive-analytical method has been used for data collection and analysis. The findings of the research indicate that Behbudi has used a scientific method in understanding the stories of the prophets in the Quran, including the story of Adam's creation, the descent of sperm, the expansion of human progeny on Earth during Noah's time, and the creation of Saleh's she-camel. Behbudi has benefited from the teachings of various sciences, including biology and genetics, astronomy and cosmology, electricity, and medicine, in understanding and explaining some points of these stories. Moreover, one of the most important applications of scientific interpretation from his perspective is to confirm his interpretive perceptions of the verses' content and to respond to ambiguities that have been raised around the content of some verses in the stories of the prophets in the Quran. The results of the research can point to Behbudi's motivations for using new sciences in interpretation, such as distancing and complete disregard for some very weak interpretive statements in explaining the verses of the Holy Quran, as a critical view and demonstrating the harmony between the Quran and science.
 
Keywords
Mohammad Baqer Behbudi
Scientific Interpretation
Quranic Stories
Divine Prophets
Critique of Interpretive Tradition
Mohammad Hossein Tabatabai
Subjects
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  • Receive Date 22 March 2024
  • Revise Date 26 April 2024
  • Accept Date 27 April 2024