Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

The Qurʾān as an Explanation for Everything: History of Ideas in Exegetical Tradition

Document Type : Original article

Author
Associate professor, Department of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Rafsanjan, Iran.
Abstract
In the eras of Qurʾānic exegesis, alongside the formation of various concepts based on Qurʾānic verses, the concept of the Qurʾān encompassing all matters and sciences also emerged, considering the implication of verse 89 of Surah An-Nahl. In this study, the mentioned concept was examined using the method of concept history to determine its evolution among the exegetes of both sects and what interpretations of the verse have been presented over the centuries. As part of the findings of this research, until the mid-fifth century AH, the Qurʾān being an explanation for everything was understood within the scope of Sharia and rulings such as commands and prohibitions, promises and warnings, limits, halal and haram, etc. , to the extent that a kind of restriction formed in the expressions of the exegetes. From the mid-fifth century, the capacity for enlightenment of tradition, reason, consensus, analogy, and ijtihad was discussed, and based on the explanatory role of each, religious and sectarian concepts gradually gained strength, so that each of the Shiite and Sunni exegetes incorporated their own doctrinal and jurisprudential presuppositions and foundations into the interpretation of the verse. From the second half of the eighth century, with reference to two famous narrations of Ibn Mas'ud: “All knowledge has been revealed in the Qurʾān and everything has been explained to us in it, but our knowledge falls short of what has been explained to us in the Qurʾān” and “Whoever seeks knowledge should stir the Qurʾān, for it contains the knowledge of the first and the last,” the comprehensive scientific nature of the Qurʾān was discussed. With the advent of new centuries, the above interpretations of the verse were refined and clarified due to the dominance of scientific discourses and the prevalence of the general guiding discourse of the Qurʾān and problem-oriented perspectives.
Keywords

Subjects


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Volume 5, Issue 1 - Serial Number 9
September 2024
Pages 129-165

  • Receive Date 08 July 2024
  • Revise Date 25 September 2024
  • Accept Date 21 September 2024