Modern Quranic

Interpretation
 Quranic Interpretation/
Tafsir
Tafsir bil-mathur or bil-maqul
Classical scholars say interpretation only based on personal
reason (ray) is prohibited it must accord with and be backed
up by transmitted material
Tawil/Interpretation vs. Tafsir: It is He who revealed the
Book in it are strongly establishes ayat these are the
Mother of the Book and others that are ambiguous and
those who have misguidance in their hearts they follow
the ambiguous of it seeking to cause dissention and
seeking its tawil and none knows its tawil except God
and those firm in knowledge they say We believe in it,
all if it comes from our Lord and none remembers this
but those possessed of reason. (3:7)
Where does the comma go? Who can know?
 Muhammad b. al-Saib al-Kalbi (d. 763) attributes
to Ibn Abbas (d. 688): The Quran was [revealed]
in four aspects: tafsir [the literal meaning?],
which scholars know; Arabic with which the
Arabs are acquainted; lawful and unlawful, of
which it is not permissible for people to be
unaware; and tawil [the deeper meaning?] that
only God knows. Ibn Abbas also says that tawil
is what will be (ma huwa kain).
Al-Maturidi: The tafsir belongs to the
Companions, the tawil to the scholars ( fuqaha),
because the companions saw the events and
knew the circumstances of the revelation of the
Quran
 Early Tafsir Types

Explanation of words and

circumstances: derived from Ibn Abbas,
Mujahid, Qatada, Ali b. Abi Talha
Collections: Muhammad b. Saib al-
Kalbi and Muqatil b. Sulayman (d. 767)
Grammar/Language Works: Maani al-
Quran by al-Farra (d. 822)
Stories of the Prophets: ex. Tafsir of al-
Dahhak b. Muzahim of Balkh (d. 723), al-
Suddi
Later Tafsir Genres
Asbab al-nuzul: ex. of al-Wahidi (d.
1075)
Summa Works: linguistic, historical, and
theological orientations; ex. al-Tabari (d.
923), al-Zamakhshari (d. 1144) al-Razi
(d. 1210)
Ahkam al-Quran works: ex. al-Jassas (d.
980)
Mystical Tafsirs: al-Sulami (d. 1022) and
Ibn Arabi (d. 1240)
 Modern Tafsir
Continuations of Classical Genre: Ruh al-maani
of Mahmud al-Alusi (d. 1854)
Modernist Tafsir:
the Quran as its own best interpreter ex. Muhamad
Abduh (d. 1905); Azad let the Quran disclose its own
reality
Revolutionary/Activist: Sayyid Qutb (d. 1966) and
Ali Shariati (d. 1977)
Literary Critical Analysis: ex. Nasr Hamid Abu
Zayd
Quran-Only Movement: M. Tawfiq Sidqi (d. 1920)
in Egypt and Abdallah Chakralawi (d. 1930) in
 Sayyid Qutb
From literary critic to fundamentalist thanks to
prison executed 1966
Islam as ideal, authentic system: social justice
w/out Communist atheism; freedom w/out
limitless toleration of the West
Shariah vs. Fiqh
Reflective reading of the Quran his own
understanding of Gods words
First 16/30 volumes written before entering prison in
1954, the rest from prison
Tawhid vs. Shirk / Jahiliyya vs. Islam (emerges in
1964)
 Ali Shariati
Tawhid, Shirk & Hijra: tawhid as radical social
equality, bringing all under Gods justice vs. Shirk
= deifying of human institutions and injustices
Hijra transition between the two
Life is conviction and struggle and nothing
more. Look at the Companions of the Prophet,
they were all men of the sword, concerned with
improving their society, men of justice.
Quran as revolution for the masses: the Quran
begins in the name of God and ends in the
name of the masses (al-nas)
 Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
Famous Book: Mafhum al-nass
Quran is eminently tied to interpretation;
no objective meaning speech act
Divine speech subject to rules of human
interpretation because it became
temporal, limited in a time and place
Interpreter is essential component of
meaning will always change/not fixed
Influence of Ibn Arabi: infinite meanings?
Critique of religious authority
 Abul-Kalam Azad
Muslim political activist against British in
India joins Indian National Party against
Muslim League
Against narrow communalism: hijra as
internal, spiritual
Rejection of Scholasticism: Had Imam Razi
chosen to represent what exactly the
Quran stood for, at least two thirds of
what he wrote would have been left
unwritten.
Friday Question
 Quran and Science
Miraculous school: Rida?
Compatibility School: Khan
Not-Interested School: azad