Search Results (22)

In the late classical period of the history of tafsīr, one of the rare commentators who utilized the Bible was Yūsuf b. Hilāl al-Ṣafadī (d. 696/1296). The question of how he utilized the Bible in his tafsīr is important for understanding both his position and the modes of interpretation within the classical tafsīr tradition. This study aims to identify al-Ṣafadī’s approach to the Bible, his interpretations based on biblical material, and his overall methodological framework. The context, frequency, type, and semantic scope of his quotations from the Bible are analyzed, and these references are evaluated through a comparative approach within the framework of the classical tafsīr tradition. Accordingly, the original and non-original aspects of al-Ṣafadī’s approach to the Bible have been identified. By establishing intertextual relationships, al-Ṣafadī interpreted the Qurʾān in the context of the Bible, and the Bible in the context of the Qurʾān. One of the distinctive aspects of al-Ṣafadī’s engagement with the Bible is his interpretation of it from the perspective of a Muslim exegete, ultimately contributing to the tradition of Biblical exegesis. The article aims to contribute to the scholarly literature on Qurʾān–Bible relations by identifying the nature and methodology of biblical references within the framework of Ṣafadī’s tafsīr. Full article

The objective of this paper is to ascertain the manner in which the Qurʾān teaching activities are conducted in Jaʿfarī communities that are part of the multicultural structure of Türkiye. The methodological approach of this study is a case study design. This study’s sample consists of nine instructors who voluntarily work in Qurʾān teaching centres for Jaʿfarī communities. Criterion sampling and maximum diversity were employed in the selection of the participants. The data were collected using a semi-structured interview form. The collected data were subjected to a descriptive analysis. This study’s findings are as follows: firstly, the importance of early childhood education in the transmission of the Qurʾān among the Jaʿfarīs is evident. Secondly, the basis of this teaching is the Alif-Baa Juz education. Thirdly, mosques, association centres and neighbourhood houses play an important role in this teaching activity. Finally, according to Qurʾān instructors, traditionally the mosques were the primary centres for Qurʾān education; however, this has been lost especially after the pandemic. In addition to having the knowledge and competency of the recitation of the Qurʾān, the instructors who are supposed to work in these places are required to behave in accordance with Islamic morality. Over the recent times, families have started to prioritise their children’s academic success over religious education. Lastly, Jaʿfarīs do not have any safety concerns pertaining to the state while carrying out religious education activities. The findings, in general, reveal that Jaʿfarīs have similarities with the traditional teaching of Qurʾān in terms of method, content, materials and to some extent instructor competence, etc. The results of this paper are significant in terms of providing a concrete indicator of the pluralistic understanding that Türkiye advocates in religious education policies and in understanding the religious education practices of Jaʿfarī communities. Full article

This article delves into two Iranian Sufi women’s approaches to the Qurʾān, gender, and visual culture: (1) Parvāneh Hadāvand, a Sufi leader in Tehran, uses visual means to enhance the spiritual–aesthetic–emotional experiences of her students. She challenges gender norms within male-dominated spaces by reinterpreting visual-material objects and asserting her authority as a woman Sufi guide. (2) Mītrā Asadī, a Sufi teacher in Shiraz, problematizes the overall visual culture of gender roles by arguing that, through the spiritual transformation of the human being’s genderless essence (Arabic rūḥ; Persian jān), categories of gender become ephemeral and irrelevant. These two case studies are examined in terms of how these Sufi women utilize aesthetic experience, visual aspects, and visual-material culture in their Sufi practices and teachings. Further, it is investigated how these practices shape Hadāvand’s and Asadī’s gender performativities. Full article

The present article considers the intersection between genre and covenant in scripture in order to locate historical covenants and to trace their complex textual boundaries. Standing on the shoulders of Smith, Wellhausen, and Gunkel, the joint legacy left behind by Martin and Albrecht Noth is equally significant for both Biblical and Islamic studies. Nothian scholarship laid solid foundations for reconstructing the history of tribal traditions. Both of them together created a common frame of reference for studying primary and secondary themes (Themen), literary and documentary forms (Formen), introductory and concluding formulas (Formeln), and theological and political perspectives (Tendenzen), in addition to geographical, transitional, and framing devices (Schemata). In spite of this shared scholarly heritage, it appears that both Biblical and Qurʾānic studies have either been talking at cross-purposes or have reached a critical crossroads, as has happened in the case of covenant. All things considered, genre and tradition criticism allow us to move forward beyond the Methodenstreit in covenant studies. Full article

This study examines the historiography of early Islam by assessing the reliability of Qurʾānic exegeses as sources documenting the early history of Islam and the biography of the Prophet Muḥammad in Mecca. Focusing on Qurʾānic exegetical practices from late antiquity to the medieval period, this article argues that there is a significant discontinuity in how Qurʾānic exegeses align with the historical context of the Qur’an, especially in relation to Meccan sūras such as Q 107. Significantly, this challenges the continuity of tradition, the fundamental concept upon which the “Islamic sciences” are based. This discontinuity is herein revealed through a historical–critical analysis of the exegesis of Q 107:4 that demonstrates how Qurʾānic exegetical practices have reinterpreted and reshaped early Islamic history in response to the pressures of new identity formation and made Qurʾānic exegeses more reflective of the social and political contexts of the exegetes than of the historical milieu of the Qurʾān itself. This analysis contributes to the ongoing discussion of the role exegesis played in reshaping the history of Islam. Indeed, it emphasises the importance of critically evaluating these sources in order to uncover a more nuanced historical narrative of early Islam. Full article

A strong case can be made that the concept of naskh, “abrogation” or “annulment”, was the most potent weapon in the arsenal of Muslim polemicists seeking to convert Jews (Burton‘s Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān is highly informative but deals almost exclusively with naskh in its internal Islamic contexts, e.g., hermeneutics and legal theory). Naskh did not necessarily involve any rejection of Jewish scripture or tradition as fraudulent or corrupt. It rested on the simple premise, explicitly confirmed by the Qur’an, that the deity may alter or replace His legislation over the course of time. In the first part of this paper, I will briefly review the topic, adding some texts and observations that, to the best of my knowledge, have not appeared in the academic literature (comprehensively surveyed in Adang’s Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm, 1996; also in Adang and Schmidtke’s Polemics (Muslim-Jewish) in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, 2010). The bulk of this paper will consist of a fairly detailed summary of an unpublished tract on naskh written by Rashīd al-Dīn Faḍlullāh Hamadānī (RD) (1247–1318), himself a Jewish convert to Islam and a monumental politician, cultural broker, historian, and author. Full article

This article presents the innovative endeavor by Muḥammad ʿĀbid al-Jābrī and Nasr Ḥāmid Abū Zayd in interpreting the Qurʾān through a humanistic lens. Their approach marks a pivotal shift, viewing the Qurʾān as a dynamic text that actively engages with the human interpreter. This human-centric perspective underpins their hermeneutical method, which employs lexicography, philology, and semantics to unearth the layered meanings within the Qurʾānic narrative. The article delves into the nuances of their methodologies, drawing parallels and distinctions, and underscores their profound impact on modern Qurʾānic hermeneutics. Full article

This article analyzes the three introductory epistles to Sufi hermeneutics written by al-Ḥarāllī, a mystic of Andalusian origin from the seventh/thirteenth century. According to this author, the objective of the Scriptures is to explain human beings to themselves. The revelation, received through a particular understanding called fahm, contains transformative knowledge that can change the life of the reader. In this foundational work, al-Ḥarāllī explains the relationship between the Qurʾān and preceding Scriptures, recognizing in the Qurʾān their unity and fulfillment. Dedicating the final chapter of the third epistle to the seven religions mentioned in the Qurʾān, which are, rather, ethical prototypes, he seeks to internalize the Qurʾānic critique expounded on each of these categories. In a reading that goes beyond polemics and offers significant elements to the Islamic theology of religions, al-Ḥarāllī demonstrates how the aim of the Qurʾānic narratives is not to present information about the past but rather to provide moral education for the Islamic community and the reader. Full article

The concept of narrative holds a pivotal position in the Qurʾān, yet it has been subject to inadequate scrutiny and insufficient representation in pedagogical discourse concerning Islamic education. The present work endeavours to rectify this gap in knowledge by employing the technique of constructivist grounded theory to the Qurʾān and major exegeses, with a particular focus on the term qaṣaṣ, which pertains to the notion of narrative. This article delves into the profound tracts and maqāṣid (objectives) that qaṣaṣ hold in the Qurʾān and contemplates their exhortation for education on Islam and modern pedagogy. The analysis reveals that the qaṣaṣ present in the Qurʾān serves as a fundamental framework that directs the essence of the narrative pedagogy model of teaching and learning between the pedagogue and learner. Through typological figuration, the listener’s contemplation leads to a re-evaluation of conventional notions surrounding the dynamics between teacher and student and the dissemination of narrative within a pedagogical setting. The triad of truth, beauty and explication are fundamental pillars within this Islamic framework for narrative pedagogy, representing the essence of the human condition concerning education. Because these domains emerge from the concept of qaṣaṣ, the integration of the framework into Islamic education is a matter of utmost importance, given its centrality in the Qurʾān to foster and perfect the principles of Muslims and their sense of self. Full article

The problem of evil is one that has earned much attention in recent decades and is frequently used as a justification for atheism, and increasingly so due to the rise in popularity of secularism and atheism. How is the issue of theodicy considered in Islamic philosophy, and especially in Shīʿa theology? Does this problem arise there at all? The following discussion addresses these questions, examining the basis of the so-called ‘problem of evil’ through the rationale and multiple perspectives offered by Islamic Shīʿa theology on the issue. First, some verses in the Qurʾān dealing with evil and suffering will be illuminated. After that, some mutakallimūn’s views will be presented. Following that, the problem of evil will be investigated from the perspectives of Ibn Sīnā and Mullā Ṣadrā. After briefly highlighting the mystical perspective, finally, a practical theological solution according to Shīʿa theology known as badāʾ will be introduced. Full article

This article briefly presents what the science of letters and alchemy meant for Ibn ʿArabī and explains why this Sufi mystic attributes the highest degree of these sciences to Jesus. We will see how the science of letters is a knowledge of God’s creation, which He creates with His Word, where the existentiation verb, Kun (Be!), plays a fundamental role. This imperative pronounced by God when He wants something to exist appears in the Qurʾān in reference to Jesus. This prophet, being a word and a breath that have their origin in God, receives the knowledge of every word, which is formed by letters. Through this knowledge, Jesus can participate in God’s creative power with His permission, and with the knowledge of alchemy, he will have transformative and healing powers. As this is a science of healthy proportions, Ibn ʿArabī credits Jesus with the knowledge of alchemy due to the impeccable balance he maintained between his human and spiritual natures. This article results from reading his immense work, approached from both theological and religious science methodologies. Full article

Two Qurʾānic concepts have largely defined how the Qurʾān related to previous revelations. Those two concepts are taḥrīf (alteration) and naskh (abrogation). Appealing to those two concepts, the mainstream understating of the Qurʾān was that it superseded pre-Islamic scriptures and that, after its revelation, such scriptures had limited epistemic value. With this in mind, this article aims to achieve descriptive and prescriptive goals. With the descriptive goal, it problematizes the theories of taḥrīf and naskh, with a view to showing how such concepts influenced Muslim understanding of the Straight Path (al-Ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm). With the prescriptive goal, it proposes the concept of taṣdīq (confirmation) as an alternative. In doing so, this article demonstrates how, despite the fact that the Qurʾān never shied away from critiquing what it believes to be forms of deviation in the Bible, it never introduced itself as an “abrogator” (nāsikh) to it but rather as a “confirmer” (muṣaddiq) in no less than 12 occurrences in the Qurʾān, but the concept of taṣdīq was largely overshadowed by the overemphasis on taḥrīf and naskh. Full article

Although the Bahāʾī Faith was born in a Shīʿī Islamic cultural milieu it has clearly gone beyond the “gravitational pull” of Islām and assumed a distinctive social, scriptural, and religious identity. Bahāʾīs revere Islām as “the source and background of their Faith” and consider the Qurʾān the only authentic, uncorrupted scripture apart from their own. However, Bahāʾī teachings insist that this new religious movement is more than a sectarian development. It represents a distinctive—if you will “autonomous”—religious dispensation along the lines of the development of Christianity out of its original Jewish setting. This assertion and trajectory is clear in the very earliest scriptures of the new religion revealed by the Bāb and runs through subsequent Bahāʾī writings. A key term, badīʿ, used dozens of times by the Bāb in his annunciatory composition, the Qayyūm al-Asmāʾ, denotes this sense of the “wondrously new”, something that is simultaneously ancient and unprecedented. It is suggested here that this term is a central and pivotal idea in the Bāb’s vision and that it had a major role in generating the imaginative and kerygmatic cultural energy that would eventually result in the above-mentioned escape from an Islamic orbit. The word badīʿ eventually acquires a life of its own in Bahāʾī thought and practice. It is the word used to designate the new calendar whose current year is 180 B.E., “Bahāʾī Era” or “Badīʿ Era”. It is used in the title of one of Bahāʾuʾllāh’s major books, the Kitāb-i Badīʿ. It is given as a name for one of the young heroes of the Bahāʾī Faith who was tortured and killed because he dared to attempt to communicate directly with the Shah of Iran to testify to the truth of Bahāʾuʾllāh’s mission. It is a word encountered frequently throughout the Bahāʾī writings and translated various ways. It functions as an emblem and symbol of the Bahāʾī ethos and message. The main focus here is the Qayyūm al-Asmāʾ, the Bāb’s proclamatory summons, disguised as a Qurʾān commentary, in which he claimed to be in immediate and intimate contact with the hidden Imām and, therefore, the centre of all authority (walāya) whether political or spiritual. The clarion message of the Qayyūm al-Asmāʾ, in which the much repeated Arabic word badīʿ is a powerful and vibrant symbol of “the new”, is that a profound and radical covenantal renewal—as distinct from “revivification/tajdīd”—is at hand, a renewal that would evolve into a distinctive Bahāʾī communal identity that is simultaneously–and therefore wondrously–new and primordial. Full article

Islamic analytic theology emerges into an uncharted territory that is dominated by two loosely defined areas: analytic philosophy and analytic theology. As a nascent field, this article argues that for Islamic analytic theology to move forward, it needs to place the Qurʾān at its centre. To have a clear understanding of our terms, I begin by attempting a definition of Islamic analytic theology. Taking a normative approach to the subject, I consolidate the discussion with five methodical questions. Firstly, what has been going on in Islamic theology? (The descriptive task). Secondly, why has this been going on? (The interpretative task). Thirdly, what ought to be going on? (The normative task). Fourthly, how might we, as Muslim theologians, respond? (The pragmatic task). Fifthly, why should Muslim theologians conduct analytic theology? (The functional task) To situate Islamic analytic theology within this wider discussion, I end the article by offering some insights on how Islamic analytic theology relates to old Kalām. By the end of the article, we will have laid the groundwork showing the way forward for a more developed Islamic analytic theology. Full article

The concept of covenant occupies a central place in the Qurʾān but has been understudied and underrepresented in discourses about Islam. This article contributes to redressing this lacuna by applying the method of content analysis to the Qurʾān, specifically the terms ‘ahd and mīthāq that refer to the concept of covenant. The aim of this article is to identify the maqāṣid (higher objectives) of covenants in Islam and discuss their implications for education about Islam and contemporary Islamic thought. This content analysis finds that covenants in the Qurʾān provide an overarching paradigm governing human existence and coexistence across six covenantal relationship categories. Covenants establish the terms and conditions of God-human and intra-human relations for human existence on Earth in relation to the afterlife, the dissemination of the divine message, the promotion of righteousness, welfare and wellbeing, and restricting the use of armed force to self-defense in response to treaty violation for preserving peace and security. This article recommends that the study of Qurʾānic covenantal knowledge ought to be integrated into courses and discourses about Islam commensurate, with its centrality in the Qurʾān and Prophet Muḥammad’s approach to building peaceful interreligious relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. Full article