Abstract
The hermeneutical turn in Islamic studies has also affected Islamic scholarship in Turkey, a country where traditional Sunnism historically dominates. Historicism in Islamic studies became an influential intellectual and academic current in Turkey after the 1990s. This was mostly because the first generation of Turkish scholars, who associated themselves with historicism through complex engagement with Quranic hermeneutics in their studies, emerged in the 1990s. In this article, I analyze Mustafa Öztürk, İlhami Güler, and Ömer Özsoy, the architects of the historicist turn of the 1990s in Turkey who are still prominent. The article explains: (i) The Turkish historicists’ views on the nature of the Quran; (ii) Their hermeneutical approach in interpreting the Quran; and (iii) Illustrates how they apply the hermeneutical approach to the interpretation of the Quran by presenting how they interpret the Quran’s relevant verses on corporal punishment/chopping and divorce. The article aims to detail historicism in Turkey by studying its leading scholars.
Highlights
The hermeneutical turn in Islamic studies has affected Islamic scholarship in Turkey, a country where traditional Sunnism historically dominates
Historicism in Islamic studies became an influential intellectual and academic current in Turkey after the 1990s. This was mostly because the first generation of Turkish scholars, who associated themselves with historicism through complex engagement with Quranic hermeneutics in their studies, emerged in the 1990s
To further deepen my analysis, and to illustrate how they apply the hermeneutical approach to the interpretation of the Quran, I study how the Turkish historicists interpret the Quran’s relevant verses on corporal punishment/chopping and divorce
Summary
The hermeneutical turn in Islamic studies has affected Islamic scholarship in Turkey, a country where traditional Sunnism historically dominates. Historicism in Islamic studies became an influential intellectual and academic current in Turkey after the 1990s. This was mostly because the first generation of Turkish scholars, who associated themselves with historicism through complex engagement with Quranic hermeneutics in their studies, emerged in the 1990s. I analyze Mustafa Öztürk, Ilhami Güler, and Ömer Özsoy (hereafter, the Turkish historicists, or the historicists), the architects of the historicist turn of the 1990s in Turkey who are still prominent.. I analyse the Turkish historicists’ hermeneutical approach in interpreting the Quran. The article aims to detail historicism in Turkey by studying its leading scholars, a subject on which there is not much work in the global literature
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
