Qur'anic Exegesis in Old Kanembu: Linguistic Precision for Better Interpretation

Abstract

The way the traditional Borno scholars represent Qur'anic Arabic in Old Kanembu testifies to their understanding of Arabic grammatical structures based on traditional grammatical treatises. The function of Old Kanembu is motivated by the grammatical module of tafsīr studies, which includes iʿrāb, ḥarf, naḥw and other related disciplines. However, the Borno ʿulamāʾ do not strictly adhere to Arabic linguistic theory and also exploit the distinctive linguistic properties of the Old Kanembu language. In its elaborated output form, tafsīr in Old Kanembu incorporates four explanatory levels: (a) morphosyntactic; (b) phrase by phrase / lexical; (c) sentential and (d) interpretative. Thus, it is built on two interrelated platforms: metalanguage (i.e. language designed for description of language) and exegesis (i.e. interpretation of the text). This combination makes Old Kanembu a very powerful ‘software’ with a solid foundation in the science of tafsīr, that allows its users to check their own knowledge of the Qur'an with the precision required by the Arabic grammatical sciences. In its basic grammatical format, Old Kanembu is a platform for the exegete who provides tafsīr in full format. Thus, Old Kanembu serves both grammatical and interpretative purposes perfectly.