Scientific Exegesis in Malay Qur’anic Commentary

Abstract

Scientific exegesis (tafsir cilmi) is a part of the Qur’anic exegesis which has been around for a long time in the history of Muslim thought. It has grown exponentially in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century in tandem with the development of knowledge, especially in Western countries as well as the position and attitude of the Muslims in facing current developments. Exegetes and intellectuals in the Middle East, Europe and South Asia are very concerned about scientific exegesis and they apply it in their writing of the interpretation of the Qur’an. Their approach was influenced other scholars indirectly in the Muslim world including Malaysia to apply scientific exegesis in their interpretation scriptures. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the scientific exegesis in the interpretation of the Qur’an in Malaysia using the method of document analysis of six interpreted scriptures in the Malay language interpretation of Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan, Tafsir al-Qur’an Juz Alif Lam Mim, Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Hakim (Malay version), Tafsir Harian al-Qur’an al-Karim, Tafsir Mubin and Tafsir Pedoman Muttaqin. The results highlighted the interpretation of Malaysian exegete’s acceptance of this approach. Muhammad Idris al-Marbawi, Mustafa Abdul Rahman, Salahuddin Abdullah, Omar Khalid and Abdul Hayei Abdul Sukor are exegetes who implement the scientific exegesis in their works. They cite scientific data and current research to explain the verses of the Qur’an to give a better understanding, the meaning of the Qur’anic verses to the reader. In addition, these aspects are described in the definition are intended to prove the oneness and sovereignty of Allah Almighty. The approach in the scientific exegesis of the Qur’an applied by the Malaysian exegetes can be proud of, although it is not as good as other exegetes in particular in the Middle East.