Anic Exegesis Research Articles

Criticism of Social, Political, and Religious Problems in Indonesia: A Study on Al-Iklīl fī Ma‘ānī al-Tanzīl by Misbah Bin Zainil Mustafa (1917-1994)

Criticism of Social, Political, and Religious Problems in Indonesia: A Study on Al-Iklīl fī Ma‘ānī al-Tanzīl by Misbah Bin Zainil Mustafa (1917-1994)

The Reflection of Connotative Meanings of Insan in the Qur’an: A Translational and Semantic Perspective

This study aims to investigate the translation of connotative meanings of insan in the Qur’an, from Arabic into English and Spanish. Connotative meanings pertained to insan in this religious text are negative and hold unfavorable implications such as denial, stinginess, weakness, and hastiness when talking about his behaviors. For ordinary readers, these negative connotations pass unnoticed in the source language and the target language. In Arabic, the link between insan and negativity is linguistically under-researched in Qur’anic and non-Qur’anic discourses; this study is conducted and is hoped to translationally fill a linguistic gap, with particular reference to Qur’anic examples. Because of the shortage of studies that refer to this particular link between insan and negativity, and because this connotative dimension has not been explored satisfactorily in Qur’anic and non-Qur’anic studies, representative Qur’anic verses are sampled, analyzed and discussed so as to uncover the difficulty of rendering the negativity, associated with insan and to suggest translation solutions. Four authentic and authoritative Qur’anic exegeses are selected to support the argument, and two translations (English translation and Spanish translation) of the Qur’an are selected to practically prove the failure of reflecting the negative link between insan and negativity in the selected samples.

Afterword: Reassessing Arabic in South Asia

In his learned and stimulating article that helps frame the contributions to this roundtable while also outlining directions for future work in this area, Nile Green notes the striking fact that it has been nearly a hundred years since the last substantial English survey of the field was attempted. That was M. G. Zubaid Ahmad's “Contribution of India to Arabic Literature,” completed as a PhD dissertation under the supervision of the noted Orientalist Sir Thomas Arnold (d. 1930) at the School of Oriental Studies (as it was then known), University of London, in 1929. It was subsequently published with a preface by another distinguished Orientalist, Sir Hamilton Gibb (d. 1971), and retains some scholarly interest to this day.1 That interest lies not only in the descriptions of the many Arabic-language works it lists—going well beyond Carl Brockelmann's classic Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur in this respect—but also, in hindsight, in the assumptions that guide Ahmad's work. Ahmad believed there was little in the Arabic literature surveyed that showed any originality, partly because there was not much remaining to be said in fields like Qur'anic exegesis, the reported teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (hadith), or law by the time Indian scholars began engaging seriously with these subjects. It was also partly to do with an intellectual decline well underway by the time relevant areas of inquiry had reached India. The intellectual landscape remained unrelieved whether one looked at religious or secular literature, or even at writings in Persian for that matter: “… in spite of the abundance of Persian literature produced in India, nothing original is found in these contributions.”2

Metonymy and its Relations in the Qur’anic Exegesis of Al-Maturidi

Hem lafzı hem de manasıyla mucize olan Kur’ân-ı Kerim, dil bilimlerinin vücut bulmasını sağlamıştır. Bu dil bilimlerinden birisi de belâgattir. Belâgat ilminin doğuşu ve gelişiminde başta dil âlimleri olmak üzere müfessirler ve kelam âlimlerinin önemli payları olmuştur. Kelam, tefsir ve fıkıh âlimi olan Ebû Mansûr el-Mâtürîdî (ö. 333/944), Teʾvîlâtü’l-Kurʾân adlı tefsirinde sarf, nahiv ve lügat ilimlerinin yanında terimleri kendisinden yaklaşık üç asır sonra netleşen belâgat ilminin meânî, beyân ve bedî kısımlarıyla ilgili birçok konuya temas etmiştir. Bu konulardan birisi de mecâz-ı mürsel ve alakalarıdır. Makalemiz üç bölümden oluşmaktadır. Birinci bölümde mecâz-ı mürselin sözlük ve terim anlamı ele alınmıştır. İkinci bölümde ise mecâz-ı mürselin gelişim süreci ele alınmıştır. Üçüncü bölümde ise Mâtürîdî tefsirinde mecâz-ı mürsel ve alakaları ele alınmıştır. Burada mecâz-ı mürsel alakalarının başında gelen cüz’iyyet, külliyyet, sebebiyyet, müsebbebiyyet, itibâr-ı mâ kâne, itibâr-ı mâ seyekûnü, mahalliyyet, hâlliyyet, âliyyet, umûm-husûs alakalarının önce tarifleri verilmiş, ardından Mâtürîdî tefsirinden örnek âyetler sunulmuştur.

Otentisitas al-Qur’an dalam Tafsir Syiah: Penolakan al-Tusi, al-Tabarsi dan al-Tabataba‘i Terhadap Tahrif al-Qur’an

The accusation of changing the Qur’an (taḥrif al-Qur’ān) is often leveled against the Shia. In fact, the Shia are considered to have their own Qur’an that is different from the standard Mushaf ‘Uthmān ī. This then implies accusations of heresy against them. This article will examine the views of three major Shia scholars on the authenticity of the Qur’an, namely al-Ṭūsī, al-Ṭabarsī, and al-Ṭabāṭabā ‘ī. The exploration of ideas is done by looking comparatively at their works of Qur’anic exegesis. In the end, this article finds that the narrative of naskh al-tilāwah (erasure of the texts of the Qur’an) that is widely attached to Shia is a history that contradicts the Qur’an. Although all three have different descriptions, they have the same idea, which is to reject the existence of changes (taḥrīf) in the Qur’an. Thus, the existing Qur’an, the standard Qur’an of the Mushaf ‘Uthmānī, is the authentic Qur’anic text.

The Ecology of a Vernacular Qur’an: Rethinking Mūsā Bīgī’s Translation into Türki-Tatar

This paper contextualises Mūsā Bīgī’s infamous Qur’an translation of 1911–1912 against the background of ongoing socio-political processes in Russia’s Tatar Muslim community and transformations in the broader Muslim world. The production of a vernacular Qur’an in Türki-Tatar was not an original phenomenon – contrary to popular assumptions about the groundbreaking status of Mūsā Bīgī’s translation project – but rather the product of a specific translation ecology that existed in Muslim reformist circles in the early twentieth century. Linking Bīgī’s translation endeavour to the larger vernacular turn in non-Arabophone Muslim communities and the so-called ‘Biblical turn’ in Qur’anic exegesis that was in full swing by the end of the nineteenth century, this paper traces major shifts in Muslim approaches to literary translation, and in particular to the evolving status of the Qur’an as the scripture of Islam. The eclectic nature of the translation ecology – which was shaped by various trends within the Muslim world as well as by Western influences – also predetermined the strategies adopted by Bīgī when addressing the core issue of Qur’an translation, the doctrine of Qur’anic inimitability ( iʿjāz).

Diskursus Tafsir bi al-Ma’tsur

This research explores Tafsir bi al-Ma'tsur, or Qur'an interpretation via history. This qualitative research method uses literature and historical interpretation. This paper discusses the history of Tafsir bi al-Ma'tsur, its restrictions, and scholarly disagreements over it. This study finds that Tafsir bi al-Ma'tsur is an interpretation based on Qur'anic verses, the Prophet Muhammad's viewpoints, companions, and scholars, commencing with the interpretation of Qur'anic verses with Qur'anic verses. 'an, the Qur'an's hadith, the Companions' atsar, and the Tabi'in's view. The Qur'an must be interpreted using a manner agreed upon by scholars to be in compliance with Shari'a. If the interpretation is done honestly and according to the manner approved by the commentators, it will obtain two rewards from Allah SWT if it's accurate, but only one if it's wrong, according to the Prophet SAW's statements on Ijtihad. This research should aid Qur'an scholars and interpreters. This research explains Tafsir bi al-Ma'tsur-related issues. This research offers a complete review of all western scientists' perspectives of Qur'anic exegesis literature to update our knowledge of Tafsir bi al-Ma'tsur.

Menyelami Simbolisme pada Kisah Nabi Ibrahim dalam Al-Qur’an

In the Qur'an, there is a narrative about a prophet named Ibrahim. The purpose of this research is to analyze the symbolic meanings included in that account. This type of research is qualitative and focuses on the study of literature while adopting a semiotic strategy. The presentation of this research covers the themes of the Qur'an and semiotics, the structure that supports the birth of the narrative of Prophet Ibrahim AS, and the symbols revealed in the story of Prophet Ibrahim AS in the Qur'an. [Covering the issues of the Qur'an and semiotics] This study comes to the conclusion that the Qur'an gives rise to components of the tale of Prophet Ibrahim AS in the form of conversational language and moral precepts that would be imparted. Specifically, these aspects include: Specifically, the social structure adheres to a monotheistic belief system. The sole purpose of the numerous descriptions included in the Qur'an is to present the concept of Allah as a unitary being. It is impossible to separate the tale of Prophet Ibrahim AS from other aspects, like as his background, because those aspects serve as the foundation for the wonderful moral teachings that are derived from his story. As a result, the Qur'an provides instruction on how to follow in the footsteps of the Prophet Ibrahim (AS) via his struggles and tenacity, while also avoiding the misguidance and foolishness that were perpetrated by his people during that period. Academically and practically speaking, it is hoped that this research will have a significant impact on activists who have an interest in the Qur'an and semiotics. Only one of the stories found in the Qur'an is analyzed in this particular research. This research leads to the conclusion that it is possible to develop a more in-depth and up-to-date semiotic analysis of the stories found in the Qur'an by basing it especially on the Qur'anic exegesis literature.

Scientific Tradition and Development of The Qur'anic exegesis in Aceh

As the initial gateway for the entry of Islam to the archipelago, Aceh stores much historical information on the spread and development of Islamic teachings. One of the interesting things to study is the development of the field of the Qur'anic exegesis which has experienced rapid development throughout the history of the spread of Islamic teachings in Aceh. By doing a literature study and descriptive analysis method. The result is that the development of the Qur'anic exegesis in Aceh is divided into three periodizations. First, the classical period in which the teaching of the Qur'an did not stand alone but was inserted between the teaching of fiqh and Sufism and delivered ijmali (global) by preachers from Arabia and India. Second, the middle period in which educated Acehnese began to study in Mecca and Medina so that they were proficient in religious knowledge so that the Malay the Qur'anic exegesis of Tarjumān al-Mustafīd by Abdurrauf al-Sinkily was born. Third, the modern period where at this time the works of commentary in Aceh began to develop rapidly, including Al-Qur'ānul Majīd An-Nūr written by Muhammad Hasbi ash-Shiddieqy, Al-Qur'ānul Karīm and Free Translation of Rhymes by Tengku Mahyiddin Yusuf, Tafsir Gayo by Abdurrahman Daudy, and Tafsir Pasee by TH Thalhas, Hasan Basri, Zaki Fuad, A. Mufakhir Muhammad, and Mustafa Ibrahim.

BALĀGHAH AL-I'TILĀF ʿINDA AL-MUFASSIRĪN

This study aims to analyze the i'tilāf contained in the verses of the Qur'an from the perspective of the exegetes (mufassir). I'tilāf is one of the studies in ʿilm al-badīʿ, a discipline in Arabic rhetoric (Balāghah). I'tilāf is a topic that is rarely raised in Arabic research topics. Therefore, this qualitative research with library research design seeks to examine i'tilāf by analyzing data in the form of verses of the Qur'an containing i'tilāf. The data come from Qur'anic exegesis, including Ibn ʿĀshūr's Al-Taḥrīr wa-al-Tanwīr, Al-Zamakhsharī's Al-Kashshāf, Al-Alūsī's Rūḥ al-Maʿānī, and Al-Ṭabarī's Jāmiʿ al-Bayān. The researcher found several verses containing i'tilāf and the opinion of the exegetes on the verse. These verses are divided into three types of i'tilāf, namely i'tilāf al-lafẓ wa-al-maʿná, i'tilāf al-lafẓ maʿa al-lafẓ, and i'tilāf al-maʿná maʿa al-maʿná. In addition, the exegetes also mention the verses of the Qur'an, which include īhām al-tanāsub, namely the sentence structure of the Qur'anic verses that resemble i'tilāf.

Analisis Tafsir Al-Qur’an tentang Relasi dan Manajemen Pendidikan Keluarga

Interaction in the family becomes a major force in the cultivation of basic education for children. The family position is very strategic in terms of habituation of positive character for the child, especially the mother. The mother is the first madrasa or the education of the child. This means that children achieve a lot of learning from the mother figure, either as a figure who sets a positive example or as an educator who teaches direct knowledge. Family relations based on critical analysis of Qur'anic exegesis yield a conclusion: First, the family is the main environment forming positive or negative values. Both husbands' responsibilities are greater in the relationship of husband and wife or parents and children. The husband must be responsible for family education in order to give birth to a family building system that is sakinah, mawadah, warahmah. In addition, Family Education Management is the cooperation of family members on their respective duties and functions regarding education in the family. If the family consists of husband and wife called husband and wife relations then family education management is built by two husbands and wives to perform educational tasks and functions with a specific purpose. If the family part increases children, which is meant by the relationship of parents and children, then the implementation of family education management is the cooperation of parents to consistently carry out the duties and functions of education to children in the family, and so on.

Coping with a Qur’anic Truth Claim

Since the latter half of the twentieth century, Western philosophers of religion and scholars of religion have been fervently preoccupied with the question of religious truth claims and how to evaluate a Christian theological view of other religious traditions. This resulted in the standardization of inclusivism, exclusivism, and pluralism as distinct universal approaches to the truth claim predicament. Employing Qur’anic exegesis, hermeneutics, and the semantics of core Islamic concepts, this article offers a critique of this standardized typology as less relevant to the Muslim perspective of religious diversity. Based on an Islamic view of the relativity of human knowledge and the centrality of a revelatory epistemic premise, this typology is hardly akin to a Muslim traditional perspective. The Qur’an defines the boundaries between the Islamic truth claim, salvific exclusion, and the ethical codes for Muslims to deal with a worldly context that is ab initio diverse. This article argues that an Islamic pluralistic view, as delineated on the basis of the Qur’an, supersedes the dilemma of religious truth claims and seeks realistic ethical regulations to deal with religious otherness.

Muslim Qur’ānic Interpretation Today: Media, Genealogies, and Interpretive Communities

Johanna Pink, who is mainly interested in modern Qur’anic exegesis and translations, attempts to draw a panorama of the different interpretations of the Qur’ān between 2000 and 2016 in her book Muslim Qur’ānic Interpretation: Media, Genealogies and Interpretive Communities. She seeks to provide an outline of different interpretations from many regions of the Muslim world, extending from Indonesia to Egypt, from the United States to Iran, and from Turkey to Saudi Arabia. At first, Pink discusses the increasingly central position and function of Qur’anic exegesis in the contemporary period. The author underlines that exegesis had a more modest place in the hierarchy of classical religious sciences and manages to examine its positioning in the classical period with much clarity. In the second chapter, Pink emphasizes that the context-oriented approach of classical tafsir has undergone a text-centered transformation in line with that of Ibn Taymiyya’s approach. Thereafter, the author discusses the impact of this transformation in the contemporary Arab world, especially through various abridgments and editions of Ibn Kathīr’s tafsīr.

تفسیرِ قرآن کے داخلی و خارجی ذرائع۔ حمید الدین فراہی اور امین احسن اصلاحی کے افکار کی روشنی میں

Tafthir (Quranic exegesis) is a significant science that pursues the interpretation of Quran by various means. Hamiduddin Farahi was a renowned Islamic Scholar of India, who is famous for his notion of Nazm (conherence). Amin Ahsan Islahi, an eminent Muslim Scholar of Pakistani, who wrote many books and a well-known exegesis Tadabar-ul-Quran, offered unique internal and external sources of commentary of Quran. Islahi and Frahi presented the notion of nazm and sources of exegesis in a way that was unique from ancestors (Jamhur). Amin Ahsan Islahi gave distinctive principles of Quranic exegesis by separating internal and external sources used for commentary of Quran. There exists a great debate over his exclusive principles of Qur’anic commentary as he refers to the discipline (Nazm) and language of Quran as internal sources while traditions, archaeology and history as external sources. This article discusses the internal and external sources of Qur'anic exegesis in the light of Amin Ahsan Islahi's and Farahi’s thoughts.

Modernity, Its Impact on Muslim World and General Characteristics of 19–20th-Century Revivalist–Reformists’ Re-Reading of the Qur’an

The 19th and 20th centuries were times of great change and transformation for the Muslim world. The salvation of the ummah—which is getting politically, militarily, and economically more backward against the West, terms such as revival (ihya), renewal (tajdid) and reform and reconstruction (islah)—have occupied almost all intellectuals and ulama. Many prescriptions have been proposed on this subject, the most vivid examples of which are mainly related to new approaches to the Qur’an and its interpretation. This article deals with the innovations put forward by reformist–revivalist leaders in different Muslim geographies regarding the interpretation of the Qur’an under the influence of modernism. We see that these approaches, which are basically based on the assumption of the inadequacy of classical methods and understandings, open up to questions and discussions for many hermeneutical devices that have become entrenched in the classical period and even argue that they are now unnecessary. Contrary to classical Qur’anic exegesis, reformist tajdid-centered suggestions of polyphonic modern Qur’an interpretations, the theological reflections of these suggestions, and most importantly their effect (or ineffectiveness) on Muslim societies are among the main topics of the article. In the beginning, the pressure of modernity, which should not be ignored in the perception and interpretation of the Qur’an, has become an indispensable element in the course of time. This new phenomenon and changing conditions have forced many Muslim intellectuals to compromise on principles that have become norms. The result, instead of a healthy reform, consisted of eclectic innovations and only saved the day and could not find a serious ground for itself in the grassroots.

Kulliyyāt Al-Tafsīr Dan Peranannya Dalam Pentafsiran Al-Quran

Abstract Some contemporary scholars of the Qur’an seeks to popularize the use of the theory of kulliyyāt al-tafsīr in understanding the Quranic text which is very complex. In fact, this theory of kulliyyāt al-tafsīr can rival the Izutsu’s semantic theory espoused by some contemporary Quranic scholars. Therefore, this article seeks to explain the concept of kulliyyāt al-tafsīr thoroughly and at the same time reveal its significance in the field of Qur’anic exegesis. Through the collection of data related to kulliyyāt al-tafsīr scattered in various books of tafsir and ʿulūm al-Quran, the study can conclude that kulliyyāt al-tafsīr is a general conclusion produced by the exegetes about words and styles contained in the Quran. The significance of this theory can be highlighted through the identification of the role played by kulliyyāt al-tafsīr in the field of exegesis.

Interrogating the Sacred: Radical Religious Revisionism, Agnosticism and Atheism in the Modern Arab World

Abstract The article analyzes the thought of modern Arab Muslim and Christian critics of religion (believing radical and left liberal revisionists, agnostics, and atheists) who have challenged prevailing religious repertoires of both Islamists and their liberal opponents. Topics include: traditional Orientalist understandings of the fragile role of reason in Arab societies; the construction of religion in the modern West and non-West; the influences that account for the emergence and nature of Arab critiques, their similarities and differences, and the various responses that they have engendered; the degree to which the critiques have paralleled those of the modern West, and their influence on modern Arab thought; the variety of genres, including the novel, short story, poetry, fable, drama, Qur’anic exegesis, scientific theory, philosophy, metaphysics, and historical studies, in which these critiques have appeared.

The Theoretical Foundations of Contextual Interpretation of the Qur’an in Islamic Theological Schools and Philosophical Sufism

Contextual interpretation of the Qur’an has grown in popularity with the rise of Islamic modernism, mostly because of the need to reform Islamic thought and institutions. Although Qur’anic contextualism is a modern concept, this study argues that its theoretical origins can be traced back to classical Islamic scholarship. Most of the Islamic theological schools, as well as the Akbarī School (the school of Ibn al-‘Arabī), a prominent representative of philosophical Sufism, acknowledged the contextuality of the Qur’an by distinguishing between transcendent divine speech and its limited manifestation in human language. Furthermore, Shams al-Dīn al-Fanārī of the Akbarī School developed a hermeneutical theory in which he questioned the authority and the nature of Qur’anic exegesis and emphasized the idea that the Qur’anic text can have multiple meanings, due to the multiplicity of perceptions in different human contexts. I propose that, of the thinking in pre-modern Islamic scholarship, Akbarian scriptural hermeneutics best accommodates the modern practice of reading the Qur’an contextually.

Fādil Al-Samarra’ī’s Contribution to Literary and Rhetorical Exegesis of the Qur’an

This article explores and assesses Fādil al-Samarrā’ī’s contribution to literary and rhetorical Qur’anic exegesis, especially regarding the rhetorical inimitability of the Qur’an. The article looks at how al-Samarrā’ī approaches the Qur’anic text to reveal its miraculous expressional secrets and its rhetorical inimitability with mere Arabic linguistic tools while giving contexts high priority in his analyses and interpretations. Al-Samarrā’ī was able to reach the semantics and purposes of the Qur’an based on the Qur’anic language itself, relying on its sentence structure and order, as well as on the structures, significance, and special meanings of words (which distinguish them from their synonyms), and how all of it relates to the purposes and objectives of the Qur’an. Al-Samarrā’ī sought to use morphology, semantics, and syntax to reach the purposes of the Holy Qur’an and discover its miraculous and inimitable eloquence. To achieve this, al-Samarrā’ī relied on the rich and vast literature on the subject. Guided by the intellectual language and empirical questions of his time, his tremendous effort and contribution to the literature has helped to demystify this complex subject.

A Space for the Subject: Tracing Garden Culture in Muslim Russia

Abstract This article examines the place occupied by garden culture in the mental landscape of Russia’s Muslims from the early nineteenth century to the late Socialist era. First taken from the Qur’an as a symbol of eternal salvation, the idea that gardens might embody both aesthetic and metaphysical values was further articulated by traveling missionaries with Sufi affiliations. This idea was afterwards absorbed by the generation of students graduated from Central Asian madrasas who, in the first half of the nineteenth century, brought the fashion for having gardens back to their home villages in European Russia. Gardens built or imagined by Muslims in European Russia had a history of their own, developing from the classical vision of heavenly gardens in Qur’anic exegesis into what became a central spatial category in Sufi tradition. In post-war Soviet Russia a place of piety was rethought as dacha—the entire process reflecting the evolution of Muslim subjectivity over the last few centuries.