Theological Approaches to Qur'anic Exegesis

A Practical Comparative-Contrastive Analysis

Hussein Abdul-Raof

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781136459917
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

This book provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the various schools of Qur'anic exegesis, from the earliest periods through to the present day.

Employing a comparative-contrastive methodology, the author examines traditional and rational schools of thought – such as the Mu'tazili, Shi'i, Ibadi, Sufi, metaphysical, modern, and scientific approaches to the interpretation of the Qur'an – to give a detailed analysis of the similarities and differences in their theological views. The study spans a broad period, covering exegetical techniques adopted in Qur'anic exegesis from its infancy during the 1st/7th century up to the beginning of the 15th/21st century. Furnished with copious micro- and macro-level examples which explicate the Qur'anic notions and the points of view relevant to each school and exegetical approach, the book provides a rounded empirical study of Islamic thought.

This thorough and holistic historical investigation is an important contribution to the study of Qur'anic exegesis and Islamic theology, and as such will be of enormous interest to scholars of religion, philosophy and Islamic studies.

1 School of traditional exegesis

(al-tafsīr bil-ma’thūr)

1.1 Introduction

The present discussion provides an explicated account of the traditional school of Qur’anic exegesis and how it developed. The major sources of the school of traditional exegesis are also discussed and explicated. These sources include the Qur’ān, Muḥammad’s tradition (sunnah), the companions’ views, and the early successors’ views. This chapter also accounts for how the exegetical notion of Qur’anic intertextuality is related to the semantic notion of polysemy, the modes of reading, and the theological mutashābihāt. Details are also provided about the position held by mainstream exegetes towards non-mainstream exegesis.

1.2 School of mainstream exegesis

The school of mainstream exegesis is the earliest form of traditional Qur’anic exegesis, which dates back to the lifetime of Muhammad (d. 11/632). The major sources of this school of exegesis are: (i) the Qur’ān, (ii) the customary practice (sunnah) of Muḥammad and his tradition (ḥadīth), (iii) the views of the companions, and (iv) the views of the early successors. The evolution of mainstream Qur’anic exegesis (al-tafsīr bil-ma’thūr or al-tafsīr al-naqli) dates back to the classical formative phase¹ since the lifetime of Muḥammad and is hinged on one of the above sources that are explained in the following sections.

1.2.1 The Qur’ān

It is claimed by Muslim scholars that the Qur’ān interprets itself (al-Qur’ānu yufassiru nafsahu). In other words, through Qur’anic intertextuality, the exegete can interpret the Qur’ān. What is brief in a given āyah of a sūrah, is elaborated on by another āyah or set of āyahs elsewhere. Qur’anic intertextuality is an exegetical approach which is concerned with establishing textual links within the Qur’ān in terms of an expression, an individual phrase, or an āyah. Thus, the meaning of an expression, a portion of an āyah, or an āyah can unfold through reference to thematically and semantically similar expressions, notions, or āyahs which act as semantically disambiguating devices. For instance, the leitmotif of spending extravagantly versus being tight-fisted in expenditure is laid down by Q17:29 which sheds some light on home economics. However, more exegetical elaboration is given by Q25:67 (walladhīna idhā anfaqū lam yusrifū walam yaqturū wakāna baina dhālika qawāmā – They are those who, when they spend, do so not excessively or sparingly but are ever, between that, justly moderate). However, the exegete is required to inform the reader that he/she is also instructed by the Qur’ān to spend his/her wealth for causes that will please God as we are informed by further intertextual reference in Q2:215 (qul mā anfaqtum min khairin falil-wālidaini wal-aqrabīna – Say: ‘Whatever you spend of good is to be for parents and relatives’), Q8:36 (fasayunfiqūnahā thumma takūnu ^calaihim ḥasratan – So they will spend it; then it will be for them a source of regret), and Q59:9 (wayu’thirūna ^calā anfusihim walaw kāna bihim khaṣāṣah waman yūqa shuḥḥa nafsihī fa’ulā’ika hum al-mufliḥūn – But [the Anṣār] give the emigrants (al-muhājirūn) preference over themselves, even though they are in privation. Whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul, it is those who will be the successful). Similarly, the reader is instructed to worship the Lord in (yā aiyuha al-nāsu u^cbudū rabbakum alladhī khalaqakum walladhīna min qablikum la^callakum tattaqūn – O mankind, worship your Lord who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous, Q2:21). However, he/she is not told about what acts of worship that are required. This problem is exegetically illuminated through the intertextual reference to Q22:77–78 (yā aiyuha alladhīna āmanu irka^cū wasjudū wa^cbudū rabbakum waf^calū al-khaira la^callakum tufliḥūn. wajāhidū fi allāhi ḥaqqa jihādihi … fa’aqīmu al-ṣalāta wa’ātu al-zakāta wa^ctaṣimū billāhi … – O you who have believed, bow and prostrate and worship your Lord and do good, that you may succeed. And strive for God with the striving due to Him … So establish prayer and give zakāt and hold fast to God …).

The exegetical tool of Qur’anic intertextuality (tafsīr al-Qur’ān bil-Qur’ān) can perform one of the following functions in Qur’anic exegesis:

(a) Through Qur’anic intertextuality, we can make a generic meaning more specific through elaboration, as in: (lan tanālu al-birra ḥattā tunfiqū mimmā tuḥibbūn – Never will you attain the good reward until you spend in the way of God from that which you love, Q3:92) which refers to (al-infāq – spending) in a general way. This generic meaning of (al-infāq) is made more specific by Q76:8 (wayuṭ^cimūna al-ṭa^cāma ^calā ḥubbihi miskīnan wayatīman wa’asīran – They give food in spite of love for it to the needy, the orphan, and the captive) which specifically states how (al-infāq) can be made. Another example of how the general meaning of an āyah can be made more specific by another āyah is found in Q5:32 and its counterpart Q4:93. Q5:32 provides a generic meaning through the expression (nafs – soul) which occurs in the indefinite noun form: (min ajli dhālika katabnā ^calā banī isrā’ila annahu man qatala nafsan bighairi nafsin aw fasādin fi al-arḍi faka’annamā qatala al-nāsa jamī^can waman aḥyāhā fak’annamā aḥya al-nāsa jamī^can – Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption done in the land, it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one, it is as if he had saved mankind entirely). However, Q4:93 explains the specific meaning of what (nafs) actually means: (waman yaqtul mu’minan muta^cammidan fajazā’uhū jahannamu khālidan fihā – Whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is hell wherein he will abide eternally). Thus, the expression (nafs) specifically means (a believer) according to Q4:93. Similarly, in Q4:123, the expression (sū’an – a wrong deed) has a generic meaning: (man ya^cmal sū’an yujza bihī – Whoever does a wrong will be recompensed for it). However, Q34:17 provides a specific meaning to (sū’an): (dhālika jazaināhum bimā kafarū – We repaid them because they disbelieved). Thus, (sū’an) in Q4:123 specifically means: (kafarū – to disbelieve) according to Q34:17. The same applies to Q22:1 (yā aiyuha al-nāsu ittaqū rabbakum – Mankind, be mindful of your Lord), where the expression (taqwā – to be mindful of the Lord) has a generic meaning and, therefore, requires elaboration to unlock its restricted signification. In Q22:77–78, elaboration is provided on what the nature of (taqwā) is (yā aiyuha alladhīna āmanū irka^cū wasjudū wa^cbudū rabbakum waf^calū al-khaira … wajāhidū fi allāhi haqqa jihādihi … aqīmu al-ṣalāta wa’ātu al-zakāta wa^ctaṣimu billāhi – O you who have believed, bow and prostrate and worship your Lord and do good, that you may succeed. And strive for God with the striving due to Him … establish prayer and give zakāt and hold fast to God).

(b) Qur’anic intertextuality can unlock an ambiguous meaning of an ayah or expression and be made clear, as in: (wa’ākharūna murjawna li’amri allāhi immā yu^cadhdhibuhum wa’immā yatūbu ^calaihim – There are others deferred until the command of God whether He will punish them or whether He will forgive them, Q9:106) in which the meaning of the expression (ākharūn – others) is ambiguous. This semantic ambiguity is explained by Q9:118 (wa^calā al-thalāthati alladhīna khullifū ḥattā idhā ḍāqat ^calaihim al-arḍu bimā raḥubat waḍaqat ^calaihim anfusuhum waẓannū an lā malja’a min allāhi illā ilaihi thumma tāba ^calaihim liyatūbū – He also forgave the three who were left behind and regretted their error to the point that the earth closed in on them in spite of its vastness and their souls anguished them and they were certain that there is no refuge from God except in Him. Then He turned to them so they could repent) whose circumstance of revelation refers to Hilāl b. Umaiyah, Marārah b. Rabī^c, and Ka^cb b. Mālik.

Another example of how a semantic ambiguity can be explained is encountered in: (nakāla al-ākhirati wal-ūlā – exemplary punishment for the last and the first transgression, Q79:25) which is an ambiguous āyah. However, its vague meaning can be disambiguated by two more āyahs: (waqāla fir^cawnu yā aiyuha al-mala’u mā ^calimtu lakum min ilāhin ghairī fa’awqid lī yā hāmānu ^cala al-ṭīni faj^cal lī ṣarḥan la^callī aṭṭali^cu ilā ilāhi mūsā wa’innī la’aẓunnuhū min al-kādhibīn – Pharaoh said: ‘O eminent ones, I have not known you to have a god other than me. Then ignite for me, O Hāmān, a fire upon the clay and make for me a tower that I may look at the god of Moses. Indeed, I do think he is among the liars’, Q28:38), where the meaning of the expression (al-ūlā) is explained as ‘the first transgression made by Pharaoh’. The vague meaning of Q79:25 is further explained by: (anā rabbukum al-a^clā – I [Pharaoh] am your most exalted lord, Q79:24) which makes the vague meaning of (al-ākhirati) clear, i.e. this is the second transgression made by Pharaoh.

An āyah, a section of an āyah, or an expression can be semantically illuminated through intertextual reference within the Qur’anic text. Below are examples of Qur’anic intertextuality as an exegetical tool in the interpretation of Qur’anic discourse by the school of mainstream exegesis:

1 (ihdinā al-ṣirāṭa al-mustaqīm – Guide us to the straight path, Q1:6), where the expression (al-ṣirāṭa al-mustaqīm – the straight path) is explained by Q42:52– 53 (wa’innaka latahdī ilā ṣirāṭin mustaqīmin. ṣirāṭi allāhi allādhi lahū mā fi al-samāwāti wamā fi al-arḍi – Indeed, [O Muḥammad], you guide to a straight path. The path of God, to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth); thus, Q1:6 is intertextually related to Q42:52–53.

2 (fatalaqqā ādamu min rabbihī kalimātin fatāba ^calaihi – Adam received from his Lord some words and God accepted his repentence, Q2:37), where the expression (kalimātin – some words) is intertextually related to and explained by Q7:23 (qālā rabbanā ẓalamnā anfusanā wa’in lam taghfir lanā watarḥamnā lanakūnanna min al-khāsirīn – They (Adam and Eve) said: ‘Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.’) It is worthwhile to note that Q2:285 is also explained by Q4:136.

3 (wakuntum azwājan thalāthah – You become of three kinds, Q56:7) is explained intertextually by:

(i) (fa’aṣḥabu al-maimanati mā aṣḥabu al-maimanati – The companions of the right, what are the companions of the right?, Q56:8) which represents the first category of people who, on the day of judgement, will be given their records of good deeds in their right hand and will therefore be destined for paradise;

(ii) (wa’aṣḥabu al-mash’amati mā aṣḥābu al-mash’amati – The companions of the left, what are the companions of the left?, Q56:9) which represents the second category of people who, on the day of judgement, will be given their records of bad deeds in their left hand and will therefore be destined for hell fire;

(iii) (wal-sābiqūna al-sābiqūna ulā’ika al-muqarrabūn –The forerunners in good deeds are the forerunners. Those are the ones brought near to God, Q56:10–11) which represents the third category of people on the day of judgement.

4 (Qur’ānan ^carabiyyan ghaira dhī ^ciwajin – It is an Arabic Qur’ān without any deviance, Q39:28) is intertextually related to Q12:2 (innā anzalnāhu Qur’ānan ^carabiyyan – Indeed, We [God] have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’ān), Q13:37 (wakadhālika anzalnāhu ḥukman ^carabiyyan – Thus, We [God] have revealed it as an Arabic legislation), Q16:103 (lisān alladhī yulḥidūna ilaihi a’a^cjamiyyun wahādhā lisānun ^carabiyyun mubīn – The tongue of the one they refer to is foreign, and this Qur’ān is in a clear Arabic language), Q20:113 (wakadhālik...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Arabic transliteration system
• Introduction
• 1. School of traditional exegesis (al-tafsīr bil-ma’thūr)
• 2. School of rational exegesis (al-tafsīr bil-ra’i)
• 3. School of linguistic exegesis
• 4. Comparative-contrastive exegesis
• 5. Contextual and co-textual relevance in Qur’anic exegesis
• Glossary
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index