(Structural and Thematic Coherence in Qur’ānic Sūrahs (Taswīr ): A New Domain in Qur’ānic inimitability)(Vol 40 - No1- Year 2022) (original) (raw)
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TADER, 2022
The holistic approach to the Qurʾān is a phrase used under different headings in the field of tafsīr. The article assumes that a comparative analysis of the usage areas will provide more clear and understandable data on the scope of this phrase. The aim of the article is to bring out the scope of the expressions such as the holistic approach to the Qurʾān and the unity of the Qurʾānic text, thus to reveal the difference among these uses. Based on this background, the article presents and analyzes five different topics in which the aforementioned phrases are used in the field of tafsīr. These are the interpretation of the Qurʾān by the Qurʾān (tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi’l-Qurʾān), the relationship between verses and sūras (munāsabāt al-āyāt wa’l-suwar), thematic tafsīr (al-tafsīr al-mawḍūʿī), sūrah-based tafsīr, and structural studies based on Semitic rhetoric. Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi’l-Qurʾān means the explanation of a verse with other verses of the Qurʾān, thus refering to the understanding of the text in its inner unity. Munāsabāt al-āyāt wa’l-suwar contains the thesis that the verse and sūra units should have a successive relationship, so it has the concept of unity that is expected to emerge from this relationship. Thematic tafsīr proposes to consider the verses related to a particular subject of the Qurʾān as a whole. Sūra-based tafsīr claims that the Qurʾānic sūras are whole units with certain main themes. As for the structural studies based on Semitic rhetoric defended by some scholars in recent Western studies, the Qurʾān is a text that has some symmetrical structures and therefore has structural unity. In each of these headings, we come across holistic approaches that differ from each other at certain points. Keywords: Tafsīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi’l-Qurʾān, Tanāsub al-Qurʾān, Thematic Tafsīr, Sūra-based tafsīr, Symmetry.
Requirements of Qur'ānic Theorizing: A Thematic Interpretation Approach
Journal of Contemporary Islamic Studies, 2023
Given that many schools of thought in today's world theorize on different aspects of human life, undoubtedly one of the most important tasks of modern exegetes is to extract theories of the Qur'ān in various fields. This paper deals with one of the most important fundamental issues in this regard, i.e., the criteria and norms that a standard qur'ānic theory should have. For this purpose, first the research literature is explained, and then the characteristics of theory in the general sense (i.e., scientific theory) are enumerated. Afterwards, the requirements of qur'ānic theorizing are mentioned and explicated. Since the best way to discover the qur'ānic view of a subject is the method of thematic interpretation, this paper believes that the process of discovering the theory of the Qur'ān about an issue (that is, qur'ānic theorizing) follows the same method. Accordingly, some of the requirements of qur'ānic theorizing found in this study include avoiding the interference of any prejudice, conducting the systematization of qur'ānic teachings, being up-to-date and forward-looking, having fluency and clarity of expression, and having congruence with other definite facts and theories.
Al-waḥda al-bināʾiyya li-l-Qurʾān: A Methodology for Understanding the Qurʾān in the
2018
This paper is concerned with the Qurʾānic methodology of Al-waḥda al-bināʾiyya li-l-Qurʾān/ the Qur’an’s Structural Unity and its impact in the arena of religious sciences and beyond. I provide a concise overview of the classical and contemporary debates concerning the genealogy of this method, including examples and a brief analysis of the works of a number of modern scholars who have contributed to the development of this methodology. Approaching the Qurʾān as a unitary structure, as a consistent hermeneutic, contributes to our understanding of critical issues not only in the Qurʾān and Sunna, but also in other religious disciplines, such as Islamic law. More importantly, I argue that this method provides an important hermeneutic resolution to critical debates surrounding Islam's moral and ethical framework. I conclude by stressing that Al-waḥda al-bināʾiyya li-l-Qurʾān is essential for enhancing religious scholarship in general and for advancing the spheres where Islamic knowledge is applied.
THE NEW DEVELOPMENT OF QUR'ANIC STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS: SOURCES, METHODOLOGIES, AND ISSUES
From the beginning of the Western interest in the study of the Quran, many issues were discussed. The chronology, the literary aspect, the structure of the Quran, and many others. In this article, I am going to discuss some these issues from the Western point of view and at the same time give the meaning of the response of the Muslim scholars thereabout.
Interrogating Structural Interpretation of the Qur'an
Der Islam 87 (1-2), 2012
New critical approaches to the Qur'ān, often based in Western intellectual tradition, can emphasize aspects of the Qur'ān that have not been the object of explicit focus in traditional tafsīr. It is important to interrogate these methods in order to determine what kinds of presuppositions allow the analyses to proceed as they do, and what implications these methods and their results have. This critique is particularly significant in the realm of Qurʾānic Studies because of the great deal of attention that has been paid to the application of pseudo-scientific analyses of the Qur'ān, and particularly its form, often in ways that have serious impact on the understanding of the Qur'ān's content and ontological status. This article examines such structuralist readings of the Qur'ān, using Angelika Neuwirth's framework as a prominent example, in order to bring into question the ability to convincingly divide the Qur'ān into stable sections and thus identify the sūras' chronology by period as she attempts to do. Moreover, this article interrogates what the application of this method might reveal about the scholar's attitude toward the Qur'ān and what types of conclusions the method of reading makes possible.
ICR Journal, 2018
The coherence (nazm) and symmetry of the Quran have remained one of the most debated and discussed topics in the field of Quranic Studies; whether or not the Quranic surah or/and the whole Quran exhibit an organic unity has produced a plethora of books. The book under review seeks to refute the longstanding criticism of disjointedness in the Quran, aiming to illustrate how a better understanding of the Qurans structure will in turn help in our textual interpretation of it (p. xvi). The book draws mainly, among others, on Amin Ahsan Islahi (d. 1997) and Michel Cuypers. According to the former, each Quranic chapter is characterised by a degree of unity or a central theme, Amud, that runs through a whole Surah. The Quran is not therefore a random text, as some believe but one which exhibits a precise structural plan, with a majority of chapters occuring in pairs; one chapter forms a pair with its adjacent chapter; pairs form chapter groups, and finally the chapter groups form the Quran...
Coherence in the qur'an: principles and applications
2002
The differences and at times seemingly contradictory interpretation of Qurʾanic āyāt (verses) by scholars belies the notion that the Qurʾanic message is universal and relevant to all situations and settings. One reason for this problem is the erroneous belief that the Qurʾanic āyāt do not form an integral whole. It needs be emphasized that the Qurʾanic statements constitute an integral whole. To appreciate this integral aspect of the Qurʾanic statements, it is necessary to identify the linkages among āyāt of a surah (chapter) by following certain principles.