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13 pages, 293 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Qurʾānic Exegesis and the Reshaping of Early Islamic History: A Case Study of Sura Q 107

by Yassine Yahyaoui

Religions 2024, 15(11), 1301; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15111301 - 24 Oct 2024

Viewed by 2074

This study examines the historiography of early Islam by assessing the reliability of Qurʾānic exegeses as sources documenting the early history of Islam and the biography of the Prophet Muḥammad in Mecca. Focusing on Qurʾānic exegetical practices from late antiquity to the medieval period, this article argues that there is a significant discontinuity in how Qurʾānic exegeses align with the historical context of the Qur’an, especially in relation to Meccan sūras such as Q 107. Significantly, this challenges the continuity of tradition, the fundamental concept upon which the “Islamic sciences” are based. This discontinuity is herein revealed through a historical–critical analysis of the exegesis of Q 107:4 that demonstrates how Qurʾānic exegetical practices have reinterpreted and reshaped early Islamic history in response to the pressures of new identity formation and made Qurʾānic exegeses more reflective of the social and political contexts of the exegetes than of the historical milieu of the Qurʾān itself. This analysis contributes to the ongoing discussion of the role exegesis played in reshaping the history of Islam. Indeed, it emphasises the importance of critically evaluating these sources in order to uncover a more nuanced historical narrative of early Islam. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Religions and Theologies)

16 pages, 625 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Religions in al-Ḥarāllī’s Sufi Hermeneutics: An Apolemical Understanding of the Qurʾān

by Adnane Mokrani

Religions 2023, 14(11), 1381; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14111381 - 2 Nov 2023

Viewed by 2359

Abstract

This article analyzes the three introductory epistles to Sufi hermeneutics written by al-Ḥarāllī, a mystic of Andalusian origin from the seventh/thirteenth century. According to this author, the objective of the Scriptures is to explain human beings to themselves. The revelation, received through a particular understanding called fahm, contains transformative knowledge that can change the life of the reader. In this foundational work, al-Ḥarāllī explains the relationship between the Qurʾān and preceding Scriptures, recognizing in the Qurʾān their unity and fulfillment. Dedicating the final chapter of the third epistle to the seven religions mentioned in the Qurʾān, which are, rather, ethical prototypes, he seeks to internalize the Qurʾānic critique expounded on each of these categories. In a reading that goes beyond polemics and offers significant elements to the Islamic theology of religions, al-Ḥarāllī demonstrates how the aim of the Qurʾānic narratives is not to present information about the past but rather to provide moral education for the Islamic community and the reader. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mystical Theology and Muslim-Christian Dialogue—2nd Edition)

18 pages, 312 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Islamic Hermeneutics of Nonviolence: Key Concepts and Methodological Steps

by Adnane Mokrani

Religions 2022, 13(4), 295; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13040295 - 29 Mar 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3905

Abstract

The article traces the key concepts and methodological steps that make an Islamic theology of nonviolence plausible. It offers the tools for a critical reading of classical texts, “sacred” history, and globalized modernity. The article deals with the theology of nonviolence as part of modern and contemporary theologies: those of religious pluralism, feminism and liberation, which are interconnected and share the same hermeneutical knots and challenges. Nonviolence theology can be considered the big umbrella that includes all these aspects. It is a postcolonial approach, nurtured by Sufism, that aims to liberate theology from past and present power claims and build the bases for radical reform. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nonviolence and Religion)

15 pages, 2674 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Aḥmad Amīn’s Rationalist Approach to the Qur’ān and Sunnah

by Ines Peta

Religions 2022, 13(3), 234; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13030234 - 9 Mar 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3435

Abstract

The emergence of Islamic reformist thinking in the period of the so-called Nahḍah (Renaissance), in particular in the latter part of the XIX century, entailed a revival of interest in Muʿtazilite rationalism. Among the Sunni intellectuals who reevaluated the ancient theological school, a prominent place belongs to Aḥmad Amīn (1886–1954). Muʿtazilism takes up much space in his famous trilogy Fajr al-Islām (The Dawn of Islam), Ḍuḥā al-Islām (The Morning of Islam) and Ẓuhr al-Islām (The Noon of Islam). Although the trilogy has been defined as the first critical research work carried out by a Muslim writer on Islamic civilisation, it has not been the subject of any specific or in-depth studies. The present article aims to partially fill this gap through a detailed linguistic and content analysis of selected passages from the trilogy. This analysis shows how Aḥmad Amīn’s interpretation of the Muʿtazilism fits into the wider project that he pursued to reform Islam: on the one hand, he fought against the traditional dependence on transmitted data (naql), which he considered to be the main cause of the intellectual stasis of the Muslims; on the other hand, he promoted a critical reading of the sacred texts, the Qur’ān and Sunnah, based on reason and on modern Western scientific methodology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Qur’an in History. The History of the Qur’an. From Canonization to Critique and Semantic Hermeneutics)

8 pages, 1181 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Why Did the Egyptian Noblewomen Cut Their Hands? Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥīʾs Interpretation of Qurʾān 12:31

by Mustansir Mir

Religions 2021, 12(8), 619; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12080619 - 9 Aug 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5650

Abstract

Sūra 12 of the Qurʾān, Joseph, tells the story of the prophet Joseph. He is bought as a slave by an Egyptian high official, whose wife—tradition calls her Zulaykhā—makes an unsuccessful attempt to seduce him, and is ridiculed by her peers for her failure to do so. She invites them to a banquet, hands them knives, and presents Joseph before them. Upon seeing him, the women cut their hands with the knives they are holding (Qurʾān 12:31). According to the generally accepted exegetical view, they do so because they were so awestruck by Joseph’s beauty that they did not know what they were doing and accidentally cut their hands while thinking that they were cutting some food item, like fruit. Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥī differs from this view. He argues that the women wished to succeed where Zulaykhā had failed, and, unable to persuade Joseph in the beginning, they threatened to kill themselves if Joseph would not listen to them, and, to convince Joseph that they were serious in carrying out the threat, they deliberately cut their hands with knives. This article gives details of Iṣlāḥīʾs interpretation of the Qurʾānic verse in question and discusses how that interpretation calls for re-evaluating some crucial aspects of the Qurʾānic story of Joseph. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Re-Interpreting the Qur’an in the 21st Century)

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