Qurʾanic Hermeneutics with Reference to Narratives: A Study in Classical Exegetical Traditions

Abstract

Qurʾānic Hermeneutics with Reference to Narratives: A Study in Classical Exegetical Traditions ABSTRACT This dissertation is a critical study of the hermeneutical analysis used in classical tafsīr with reference to some Qurʾānic narrative passages. It examines those discourses that are related to these narrative passages by producing a comparative review of the some widely used Qurʾānic commentaries—namely, those by Hūd ibn Muḥakkim, al-Ṭabarī, al-Zamakhsharī, al-Thaʿlabī, al-Rāzī, al-Ṭabrisī, Ruzbihān al-Baqlī, and Nisābūrī. It critically studies the conditions that influenced the interpreters’ prejudices and preconceptions. Also, this research critically analyzes the gap that exists between these Qur’ānic narratives and their interpretations. This research consists of five chapters. The first two chapters deal with hermeneutics and narratives with respect to approaches and methods. The last three chapters are case studies, which explore the hermeneutical discourses related to these narratives. An analysis of the early methods of exegesis used on selected Qurʾānic narrative passages—conducted through the interrelated concepts of linguistics, grammar, lexicography, mysticism, history, textuality, and theology- will serve as the framework within which to study the level of understanding of these interpreters of the Qurʾānic text and their impact on the Muslim community. Critical research is conducted and primary sources are used to study how these exegetes understood the Qurʾānic text and contextualized the available knowledge to interpret Qurʾānic narratives on the literary, textual narrative, theological, and mystical levels.