Skip to main content

The Thematic Interpretation of Quran

Welcome to this Ramadan series that presents a thematic interpretation of the Quran.

There are number of schools when it comes to the interpretation of the Quran. There are those who interpret Quran linguistically, therefore they look at the grammar or allegorical side like metaphor, similes, structures.

There are scholars who interpret Quran according to history, so they look at what the companions said, or if they find something in the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad and related what they think is tied to the Quran.

There are people who look for interpretation of the commands and how they apply in the Islamic jurisprudence.

There are people who look at Quran and science and look for scientific evidences from the current times and how they tie to some of the expressions of the Quran.

There are people who look at various sides of Quran. A sufi interpretation looks for hidden meanings from the experience of the Sufis and how they relate to the meanings of the Quran.

In the Modern Era

There is a new school that emerged about a century and a half ago with the renewal of the Islamic thought in the previous Islamic century.

Scholars in this school look at themes in the Quran. Like for example “Tafsir al-Manar” by Sheikh Muhammad Abdu and Sheikh Rachid Reda. They looked at the theme of every chapter, and themes of different stories using a holistic approach.

Sayyid Qutb in his book “In the Shade of Quran” starts every chapter with a thematic interpretation of the chapter and looks at general theme of the chapters and how they relate to each other.

Sheikh Muhammad Abdallah Draz has a full tafsir of chapter 2, Al Baqarah, in which he puts it in a bigger and holistic picture. It’s a high level of interpretation.

Muhammad Al Ghazali also has “Towards a Thematic Interpretation of the Quran”, and Sheikh Al-Qaradawi has an interpretation of some chapters according to a thematic interpretation, and also some themes like knowledge in the Quran.

Taha Al-Alwani did a thematic interpretation of different themes of the Quran like purification, civilization, monotheism…

Hassan Al-Turabi also has an incredible interpretation called “The Unified Interpretation” where you could see the different themes are unified.

Sayyid Muhammad Bakir Al-Sadr has “The Universal Laws Related to History in the Quran”.

Imam Al Farahi has a thematic interpretation of the Quran.

Sheikh Ash-Sha’rawi & Modern Scholars

Sheikh Ash-Sha’rawi in his many thoughts about the Quran, also took a thematic approach. His approach is close to the linguistic approach, but the thematic approach is also clear by looking at particular meanings throughout the Quran and connecting different stories…

Sheikh Wahbah al-Zuhayli has a thematic approach in interpreting the Quran. Sheikh Muhammad Tahir ibn Ashur in his book called “Liberation and Enlightenment” has a thematic approach especially through the objectives of the Quran.

Aisha bint Ash Shati’ has an allegorical interpretation of Quran, with very interesting insights.

Almost every modern interpreter of the Quran had added a thematic unifying kind of look at the Quran. This is because of a need to develop what we call today the Islamic thought.

The Islamic thought can’t really develop without the original source and looking at it not as verse by verse or looking for particular laws. The current scholars are looking for themes because they would like to make our understanding of the Quran relevant to our times.

In this series, we’ll look at the objectives of the Quran, the concepts of the Quran, the universal laws, the parties, value system of the Quran, commands in the Quran as a theme, the logic of the Quran. We’ll also look at how the Quran dealt with history, and how it dealt with reality.

So please stay tuned…

The post The Thematic Interpretation of Quran appeared first on About Islam.



source https://aboutislam.net/reading-islam/research-studies/the-thematic-interpretation-of-quran/
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

List of Times and Places Where Dua is Accepted

A short reminder regarding the recommended times of dua . And I think what you need to know here is that the recommended times of dua or recommended things that can cause your dua to be accepted, can be divided into two sort of large groups: Am I Good Enough to Make Dua for Myself? Situations where your dua is accepted. Times where your dua is accepted So I’m going to very briefly mention them one after the other as much as possible. As for situations where your dua has been accepted: – The person who has been wronged or oppressed . – A person who finds themselves in severe difficulty after a calamity has struck. – The person who is traveling. – Someone who is fasting. – The one who is reciting the Quran or has just recited the Quran – Someone who is performing Hajj or Umrah or jihad. – The one who is making dua for someone in their absence . Because we know that when you make dua for someone in his absence an angel says: “ Ameen and to you”. – A person...
Post a Comment
Read More »

Ghuraba (The Strangers): Nasheed with English Subtitles

Islam began as something strange, and it shall return to being something strange, so give glad tidings the strangers. (Sahih Muslim 145) This famous nasheed has many versions; this one is from Muhammad al-Salman and has the subtitles in English embedded. [We are] strangers and we do not bow the foreheads to anyone besides Allah  […] Transliteration to help in the pronounciation:  Ghurabaa’ wa li ghairillaahi laa nahnil jibaa Aisha Stacey  wrote in an article for Aboutislam.net : “I think that many of you would agree that being Muslim in the 21st century makes you well acquainted with being strange. It might even be a metaphor for random, as in you have been randomly selected. […] many converts to Islam will tell you about feeling as if they were strangers, before finding Islam. They will speak of feeling that they belonged somewhere else that their lives were just slightly off center. They often speak about a vague sense of knowing they were not like everyone else...
Post a Comment
Read More »

Taqwa – Living the Main Purpose of Ramadan

Taqwa is a major purpose for the month of Ramadan. The people of taqwa are those who do the things that they are commanded and avoid the things which Allah has made prohibitive. And evidently, to reach a state of taqwa requires vigilance, it requires patience and sincerity. The verse is pertaining to fasting I found in a single set of verses in chapter 2 starting at verse 183: O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous. ( 2:183 ) A Collective Act of Worship Allah is telling us that fasting has been made obligatory and then Allah tells us that just as it was prescribed for those before us. We often get asked this question in Ramadan, “how’s the fast going for us?” And if we gave ourselves a moment to think about it, we see that Allah Most High has made the fast inside the month of Ramadan easy for us because we know that there is a collective spirit to fasting; we know that we’re not alone in this ...
Post a Comment
Read More »