The Development of Exegetical Approaches in the Post-Classical Period as Reflected in Tafsir Introductions

تطور منهج التفسير في العصر ما بعد الكلاسيكي من خلال مقدمات المؤلفات التفسيرية

Abstract

Tafsīr works from the post-classical period have received limited attention in modern Islamic studies due to the widespread assumption that the scholarly works of this period were merely a rigid repetition of earlier intellectual achievements. In recent years, however, a number of studies have sought to reexamine this assumption. Within this context, this study traces the development of tafsīr methodology in post-classical tafsīr works through an analysis of their introductions. The research is based on a close reading of the introductions to thirteen tafsīr works, with particular attention to several methodological issues that reflect the most significant developments and intellectual vitality of the period. The study finds that some of these introductions demonstrate methodological developments. These developments include discussions on the disciplines required for a a mufassir, debates over the legitimacy of mystical (ishārī) tafsīr and the arguments used to justify it, as well as the emergence of new methodological issues that had not been addressed in the introductions of earlier tafsīr works. These findings contribute to reconsidering the narrative of decline in the history of tafsīr during the post-classical period. They are based on a direct reading of tafsīr introductions as primary sources for examining the development of tafsīr methodology, an approach that has largely been absent from the evidence used to support the narrative of decline.