Dari Teks Suci ke Representasi Visual: Ilustrasi sebagai Perangkat Hermeneutik dalam Tafsir Kontemporer Surah al-Mulk

Abstract

This article seeks to investigate the role of visual illustrations as hermeneutical tools in Ashim Khan’s “The Kingdom of God: A Fully Illustrated Commentary on Surah al-Mulk”, and to elucidate their contribution to the advancement of contemporary Qur’anic exegesis methodology. This study is significant, as existing scholarship on visual exegesis has predominantly regarded visualisation as a medium for digital communication, reception, and religious popularisation, while its function as an integral element of the interpretive process has received comparatively limited academic attention. Employing a qualitative methodology with a content analysis approach, this research examines the visual representations within Khan’s work. The analysis utilises Stuart Hall’s encoding-decoding model to explore both the manner in which the exegete encodes meaning into visual representations and the way in which readers decode and reconstruct these meanings. The findings reveal that the visual illustrations in Khan’s commentary operate not merely as aesthetic enhancements but as hermeneutical devices that encode interpretive meanings through six distinct forms of visualisation: thematic diagrams, symmetry diagrams (naẓm), concept maps, timelines, relational diagrams, and analytical tables. These visual representations aid readers in comprehending the structure, coherence, and theological message of Sūrah al-Mulk, while simultaneously guiding them towards a preferred interpretation aligned with the exegete’s intended meaning. This study contributes to the expansion of discourse on visual exegesis by demonstrating that visualisation can be positioned as a contemporary exegetical method that integrates the classical naẓm tradition with modern visual culture, thereby enriching interdisciplinary approaches within contemporary Qur’anic studies.