Zugl.: Berlin, Freie Univ., Diss., 2007

Zugl.: Halle (Saale), Univ., Diss., 2006 / Text teilw. dt., teilw. arab. - Teilw. in arab. Schr.

University, Diss., 2004--Göttingen.

Zugl.: Bamberg, Univ., Diss., 2006

Aḥmad Ibn ‘Ajība (d. 1224/1809) is one of the prominent Sufi mystics who lived in Morocco during the 13th/ 17th century. His importance in Sufi scholarship is a reflection of the fact that he is one of the original Sufi scholars who contributed immensely to elucidating ambiguous Sufi concepts that were, by their very nature, enigmatic and only accessible through Sufi adepts. He also stood out as an intellectual theoretician in the science of Qur’ānic esoteric hermeneutics because he was one of the few scholars who managed to convey theoretical concepts and esoteric theories of Qur’ānic interpretation in a language that could be accessed by those with an average level of intellect. One of these theories is the concept of divine love. In this thesis, I propose to address the concept of divine love in Aḥmad Ibn ‘Ajība’s famous exegesis of the Qurān al-Baḥr al-madīd fī tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-majīd (Oceanic Exegesis of the Qurān). Over the course of this thesis, I endeavor to show how Ibn ‘Ajība combined what has been extensively written on the subject of divine love by different Sufi saints and mystics with the mystical exegesis of the Qur’ān. Ibn ‘Ajība is one of the early Sufis who connected theoretical works on the concept of divine love and practically applied them to the Qur’ān’s verses on love. This unique combination was an important breakthrough in the Sufi literature which other Sufi scholars then built upon in offering an exegesis of the Qur’ān - Shaykh Aḥmad Ibn Muṣṭafā al-‘Alawī (d.1934) was particularly important in this respect. Explaining the concept of divine love through his mystical interpretation of the love verses in the Qur’ān ultimately aspire to connect the purpose of creation (which was due to the Creator’s love for His creation), to the turning point (the return of the creation to the Creator). This symphony of love that is an essential component of the story of creation is well-defined, clearly stated and deeply analyzed in Ibn ‘Ajība’s work. He also met the challenge of overcoming the elliptical mystical language of exposition that was used by earlier Sufis; accordingly, he successfully simplified the ambiguous style of writing and decoded their enigmatic mystical doctrines. I hope that an analysis of Ibn ‘Ajība’s concept of divine love will stimulate the appetite of academic researchers to investigate the scholarly works of this luminary, and thus highlight his significance in the wider Sufi tradition. Ibn ‘Ajība's works have in general not received sufficient attention and deserve deeper and more sustained analysis.

Having been influenced by the Muslim reformist ideas championed by Muhammad 'Abduh and his colleagues, Hamka attempted to disseminate and ameliorate the reform ideas in his country, Indonesia, through the means available to him; that is by preaching and writing. He was among the most prolific contemporary authors, having written 113 books including his monumental Tafsir al-Azhar. In this commentary, Hamka has probably included the sum of his ideas particularly those pertaining to religious aspects. With regards to the religious aspects, he mostly discusses the problems of theology, sufism and law. Hamka's conception of the law portrays his challenge and struggle towards the abolishment of taqlid (uncritical acceptance of the decisions made by the predecessors) and the implementation of ijtihad (personal opinion). In addition, his legal comments and interpretations are quite different from many of the comments made by sectarian commentators, who saw in tafsir a forum for defending their schools of thought. However, Hamka steered away from any school of thought and tried to be as objective as possible in his work, an attempt reflected in his method of interpreting the problematic legal verses. Moreover, he did not limit himself to a single method of interpretation. On the contrary, he availed himself of both the tafsir bi al-ma'thur method (interpretation derived from the Prophet, the Companions and the Successors) and the tafsir bi al-ra'y method (interpretation based on reason).

Histories of tafsīr in South Asia have been mainly focused on identifying extant works of Qur’anic scholarship in the region. There are only a few academic works that explore the primary sources in detail. Surveys of the present state of the study of modern Qur’anic commentaries also highlight the lacunae in our knowledge of regional tafsīr and Qur’anic hermeneutics. Focusing on Urdu and Arabic works, the current study as a work of intellectual history is the first systematic attempt to open a new area of inquiry. Building on the earlier historiography of the pre-modern tafsīr in South Asia, it charts the development of Qur’anic hermeneutics in British India by focusing on the works of Sayyid Aḥmad Khān (d. 1898), Ashraf ʿAlī Thānawī (d. 1943), and Ḥamīd al-Dīn Farāhī (d. 1930), along with larger exegetical literature that emerged in North India. Looking beyond the artificial dichotomy of modernity and tradition and of reform and revivalism, as forces making an impact on Muslim Qur’anic thought, the current study focuses on two questions. What were the continuities and shifts in Qur’anic hermeneutics in British India since the latter half of the nineteenth century? Why did Qur’anic hermeneutics evolve the way it did in the multiple milieux of colonial India? The thesis also investigates an ancillary question: In developing their positions on Qur’anic hermeneutics, how did Muslim scholars in the period under examination conceive their relationship with the Muslim intellectual tradition in terms of their continuity or discontinuity? The study demonstrates the impact of historical forces and Muslim creative thinking on the development of modern Qur’anic hermeneutics in South Asia. Disagreeing on some key points with the current scholarship on modern Qur’an commentaries and Muslim scholarship in British India, the study shows that the period witnessed to the rise of new approaches to the study of the Qur’an in addition to the continuation of earlier trends. Moreover, it shows that Muslim scholarly ideas on the nature of the Muslim intellectual tradition in general, including Qur’anic exegesis, had a decisive impact on the development of thinking about the Qur’an in this period. / Graduate / 2021-12-22

No description available.

From the perspective of the Hebrew Bible the Egyptians represented the quintessential 'other' to the Israelites - lascivious, idolatrous, tyrannical, hostile and murderous. The biblical characterization of the Egyptians may be explained by the historical context in which early Israel emerged, a context in which Egypt represented a political, military and cultural threat to Israel's survival and distinctiveness, and in which the Israelites came to regard themselves as a covenanted people, in a unique and exclusive relationship with their God. This biblical perspective was inherited to some extent by the early Christian community, which according to the apostle Paul has been grafted into Israel's salvation history, and thus continued to associate the Egyptians with idolatry and base morality. The Islamic assessment of the ancient Egyptians, as presented particularly by the Qur'an, extra-canonical works and commentaries, and how it compares to biblical and extra-biblical views, is the subject of this study. Drawing on distinctions of covenanted and missionary identities as described in Anthony Smith's Chosen Peoples (2003), this thesis hypothesizes that the Qur'an and Islamic tradition with their pronounced missionary thrust present a rather different image of the 'other', particularly the Egyptians, given the historical context in which Islam emerged. This study presents a unique examination of the Egyptians in the Qur'an and extra-canonical texts as related through their encounters with the prophets Ibrahim, Yusuf, Musa and 'Isa. It combines a detailed exegetical and intertextual study of revelant Qur'anic verses with an analysis of extra-canonical texts such as the qisas al-anbiya' and traditions such as are found in al-Tabari's al-Ta'rikh al-rusul wa'l-muluk. Moreover, this thesis addresses historical, Egyptological and archaeological issues, and how the Qur'anic portrayals of the Egyptians in particular reflect the concerns and values of the early ummah, a community of believers which not only struggled to survive the hostilities of the Quraysh, but which sought to bring them and others to faith in the God of Ibrahim.

<p>Utgångspunkten för denna studie är att dokumentera och redogöra den traditionsbaserade utläggningsmetodologi inom islam. Fokus ligger på hur de traditionsbundna och de konservativa inriktningarna av sunni islam uppfattar denna företeelse.</p><p>Betydelsen av <em>tafsir </em>har kommit att spela en allt viktigare roll till stor följd av den debatt som förs kring islam och vilken förståelse eller tolkning som skall ha företräde. Debatten fokusera primärt kring hur Koranen bör förstås och tolkas, vilket visar sig i den alltmer utpräglade konflikten mellan traditionsbundna inriktningar och progressiva grupperingar. De progressiva grupperna menar att islam och Koranens förordningar måste förstås utifrån den kontext de tillkom i och således är många av dessa förordningar föråldrade och i behov av omtolkning, medan de traditionsbundna inriktningarna anser att islam och Koranens bestämmelser är universella och följaktligen inte tidsbundna.</p><p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva de principer som den traditionsbaserade tolkningsmetodologin utgörs av och att belysa hur dessa möjliggör att en korrekt förståelse av Koranen kan förvärvas.</p>