Magister Artium - MA / The main focus of this dissertation is a critical study of the Arabic text, titled:
Lubāb al ‘Ilm Fī Sūrah al-Najm (The Kernel of Knowledge in the Chapter of
the Star) by Shaykh Ahmad bin Muṣṭafā’ al-‘Alāwī.
Due to the lack of research on esoteric commentaries of the Qurʾān in the
English language, there is a need to embark upon an in-depth study of such
texts. An important work on Shaykh al-‘Alāwī in English is Martin Lings’ A
Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century. This book is an excellent introduction to
the life, works and thought of Shaykh al-‘Alāwī, but it does not deal with a
specific text in any detail. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is to examine
closely the above-mentioned text of Shaykh al-‘Alāwī as a sample of his
esoteric interpretation of the Qurʾān. For the purpose of this thesis, I shall
undertake a translation of his exegesis (tafsīr) on Sūrah al-Najm (the Chapter
of the Star). I will include with it explanatory notes and identification of key
quotations and sources. This sample from Shaykh al-‘Alāwī’s work will form
the basis of my critical analyses. It will also provide a means for comparison
with some of his other works, and with Qurʾānic commentaries of the same
genre by other Sufi scholars, both classical and modern. In this dissertation, I
also seek to offer some answers and proofs concerning the validity of the
existence of esoteric tafsīr and why it is needed. I will do this by examining
key verses in the Qur’ān and the Sunnah (traditions of the Prophet
Muḥammad).
The distinction between esoteric and exoteric interpretations of the
Qurʾān will also be dealt with in this dissertation. Although the emphasis will
be on the esoteric dimension, neither the esoteric nor the exoteric dimension
will be treated in a mutually exclusive way. Most Arabic commentaries on the
Qurʾān tend towards the exoteric and literal meanings of the text, but the
exoteric form also has an inner dimension which Shaykh al-‘Alāwī
demonstrates in his commentary on Sūrah al-Najm.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uwc/oai:etd.uwc.ac.za:11394/6682 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Hendricks, Mogamat Mahgadien |
| Contributors | Mohamed, Yasien |
| Publisher | University of the Western Cape |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | University of the Western Cape |
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