Encyclopedia of Islam

tafsir

  

655  J

---

A long list of contemporary Muslim scholars 

have proposed new approaches to relating the 

Quran to modern life and have taken up that 

task of interpretation according to a limited set of 

themes. Most of them come from a new Muslim 

intelligentsia, rather than the ranks of the ulama, 

reflecting the democratization of Islamic learning 

and the fragmentation of traditional 

aUthority

.

Some of them received some or all of their educa-

tion in Western-style schools and universities, or 

have held academic appointments in Europe and 

North America. These include F

azlUr

 r

ahman

 (d. 

1988), m

Uhammad

 a

rkoUn

 (b. 1928), n

asr

 h

amid

a

bU

  z

ayd

 (b. 1943), k

halid

  a

boU

  e

l

 F

adl

 (b. 

1963), Abd al-Karim Soroush (b. 1945), Muham-

mad Shahrur (b. 1938), Aisha Abd al-Rahman (d. 

1999), and Amina Wadud (b. 1952). Several of 

these scholars have focused on specific literary 

themes or linguistic characteristics of the Quran, 

as well as the comparative study of the concrete 

historical situations within which different suras 

were composed. Others have been more concerned 

with finding new ways to think about quranic law 

and ethics, as seen in light of contemporary topics 

such as human rights, women’s rights, social jus-

tice, inter-religious dialogue, and pluralism. Such 

undertakings, along with the continued study of 

classical books of tafsir and the mobilization of 

quranic ideas in the service of radical Islamist ide-

ologies, attest to the pivotal importance that the 

Quran has held and continues to hold in the eyes 

of Muslims around the world. They also serve as 

an indication of the critical importance tafsir in its 

many forms has acquired in adapting the Quran 

to the changing social and cultural circumstances 

experienced by Muslims through history.

See also  a

rabic

 

langUage

 

and

 

literatUre

; 

c

ompanions

 

oF

 

the

 p

rophet

; F

atiha

; 

imam

; i

smaili

s

hiism

; 

madrasa

; 

salaFism

;  s

UFism

;  t

Welve

-i

mam

s

hiism

.