Theological Exegesis of the Qur'an

Theological exegesis of the Qur'ān (Arabic: التفسیر الکلامی) is a branch of speculative exegesis of the Qur'an. In a theological exegesis of the Qur'an, the exegete appeals to Qur'anic verses to defend religious beliefs or to reply to objections made by their opponents as well as by resort to rational and theological arguments.

The exegeses of the Qur'an made by the sahaba were mainly free of controversies about theology and the principles of religious beliefs. The first traces of such controversies can be found in the period of Tabi'un. These controversies had a role in the formation of theological exegeses.

The most important controversial issues among theological exegetes of the Qur'an include the caliphate or succession of Prophet Muhammad (s), the problem of iman (faith), the religious verdict about a person who commits a major sin, the problem of predestination and free will in human actions, the divine word being incipient (hādith) or eternal (qadim), God's narrated attributes, divine justice, and its wide-ranging consequences for the exegesis of the Qur'an and the construal of religious beliefs.

Scope and Importance

An important portion of Qur'anic verses are the ones concerning religious beliefs. A theological exegesis of the Qur'an is formed by considering such verses. There are two types of such verses:

• Qur'anic verses reporting and criticizing the beliefs of non-Muslims, such as the prophet Ibrahim's (a) story of arguing with worshipers of the sun, the moon, and the stars, and a criticism of materialistic thoughts.

• Qur'anic verses expressing the principles of Islamic beliefs, such as tawhid or monotheism, prophethood, resurrection as well as the ones concerning issues such as predestination and free will, divine attributes, seeing God, 'isma (infallibility), and iman (faith).

The terminology of the theological exegesis usually refers to the latter. Such an exegete draws upon such Qur'anic verses to defend his own positions in kalam. However, in early books, the theological exegesis refers to the former as a defense of the principles of Islamic beliefs against other religions.

Historical Background

In the Period of the Prophet (s)

Muslims in the period of the Prophet (s) had a simple understanding of the Qur'an free of any rational controversies. Since the Qur'an was in Arabic, they mainly rested content to their commonsensical grasp of Qur'anic verses. They sometimes consulted the Prophet's (s) comments on the verses or other few sources. However, some Sahaba had a more profound understanding of the Qur'an, adopting a rational, speculative approach to the exegesis of the Qur'an. The most prominent exegete of the Qur'an was 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a). In a much lower ranking were people such as 'Abd Allah b. al-'Abbas and 'Abd Allah b. Mas'ud who speculatively approached the exegesis of the Qur'an. It is noteworthy that they considered themselves as being indebted in their exegeses to 'Ali (a).

After the Demise of the Prophet (s)

After the demise of the Prophet (s) and the occurrence of some events in the Islamic community, such as the prohibition of collecting hadiths, resting content to the Book of God (i.e. the Qur'an), and Imam 'Ali (s)'s withdrawal from political affairs, two distinct approaches to interpreting the Qur'an and other religious doctrines were formed:

• The ijtihad-evading and hadith-oriented approach that did not permit any ijtihad or speculation about the Qur'an. They even emphasized the prohibition of interpreting the Qur'an.

• The ijtihad-oriented approach highlighting the Qur'an and the Prophet's (s) tradition which permitted, and even required, reflection and speculation about the Qur'an.

People of Hadith and People of Opinion

The ijtihad-evading and ijtihad-oriented approaches led to the formation of exegetical schools in the late period of Sahaba and early period of Tabi'un. It eventually led to the formation of two main camps: People of Hadith and People of Opinions. The intellectual direction of exegetical schools was influenced by the Sahaba who led those schools. For example, the exegetical school of Iraq was led by 'Abd Allah b. Mas'ud, and so it had a rational approach, and the exegetical school of Medina was led by Ubayy b. Ka'b and other Sahaba, and so it had a traditional, non-rational approach.

Exegeses presented by the Sahaba did not usually involve any controversies over kalam and religious beliefs, but their students in subsequent periods played an important role in the formation of theological exegeses. The first traces of theological controversies can be found in the period of Tabi'un, while people such as Sa'id b. Musayyib (d. 95/712-3)—a member of the exegetical school of Medina—was extremely cautious in the exegesis of the Qur'an, making no comments on Qur'anic verses except by narrating relevant hadiths.

Mujahid b. Jabr (d. 104/722-3) adopted a rational, liberal approach to the exegesis of the Qur'an. For example, in his interpretation of the verses, "On that day there shall be radiant faces * Looking to their Lord" (75:22-23), he took "looking" to refer to waiting for receiving rewards from God, because he held that it was impossible to see God. Also in his interpretation of the verse, "We said to them: "Be ye apes, despised and rejected.", (2:65), he held that those people were not really transformed into apes; rather the verse metaphorically refers to their inclemency. On this view, Mujahid's exegesis is considered as the foundation for the formation of the Mu'tazili approach.

Al-Hasan al-Basri, a student of the exegetical school of Iraq, is said to oppose the divine predestination and that he believed in divine justice. Controversies in kalam were mainly raised by new developments and events in the Islamic community, and the role of governments and political factors in weakening or strengthening theological exegetical thoughts cannot be overlooked. One such event was the war between 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a) and Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan giving rise to doubts about which party was right and about their infidelity or faithfulness with respect to Islam. This led to heated controversies over the notion of faith (iman) and its scope. Murji'a and Khawarij initiated such controversies. The issue of predestination and free will was raised after the emergence of the Umayyad dynasty who propagated the predestination of human actions.

Contrary to Jahmiyya who interpreted Qur'anic verses in terms of predestination, some Tabi'un, including Ma'bad b. Khalid al-Jahni or al-Juhani (d. 80/699-700), Ghaylan al-Dimashqi (d. 125/742-3), and al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110/728-9) denied predestination and believed in human free will.

Although Qadariyya (belief in predestination), Jahmiyya, and Murji'a did not last long, they inspired later denominations and sects such as Salafiyya, Ash'aris, and Mu'tazilis.

Translation Movement

Other factors that led to the development of theological controversies in the second/eighth century include Islamic conquests, wider relations with other ethnicities and religions, the conversion of the followers of other religions and their scholars to Islam, translations of non-Islamic, especially Greek, texts into Arabic, and objections made by Zindiqs to Islamic beliefs. In order to reply to philosophical objections to Islamic beliefs raised as a result of the translation movement, some Muslims, in particular Mu'tazilis, equipped themselves with what their opponents had: intellectual and philosophical reasoning and argument. This was true in the case of Abu Ishaq al-Nazzam and Abu l-Hudhayl al-'Allaf.

These factors affected the history of Islamic thoughts mostly in the Abbasid period in the 3rd/9th and 4th/10th centuries. In this period, which came to be called the age of the codification of sciences, sects of kalam were officially formed, and since every sect appealed to Qur'anic verses as evidence for their beliefs and since they adopted different approaches to understanding the Qur'an, the theological exegesis of the Qur'an was developed.

In these circumstances, the themes of Qur'anic verses also led to various theological exegeses: the Qur'an encouraged Muslims to reflect, think and reason, to avoid talking without evidence or on the basis of hunches and guesses, and not to blindly follow the views of others.

The Qur'an contains rational doctrines, various arguments for the principles of Islamic beliefs, arguments against the beliefs of polytheists and distorted versions of previous religions, and ambiguous verses whose apparent meanings are controversial and seemingly contradictory. These features turned Muslims into inquisitive people, reflecting on issues by themselves. They consulted the Qur'an in order to assess different views and approaches, and appealed to Qur'anic verses to defend their own positions.

Main Problems

Caliphate and the Succession of the Prophet (s)

The first and the most important controversial theological issue was the caliphate or succession of the Prophet (s) which divided Muslims into Shi'as and Sunnis, leading to further controversies and denominations. Shi'as appealed to Qur'anic verses and hadiths of the Prophet (s) to show 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a) and his household deserved to be Imams or caliphs.

Faith and the Jurisprudential Ruling of Committing a Major Sin

• The infidelity of the person who commits a major sin: Khawarij, who turned into a political party after the story of Hakamiyya in the Battle of Siffin (37/657), gradually turned into a theological sect by appealing to Qur'anic verses and hadiths to justify their practices. For example, to justify their reactions to the story of Hakamiyya, they believed that a person who commits a major sin and does not repent to God is no more a believer in Islam. Among other things, they appealed to the Qur'anic verse (64:2): "It is He Who has created you; and of you are some that are unbelievers, and some that are believers". They argue that according to this verse, whoever is not a believer is ipso facto an unbeliever, and since a vice person—who commits major sins—is not a believer, he or she should count as an unbeliever.

• Separation of action from faith: contrary to the radical view of Khawarij in their verdict concerning people who commit major sins, Murji'a were too lenient about the issue, separating actions from the faith. They took faith to be a matter merely of knowing by heart or testifying by one's speeches or a combination of both, which had nothing to do with one's actions. The difference in the construal of faith is rooted in the disputes between various groups of Murji'a.

• A middle position: contrary to both extreme views, Mu'tazila, under the leadership of Wasil b. 'Ata' (d. 131/748-9), adopted a moderate approach, holding that a person who commits a major sin is neither a believer, nor an unbeliever, rather they are in a middle position. Unlike the above two denominations (Khawarij and Murji'a), the views of Mu'tazila is not limited to the problem of faith. In fact, they built a wide-ranging theological thought on the foundation of reason, which played a significant role in the history of Islamic thought, especially in the theological exegesis of the Qur'an.

Predestination and Free Will

The Qur'an sometimes attributes human actions to human persons, and sometimes to God. There is a dispute over how to interpret such verses of the Qur'an.

Divine Word being Incipient or Eternal

The Qur'an explicitly characterizes God as speaking words, for example in "some of them [i.e. the prophets] God spoke to" (Quran 2:253) and "to Moses God spoke" (Quran 4:164). The nature of divine words and how God speaks words is controversial, especially between People of Hadith and Mu'tazila. The controversy went far with interventions by caliphs and rulers, relationships with Christians and Jews, and the influence of the Greek philosophy.

God's narrated attributes

There are Qur'anic verses that seem to attribute eyes, hands, face, throne, and the like to God. These are called narrated attributes. To take these attributes at face value would lead to anthropomorphism (tajsim and tashbih). Islamic denominations interpreted these verses of the Qur'an in accordance with their theological position on the issue. The issue of seeing God has led to controversies because of the apparent implications of verses such as Quran 75:22-23.

Divine Justice

There is a controversy over whether moral right and wrong are rational or legal (i.e. legislated by God). Accepting either of these two approaches to moral right and wrong leads to different conceptions of the problem of divine justice.

Branches

Imamiyya

According to the Imami kalam and to the mutawatir (frequent) Hadith al-Thiqlayn and other evidence for the intellectual and political authority of the Infallibles (a), resort to the Qur'an and Ahl al-Bayt (a) saves one from error. Thus an Imami exegete of the Qur'an employs the principles and methods of understanding the Qur'an presented by the Infallibles (a), and the general principles of their religious beliefs are also derived from the Qur'an in accordance with such principles.

The method of the Infallibles (a) in their exegesis of the Qur'an, particularly the exegesis of the verses concerning religious beliefs and ambiguous verses, is to interpret the ambiguities of the Qur'an in terms of its explicit verses. Unlike proponents of ta'wil (interpreting the Qur'an away) who provide interpretations of Qur'anic verses in direct opposition to their apparent meanings and thereby deny some religious truths in order to rationalize Qur'anic notions, and unlike those who eliminate the implications of anthropomorphism from the Qur'anic verses without suggesting anything by way of providing the truths expressed by those verses and deferring knowledge of such truths to God, Ahl al-Bayt (a) proposed the method of negation and affirmation in the interpretation of Qur'anic verses, especially the ones concerning divine attributes. On this method, the verses concerning divine names, attributes, and actions are interpreted in terms of explicit verses: whatever is negated about God in those explicit verses are also negated in ambiguous ones, with preserving the core notion and eliminating any implications for defects and contingencies.

All Qur'anic verses regarding narrated attributes, predestination and free will, seeing God on Dooms Day, and the like are interpreted in this way. For example, God's mounting the Throne in the verse, "the Merciful mounted the Throne" (Quran 20:5) or "the Lord of the Great Throne" (Quran 9:129) prima facie imply anthropomorphism or the materiality of God. However, there are explicit verses, such as "there is nothing whatever like unto Him" (Quran 42:11) or "Glorified is Allah from what they describe" (Quran 37:159), rejecting any likeness between God and the creatures. Thus the Throne in the first group of verses should not be taken as something material. It should, instead, be construed as a stage at which the laws of the created world are determined and which is a degree of divine omniscience.

People of Hadith and Salafiyya

People of Hadith who are now known as "Salafis" appeal to the appearances of the Qur'an and the Sunna to derive the principles and ancillaries of the religion without taking the reasoning or intellect into account. Their leader was Ahmad b. Hanbal (d. 241/855) who established the foundations of this approach.

Exegeses by the People of Hadith are characterized by their superficial understanding of the Qur'an and hadiths and their prioritization of the apparent meanings of the Qur'an and hadiths even when they explicitly contradict obvious rational judgments. Instead of taking the Qur'an to be a criterion of the accuracy of hadiths, they do the reverse. They reject hadiths according to which hadiths are reliable only if they do not contradict Qur'anic verses. Early People of Hadith are epistemically lenient with respect to the conditions under which hadiths count as reliable.

Asha'aris

Followers of Abu l-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 324/935-6), known as Ash'aris, sought a middle ground in opposition to the Mu'tazili rationalism and the Hanbali appeals to appearances of the Qur'an and hadiths. Abu l-Hasan al-Ash'ari was first a proponent of the Mu'tazili school of thought, but he suddenly abandoned the approach. He drew upon the rationalism of Mu'tazilis to refine the views of the People of Hadith in accordance with his own epistemic principles and thereby make their approach rational and plausible.

In his book concerning the exegesis of the Qur'an and the principles of religious beliefs, al-Ibana, al-Ash'ari expresses his loyalty to Ahmad b. Hanbal's approach, and in his al-Luma' and Istihsan al-khawd fi 'ilm al-kalam, he sought to rationalize Ahmad b. Hanbal's approach. For example, in order to remove the contradiction between the Hanbali belief in predestination with the human free will and their role in their fate, he proposed the theory of kasb (acquisition).

Maturidis

Simultaneously with the emergence of the Ash'ari approach in early 4th/10th century, another theological movement also emerged against the Mu'tazilis, which was founded by Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (d. 333/944-5). His views have commonalities and differences with the Ash'ari views. The scope of their influence in the Islamic world was much smaller than that of the Ash'aris, but their rational approach to religious beliefs is more profound than that of the Ash'aris. Their theological differences with the Ash'aris include their rational construal of moral right and wrong and the rejection of the possibility of God obliging people beyond the threshold of their abilities.

Mu'tazilis

The origin of the Mu'tazili school of thought goes back to Wasil b. Ata''s detachment from his teacher, al-Hasan al-Basri, after their difference over whether a person who commits a major sin is a believer or an unbeliever in Islam. The beliefs of Mu'tazilis essential for their theological exegesis of the Qur'an boil down to five central issues: tawhid or monotheism, promised rewards and punishments, a middle position, enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong.

Some of these principles are not peculiar to Mu'tazilis. Some are shared by Shi'as as well. So in order to count as a Mu'tazili, one should believe all of them.

Abadiyya

Abadiyya is an Islamic denomination initiated by 'Abd Allah b. Abad (d. 86/705-6) or Jabir b. al-'Ummani (d. 93/711-2). According to sources of religions and denominations, they are a moderate branch of Khawarij, but contemporary proponents of Abadiyya reject any affinities with Khawarij. Today Abadi Muslims are mainly active in Oman. They write works concerning Islamic disciplines and exegeses, and claim to seek the unification of the Islamic Umma.

Zaydiyya

Zaydiyya is a Shiite denomination who believe that after the martyrdom of Imam al-Sajjad (a), his son, Zayd was his successor in imamate. They also hold that after Zayd, every brave scholar from the descendants of Fatima (a) who rises against injustice is an Imam who should be obeyed by others. Imami scholars, however, appeal to hadiths to show that Zayd himself never claimed to be an Imam; it was only his followers who took him to be an Imam. The denomination attributed to him is influenced by the theological views of Shi'as and Mu'tazilis.

Isma'iliyya

Isma'ilyya is a Shiite denomination attributed to Isma'il, Imam al-Sadiq (a)'s son. They believe in the imamate of Isma'il after Imam al-Sadiq (a). And they rejected the imamate of Imam al-Kazim (a) and the subsequent Imams (a). They are also known as Batiniyya, especially in the field of Qur'anic studies. They believe that Qur'anic verses and the rulings of sharia have appearances (zahir) and an interior (batin), holding that the true meaning of Qur'anic verses is its batin or interior.

For Isma'ilis, the language of the Qur'an is that of mysteries, and it is impossible to reveal the interior meanings of Qur'anic verses except with the aid of Imams, including Isma'ili Imams. Although Isma'ili authors talk about preserving both the appearances and the interior of Islam, they mainly take the interior to be the core, and the ground of the salvation of the soul, and they take the rulings of sharia to be fetters that will be removed upon the reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (a).