Evaluation of the Opinions of Contemporary Qur’ān Scholars Regarding the Contemplation of Tafsīr al-Mīzān

Document Type : Scholary

Authors

1 University of Tehran

2 Assistant Professor

3 Professor

10.22059/jcis.2023.357048.1321

Abstract

In recent years, attention to the category of “contemplation in the Qur’ān” has been increased and has become a special and frequent term in the Islamic world. Some contemporary Shiite Qur’ānic scholars have introduced Tafsīr al-Mīzān as a standard contemplationist writing. Of course, the reasons for this claim have not been clearly stated, and it seems that the proposition has been considered so self-evident and clear that there is no need for any argument! The following article, with analytical-descriptive method and by examining dozens of works in the field of contemplation, after analyzing the hidden or probable evidence of this view, emphasizes the inadequacy of this claim. ‘Allāma Ṭabāṭabā’ī, despite being aware of the exegetical approaches, named his work “tafsīr” and paid attention to the exegetical tradition of the past commentators, and unlike the works of the exegetes, he followed the conventional steps of interpretation in terms of the components of the method of interpreting the Qur’ān by the Qur’ān. Based on this, the existence of some similarities and convergences with the contemplationists in terms of backgrounds, foundations, methods, or results could not be a proof of al-Mīzān’s “contemplationistness.”

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