Muhammad Abduhu’s school of reformation and its relation to traditional tafsir

Abstract

This paper presents the main methodological features of Abduhu’s school of reformation in the field of tafsir, especially its relation to traditional explanation of Qur’an. There is little doubt that this school, despite the critiques, initiated a range of useful things in Islamic world. Its influences to subsequent generations of scholars, throughout the Islamic world, are more than evident. One of the special values is the fact that the school encouraged research and critical thinking in Muslim world. According to the school, Qur’an is primarily the book of hidayet – instructions, and in its content there should be the key for questions and temptations imposed by dynamics of human life and general progress. It is possible to integrate Islam with modern civilization and for that purpose Abhuhu and his students stress the rational character of Islam. They do it in various ways: they demonstrate that there is no any important impediment to integrating intellect and the Revelation, they emphasize Islamic enlightened viewpoint regarding knowledge (the way Qur’an encourages people to think, meditate and acquire knowledge), they try to purify the religion of irrational and superstitious elements such as magic (sihir), miracle, saint worship cult, etc. Important characteristics of Abduh’s school of reformation that represent epochal value for contemporary Islamic thought are: the call for reopening door to ijjtihad and leaving the blind taklid, fight against sectarianism, israilijjates, weak and apocryphal hadiths, as well as the desire to free Tafsir of unnecessary technical terms and represent it in the context of modern age.

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