Investigating al-Alwani’s Hermeneutical Approach to the Renewal of Tafsīr Discourse: A Study based on Tafsīr al-Qur’ān bi al-Qur’ān (Interpreting the Qur’ān by the Qur’ān)

Abstract

This research investigates the hermeneutical method of Dr. Taha Jabir Al-Alwani as presented in the book Tafsīr al-Qur’ān bi al-Qur’ān (Interpreting the Qur’ān through the Qur’ān), emphasizing its importance as a methodological innovation and a reformist contribution in the field of contemporary Qur’ānic studies. It discusses the author’s principle of interpreting the Qur’ān through the Qur’ān and how this is consistently reflected in his major works. This study systematically interrogates al-Alwani’s broader corpus in fiqh, uṣul al-fiqh, and contemporary Islamic thought, while privileging his magnum opus, Tafsīr al-Qur’ān bi al-Qur’ān, as the primary focus of his hermeneutical paradigm.The study discusses his Qur’ān-centric approach, which emphasizes the internal coherence of the Qur’ān and the intertextual relations within Qur’ān, while limiting reliance on extra- Qur’ānic sources such as weak ḥadīth or unauthenticated narrations. It addresses the central research question of how this method overcomes certain limitations of traditional exegesis and builds a coherent interpretive model that is sensitive to contemporary intellectual and social challenges. The results indicate that al-Alwani's approach functions on two levels: the textual level, which focuses on the internal thematic cohesion of the Qur'ān, and the contextual level that relates the meanings of the Qur'ān to the contemporary challenges of human beings and social realities. He pays special attention to concepts such as tazkiyah, tawhīd and mizān – self-purification, oneness of God and balance - which he presents as primary themes of the Qur’ān. Thus, his paradigm functions both as an exegetical methodology and an epistemological model that seeks to restore Qur’ān as the principal source and normative standard of Islamic knowledge.