The most important condition for understanding and interpreting the Qur’an correctly is to accept that it is the word of Allah and that it has a unique structure. Approaching the Qur’an as a human word is the most important obstacle to understanding and interpreting it correctly. Allah has sent the Qur’an as a guide for the pious, whose qualities are revealed in the Qur’an itself (see, for example, al-Baqara 2/2-4; al-Al-i Imrān 3/138; al-Mā’idah 5/15-16; al-Nahl 16/102; al-Fussilat 41/44). Taqwa, on the other hand, is rooted in the heart with the belief in Allah, angels, the Book, the Prophet, destiny and the Hereafter. A person who does not believe in these and other matters has a limited share in Qur’anic exegesis. As a matter of fact, one verse says, “Allah will not guide those who do not believe in the signs of Allah; for them is a painful torment” (an-Nahl 16/104), while another verse describes the disbeliever’s condition in the face of the Qur’an as deafness and blindness: “If We had sent the Qur’an in a language other than Arabic, they would have said: ‘If only its verses had been explained in detail in a way that the Arabs could understand! The language is foreign, the addressee is Arab! Is such a thing possible?” Say: The Qur’an is a guide and healing for those who believe. Those who do not believe have weights in their ears. The Qur’an is a blindness for them (it is closed to them) (Fussilat 41/44). Sufyân b. Uyayna said, “I will drive away from My signs those who are arrogant in the earth unjustly. Even if those who are arrogant see all kinds of signs, they will not believe in them. If they see the right path, they will not follow it; but if they see the path of error, they will follow it. Indeed! For they have made it a custom to count Our revelations as lies and have been heedless of them” (al-A’râf 7/146), he interpreted the expression “I will take away from them My revelations” as “I will take away from them the ability to understand the Qur’an”. Therefore, those who do not believe in Allah and the Qur’an, or those who live an un-Islamic life despite being Muslims, cannot go deeper into the Qur’an and discover its secrets (Zarqeshi, I, 97-99; Süyûtî, II, 1212-1213). Amīn Ahsen Islāhī, one of the contemporary commentators, discusses the life of worship prescribed for the person who intends to exegete the Qur’ān under the title of “submission to Allah” and states that those whose faith is not reflected in their lives cannot exegete the Qur’ān (Mabādī, pp. 19-21).

Since Allah speaks to man, conveys information to him, and informs him of His will only through revelation and some other means (al-Shūrā 42/51), it is not possible to understand His will by means other than these methods. Therefore, the Qur’an must be of such a nature that man can penetrate it. Allah Almighty has formed His relationship with man according to man’s conditions. This has come about in two ways. One of them is the angels. Allah has established a relationship with human beings especially through Jabrā’il, and on the one hand, He has conveyed His revelation to human beings (an-Nahl 16/102-103), and on the other hand, He has guided them on how to understand and apply it. According to the narration, Jabrā’il came to the Messenger of Allah for purposes other than Qur’anic revelation and conveyed information other than the Qur’an to him. The Messenger of Allah also said that he was given a copy of the Qur’an along with it (Abu Dāwūd, “Sunnah”, 5). The second means of communication is specially selected people. Allah has conveyed information through His messengers who have superior qualities compared to other people, usually through the angel of revelation, sometimes directly, and has informed them of His will. Allah, who intended the Qur’an to be understood, made it comprehensible, explained some verses with others, and explained the matters that people would have difficulty in understanding through Jabrâil and the Prophet. As a matter of fact, according to a narration from the Prophet ‘A’isha, Jabrāil also taught the Prophet the exegesis of the Qur’ān (Tabari, I, 79, 83; Ibn Kathīr, I, 18). An approach that does not adopt this structure in Qur’anic exegesis is invalid from the very beginning. For it is a necessity of reason that the person who is trusted in the delivery of the revelation should also be trusted in its interpretation and application.

The Qur’an contains different types of information and there are differences in terms of quality as well as diversity in this information. While introducing the Qur’an, Allah refers to it as a book that explains everything (Hûd 11/1; Yûsuf 12/111; Fussilat 41/3) and contains everything “wet and dry” (al-An’âm 6/59). In the Qur’an, almost everything from the world to the hereafter, from the past to the future, from the individual to society, from small creatures to large creatures, from the simplest issues to the most complex ones, is covered in short or broad form. The Qur’ân al-kerîm, which has such a rich range of subjects, can be categorised under two main headings: Muhkem and mutashabih verses. While this division is explicitly mentioned in one place (Al-Imrān 3/7), the concepts of muhkamīm and mutshābih are also mentioned in other verses. Another issue that should be known about the Qur’an is naskh. Although the majority of the verses are unchanged, there are also some whose provisions are abrogated (mensuh) (al-Baqarah 2/106; al-Nahl 16/101). In addition, the polysemy and figurative/representative expression in some Qur’anic verses may mislead the interlocutor. It is imperative to be aware of these situations down to the finest details while doing exegesis.

Although it is a source of guidance, it has been reported that some people will be guided by the Qur’an and some will go astray because of their approach to it (al-Zumar 39/23). The mutashābihs in the Qur’ān can open great opportunities for the exegete, but they can also pose dangers for him. The person who turns to exegesis, on the one hand, accepts that there can be no contradiction and inaccuracy in the Qur’an, and on the other hand, tries to solve the mutashābihs of the Qur’an without forgetting the limits of his power. Weakness in the matter of mutashābihs may affect the success of exegesis and interpretation and may lead one to the dangers pointed out in Surah al-‘Imrān (3:7). According to Ibn ‘Abbas, it is possible to deal with the Qur’an in four stages in terms of its understanding. The first one is the verses that the Arabs understand through language, the second one is the ones that are so clear that people cannot be excused not to understand, the third one is the verses that can be known by the scholars who are deep in understanding the Qur’an, and the fourth one is the verses whose meaning is known only by Allah (Tabari, I, 70). Tabari divides the Qur’an into three parts in terms of exegesis, and the first part includes matters that are within Allah’s knowledge, such as the time of the apocalypse, the descent of Jesus Christ, the rising of the sun from the west, and the time of the sounding of the sound, while the second part includes the verses that Allah Almighty left the interpretation of the Qur’an to the Prophet and taught it to him; these can be known through sound narrations. The third part is the subjects that can be known by the scholars who have a good command of language and style and that fall within the boundaries of the sciences of gharīb al-Qur’ān and i’rāb al-Qur’ān.

Al-Suyūṭī states that the ‘ulama are unanimous that learning the science of tafsīr is obligatory (ijma al-kifāya) and cites tafsīr as one of the three basic sciences in Islam (al-Itḳān, II, 1195). The subject of tafsīr is to analyse the last divine message sent by Allah for mankind, and its aim is to explain and introduce this message to people of all levels and to enlighten the path of people with it. According to Rāgib al-Isfahānī, the science of tafsīr is the most honourable of the sciences because of its subject matter, its purpose, and people’s need for it (Muḳaddimet al-Jāmiʿi al-tafāsīr, p. 91; Süyūtī, II, 1195-1196). Since the Qurʾān is a source of guidance for human beings, the importance of endeavouring to understand it is beyond dispute. Allah, who gave the Messenger of Allah the duty of explaining the verses, also imposes on the addressees of the revelation the responsibility of thinking about and understanding the verses, and condemns those who do not make this effort (al-Nisā 4/82; al-Mu’minūn 23/68; Sād 38/29; Muhammad 47/24). Author: ABDULHAMİT BİRIŞIK