The Qur'an in South Asia: Hermeneutics, Qur'an Projects, and Imaginings of Islamic Tradition in British India

Cover
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Note on Transliteration
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
	Notes
1 Pre-Modern and Early Modern Qur’anic Hermeneutics in South Asia
	General Insights From the Historiography of South Asian Tafsīr
	Qur’anic Hermeneutics in Pre-Mutiny India
		Pre-Walī Allāh Hermeneutics
		Walī Allāh’s Qur’anic Hermeneutics
		Post-Walī Allāh Hermeneutics
	Post-1857 Reception of Pre-Mutiny Qur’anic Thought
	Notes
2 The Qur’an and the Context of British India
	Europeans and the Qur’an
	Imagining the Prophet and Interpreting the Qur’an
	The Impact of Science and Historical Criticism
	The Rise of Print Technology in British India
	The Question of “Authentic” Islam in British India
	Institutionalized Knowledge Systems, the Muslim Mindset, and the Qur’an
	Arabic Literature and Delhi Literary Circles
	Empire, Networks of Ideas, and the Qur’an
	Notes
3 Introducing Muslim Qur’an Commentators and Commentaries in British India
	Notes
4 Sayyid Aḥmad Khān (1817–1898)
	Aḥmad Khān’s Intellectual Formation and Works
	Aḥmad Khān’s Principles of Qur’anic Interpretation
	Appreciating Aḥmad Khān’s Art of Interpretation
		The Meaning of Malak in the Qur’an
	Aḥmad Khān’s Linguistic Treatment of Other Qur’anic Vocabulary and Phrases
	Colonial India and Aḥmad Khān’s Exegetical Ideas
		Intra-faith Rivalries
		Aḥmad Khān’s View of Science
		Aḥmad Khān’s Response to European Criticism of the Qur’an
		The Possibilities of Linguistic Analysis
	The Impact of Aḥmad Khān’s Qur’an Project
	Notes
5 Ashraf ʿAlī Thānawī (1863–1943)
	Thānawī’s Intellectual Formation and Works
	Thānawī’s Works On the Qur’an
	Tafsīr Bayān Al-Qurʾān: Thānawī’s Principles of Interpretation
	Thānawī’s Interpretation of Sūrat Al-Baqara (Q 2)
		Rabṭ-i Āyāt
		Invoking Pre-Modern Exegetical Tradition
			Thānawī’s Use of Asbāb Al-Nuzūl
			Thānawī’s Application of the Naskh Principle
		Thānawī’s Exegetical Amplifications
	Colonial India and Thānawī’s Qur’anic Hermeneutics
		The Coherence of the Qur’an
		Pre-modern Tafsīr and the Question of Religious Authority
		Exegetical Amplifications and the Lay Muslim Reader
	The Impact of Thānawī’s Qur’an Project
	Notes
6 Ḥamīd Al-Dīn Farāhī (1863–1930)
	Farāhī’s Intellectual Formation
	Farāhī’s Principles of Interpretation
		Meta-principles
		The Question of Historical Sources
		The Inter-Textuality of the Qur’an and Other Religious Sources
		Linguistic Principles
	Experiencing Farāhī’s Exegesis
	Farāhī’s Methodology
		A Case Study From Farāhī’s Commentary – Sūrat Al-Tīn (Q 95)
	Philological Analysis and Pre-Modern Exegesis
		Q 95, Classical Arabic Poetry, and the Bible
	British India and Farāhī’s Quest for New Methodology
		Farāhī’s Naẓm Principle
		The Qur’an and the Contemporary Intellectual Concerns
		Farāhī’s Project of Restructuring the Muslim Religious Sciences
	The Impact of Farāhī’s Qur’an Project
	Notes
7 Qur’anic Hermeneutics in the Twilight of Colonial India: Muslim Intellectual Responses to Modernity
	Emerging Views On the Collection of the Qur’an
	Arabic Linguistics and Literature
		The Re-Emergence of Naẓm
		The Quest for Singular Meaning of the Qur’an
		New Trends in the Literal-Figurative Debate
		The Study of the Arabic Lexicon and Arabic Rhetoric
		Vernacularization and Qur’anic Hermeneutics
	Pre-Modern Exegetical Tradition and Exegetical Resources
		Changing Attitude Towards the Use of Isrāʾīliyyāt
		The Status of ʿUlūm Al-Qurʾān
			Naskh and Asbāb Al-Nuzūl
		The Influence of Pre-Modern Arabic Tafsīr
	The Holistic Understanding of the Qur’an
	Intellectual Transitions Into the Post-Independence Period
	Notes
8 Qur’an Projects and Muslim Imaginings of Islamic Tradition
	Notes
Conclusion
Appendix A: The Historiography of Tafsīr in South Asia
	The Historiography of Arabic Tafsīr Tradition
	The Historiography of Persian Tafsīr Tradition
	The Historiography of Urdu Tafsīr Tradition
Appendix B: Experiencing Aḥmad Khān’s Art of Interpretation
	Translation of Aḥmad Khān’s Tafsīr of Sūrat Al-Fātiḥa (Q 1)
	Translation of Tafsīr of Sūrat Al-Baqara (Q 2)
Appendix C: Experiencing Thānawī’s Tafsīr: Sūrat Al-Baqara: Q 2:1–4
Bibliography
Index