Exegesis (tafsīr) forms one of the most extensive branches of Arabic prose literature. Developed over fourteen centuries, it provided the ideal vehicle for the expression of every shade of opinion adopted within Islam. Knowledge of the Qurʾān is indispensable for an understanding of Islam, but knowledge of the Qurʾān alone will not supply that understanding. Whereas the Qurʾān urged its first hearers to use their eyes and ears, but above all their minds in the pursuit of truth, the intellectual system that grew out of the Qurʾān was imbued with a spirit of conformity suspicious of every effort to act or think beyond the restraint of revelation. The definition of “revelation” gave Islam its distinct hue, while the identification as the source of knowledge of either Tradition, reason or intuition produced three broad exegetical approaches.

TRADITIONAL EXEGESIS

The individual pursues the right path if he adheres to “the way of the Muslims”, the straight path which the Qurʾān commanded men to follow, “not separate paths lest they take you by various routes away from the path of God”. Muslims were forbidden to imitate those who “divided into sects, falling into disagreement”. The role of the Prophet was central to Muhammad's concept of Islamic unity: “He who obeys the Prophet obeys God”; “He who disobeys God and His Prophet, transgressing the bounds God has set, will be cast into Hell.”