Abstract:
Mu‘tazila and neo-Mu‘tazila are two rationalist intellectual movements that have paid a special attention to the literary interpretation of the Qur’ān. The Mu‘tazila literary approach to the interpretation of the Qur’ān derived from their theological thought. Teachings such as the belief in the createdness of the Qur’ān, the existence of figurative expressions in the Qur’ān and the applicability of the esoteric interpretation to it, and the belief in the miraculousness of the Qur’ān had an essential role in the formation of the Mu‘tazila literary attitude to the interpretation of the Qur’ān. Nonetheless, these factors were part of the superficial issues in the neo-Mu‘tazila literary approach to the interpretation of the Qur’ān, and this approach followed Western literary criticism methods rather than the theological and doctrinal discussions to evaluate texts. Due to the use of the intellectual sources and principles of various theological sects and the consideration of thoughts based on their effectiveness in answering challenges, the neo-Mu‘tazilaists could not create a robust intellectual system like that of the Mu‘tazilaists that could be used to organize essentially their stances to various issues – including the literary approach to the Qur’ān.
Machine summary:
Due to the use of the intellectual sources and principles of various theological sects and the consideration of thoughts based on their effectiveness in answering challenges, the neo-Mu‘tazilaists could not create a robust intellectual system like that of the Mu‘tazilaists that could be used to organize essentially their stances to various issues – including the literary approach to the Qur’ān.
However, the Mu‘tazilaists relied on intellect to interpret the qur’ānic text, as it was deeply related to rhetoric (Ghura, 2009: 145-146), and paid a special attention to linguistic discussions as well as the rhetoric and its effects on understanding the miraculousness of the Qur’ān (Ibn Khaldūn, 1966, vol.
‘Abduh’s principles for the interpretation of the Qur’ān can be summarized as the thematic unity of the verses of every qur’ānic chapter, understanding the language of the Qur’ān based on the main meanings of the words and their combinations, understanding the specific, miraculous styles of the Qur’ān and their differences with the ordinary texts, knowing the features of the Qur’ān that make it as the guide of all humanity, using the scientific thought and method in the discussion, trusting intellect in understanding the Qur’ān due to the lack of conflict between intellect and divine revelation, avoiding imitation in the exegetic discussions and looking for exegetic investigation and understanding that are based on the terminology and culture of Arabs of the revelation era, refusal to use Isrā’īliyyāt to complete what is expressed in the Qur’ān ambiguously, the exact use of narrations in the interpretation, and the extraction of scientific and social principles of the Qur’ān as a message with uses for today’s life (‘Abd al-Rāḥīm, n.