Tradition, Modernity, and Qur’anic Hermeneutics: Rethinking Tafsir in the Contemporary World

Abstract

The issue of understanding and interpreting the Qur’an has remained one of the central challenges in Islamic thought throughout history. Classical exegesis generally sought to harmonize the Qur’an with the Sunnah and the inherited scholarly tradition, offering a framework that emphasized continuity and doctrinal stability. In contrast, modern approaches, emerging particularly since the nineteenth century, have increasingly employed reason, contextual interpretation, and contemporary scientific insights in their attempt to render the Qur’an more relevant to present-day concerns. The purpose of this article is to explore the dialectic between tradition and modernity in Qur’anic hermeneutics, with a focus on how interpretative trends have responded to shifting intellectual, social, and political conditions. Methodologically, the study adopts a comparative and analytical approach, combining close textual analysis of representative exegetical works with a historical-contextual reading that situates these innovations within broader cultural transformations. The article examines trends such as Quranism, historicism, scientific exegesis, thematic interpretation, semantics, hermeneutics, and demythologization, highlighting their principal representatives and methodological assumptions. By analyzing these trends, the study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the intellectual claims of modernist tafsīr and to assess their epistemological contributions, limitations, and potential for renewing Islamic thought. In doing so, it seeks to contribute to broader debates on authority, authenticity, and the role of scripture in the contemporary Muslim world.