A Comparative Study on the Holistic Approach to the Qurʾān

Abstract

The holistic approach to the Qurʾān is a phrase used under different headings in the field of tafsīr. The assumption of the article is that a comparative analysis of the usage areas will provide more clear and understandable data on the scope of this phrase. The aim of the article is to bring out the scope of the expressions such as the holistic approach to the Qurʾān and the unity of the Qurʾānic text, thus to reveal the difference among these uses. Based on this background, the article presents and analyzes five different topics in which the aforementioned phrases are used in the field of tafsīr. These are the interpretation of the Qurʾān by the Qurʾān (tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi’l-Qurʾān), the relationship between verses and sūras (munāsabāt al-āyāt wa’l-suwar), thematic tafsīr (al-tafsīr al-mawḍūʿī), sūrah-based tafsīr, and structural studies based on Semitic rhetoric. Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi’l-Qurʾān means the explanation of a verse with other verses of the Qurʾān, thus making reference to the understanding of the text in its inner unity. Munāsabāt al-āyāt wa’l-suwar contains the thesis that the verse and sūra units should have a successive relationship, so it has the concept of unity that is expected to emerge from this relationship. Thematic tafsīr proposes to consider the verses related to a particular subject of the Qurʾān as a whole. Sūra-based tafsīr claims that the Qurʾānic sūras are whole units with certain main themes. As for the structural studies based on Semitic rhetoric defended by some scholars in recent Western studies, the Qurʾān is a text that has some symmetrical structures and therefore has structural unity. In each of these headings, we come across holistic approaches that differ from each other at certain points.