Sunnī Hermeneutical Literature

Abstract

The Sunni tradition developed an array of strategies for interpreting the Qur’an, which were discussed and refined across a number of genres of hermeneutical literature. This chapter focuses on ʿulūm al-Qurʾān or the ‘sciences of the Qur’an’. Special attention is paid to the historically significant ʿulūm al-Qurʾān treatises composed by Abū’l-Qāsim Ibn Ḥabīb (d.406/1016), al-Zarkashī (d. 794/1392), and al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505). The other genres of relevant literature and scriptural issues covered herein include the arrangement and chronology of the Qur’an, occasions of revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl), abrogation (naskh), lexicography, and variant readings (qiraʾāt).