Istinbatat Muhammad Rashid Rida fi Tafsirihi
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- Istinbatat Muhammad Rashid Rida fi Tafsirihi
Istinbatat Muhammad Rashid Rida fi Tafsirihi (Deductions of Muhammad Rashid Rida in His Exegesis) is an academic study in Quranic exegesis by Ruqayya bint Muhammad ibn Salim Baqays, analyzing the interpretive inferences (istinbāṭāt) in Rashid Rida's exegesis Tafsir al-Manar.
Background and Scope
The work was originally submitted as a doctoral dissertation in Quran and its sciences at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University's Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion (Kulliyyat Usul al-Din) under the supervision of Abd al-Rahman ibn Nasir al-Yusuf. It was examined by Yusuf ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Shibl and Fahd ibn Mubarak al-Wahbi, and defended on 21 Jumada al-Akhirah 1437 AH, receiving a grade of Excellent with First Class Honors.
The study aims to provide a methodological grounding for the science of exegesis-based inference (istinbāṭ), categorizing its modes and textual significations through the interpretive writings of Rashid Rida. The scope encompasses Rashid Rida's deductions from the opening of Surat al-Fatiha through verse 52 of Surat Yusuf—the point where his commentary ended—encompassing over 200 individual inferences.
Structure and Content
The book comprises an introductory section, a theoretical division, an applied division, and comprehensive technical indices:
- Theoretical Division: Divided into four chapters using a descriptive-analytical approach. The first chapter introduces Tafsir al-Manar, its origins, methodology, merits, and critiques. The second chapter classifies Rashid Rida's deductions by subject matter (theology, Quranic sciences, legal theory and jurisprudence, linguistics and rhetoric, behavioral ethics, sociology, and political governance), by textual clarity (evident versus obscure), and by formulation (single-text versus composite-text deduction). The third chapter outlines his hermeneutical channels of textual signification, including explicit text (naṣṣ), implicit meaning (mafhūm), entailment (iltizām), inclusion (taḍammun), conjunction (iqtirān), and recurrent Quranic style (muṭṭarid min asalib al-Qurʾān). The fourth chapter evaluates his scholarly reliance on earlier exegetes, his distinctive features, and his influence.
- Applied Division: Uses an inductive-analytical approach to assemble, document, and analyze Rashid Rida's inferences in order of the Quranic surahs and verses from Surat al-Fatiha to Surat Yusuf.
Scholarly Findings
The study concludes that Rashid Rida's deductions span a wide range of fields, including foundational treatments of history and sociology. It identifies twenty-four inferences unique to him that were not recorded by earlier commentators. In creedal matters, the author notes that his deductions predominantly reflect a Salafi methodology, though some of his textual inferences contain errors, such as his commentary on Surah al-Nisa (4:1) regarding the creation of humankind from a single soul. The book also observes that the broader reception of his deductions among later students was tempered by factors including the late era of his commentary, his rationalist inclinations, and the lack of widespread transmission by his students, with the exception of Muhammad Bahjat al-Baytar, who completed the exegesis of Surat Yusuf.
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