The Qur'an and its Interpretation

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

This subject will explore the development of Qur'anic sciences from the emergence of Islam to the modern era, the history of the Qur'anic text, the theories of revelation in Islam and the contribution of Muslim and Western scholars of the Qur'an to these areas in the modern period. The central focus of the subject, however, will be to explore methods of interpretation: its development, schools, principles and application. Selected texts from leading authorities of exegesis, both early and modern, will be analysed. Students will have the opportunity to examine issues surrounding modern interpretative approaches to the text. The subject will enable students to appreciate the theoretical, critical and analytical heritage of Qur'anic sciences and to place modern interpretative approaches within that context.

• undersand and critically analyse key developments in the Qur"anic sciences.
• practiise a comparative and anaylytical approach to the study of the tafsir.
• make an objective analysis of different approaches to the study and interpretation of the Qur"an.
• examine complex and important cultural materials from a scholarly perspective and present arguments in structured formats.
• understand major global cultural phenomena through examination of primary texts.#
• understand the place of methodology in interpreting a given text.

Materials supplied by the Institute

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• analyse and comment upon diverging scholarly approaches to a given issue.
• develop thinking in theoretical and analytical terms through lectures, tutorial discussions and essay writing and engagement in the methodologies of the humanities and social sciences.
• develop written communication through essay and assignment preparation and writing.
• analyse and systematically evaluate complex cultural phenomena through examination of primary texts.