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Journals / İslam Medeniyeti Araştırmaları Dergisi / 2026 / Sayı: 2026

The Limits of Historical Context: A Methodological Reassessment of Reynolds’ New Perspectives on the Qurʾān

Tarihsel Bağlamın Sınırları: Reynolds'ın New Perspectives on the Qur'ān Eserinin Metodolojik Bir Yeniden Değerlendirmesi

Mohamed Şerefeddin(IBN HALDUN UNIVERSITY)0000-0002-8915-1758
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Publication Date
2026-10-24
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

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⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

Measured against uṣūl al-tafsīr, balāgha, and ʿulūm al-Qurʾān, the volume’s framework reveals three interlocking assumptions: that “historical context” settles Qurʾanic meaning where the exegetical tradition disagrees; that the cumulative tafsīr tradition can be bypassed in favour of cognate-language evidence; and that the Qurʾan’s literary structure is best read against a biblical “subtext.” Through case studies of Sidney Griffith on al-naṣārā, Christoph Luxenberg on Q 53, and Reynolds on Q 19, the study argues that the classical apparatus, including the furūq al-lughawiyya, the muʿarrab and gharīb al-Qurʾān literature, the qirāʾāt, and iʿjāz lughawī, supplies instruments more precise than those the volume deploys, and proposes an integrative methodology coordinating both registers.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This study offers a methodological reassessment of Gabriel Said Reynolds’ edited volume New Perspectives on the Qurʾān: The Qurʾan in Its Historical Context 2 (Routledge, 2011), fifteen years after publication, situating it within Reynolds’ wider research programme.
📊
Key Findings & Data:This study offers a methodological reassessment of Gabriel Said Reynolds’ edited volume New Perspectives on the Qurʾān: The Qurʾan in Its Historical Context 2 (Routledge, 2011), fifteen years after publication, situating it within Reynolds’ wider research programme.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:Measured against uṣūl al-tafsīr, balāgha, and ʿulūm al-Qurʾān, the volume’s framework reveals three interlocking assumptions: that “historical context” settles Qurʾanic meaning where the exegetical tradition disagrees; that the cumulative tafsīr tradition can be bypassed in favour of cognate-language evidence; and that the Qurʾan’s literary structure is best read against a biblical “subtext.” Through case studies of Sidney Griffith on al-naṣārā, Christoph Luxenberg on Q 53, and Reynolds on Q 19, the study argues that the classical apparatus, including the furūq al-lughawiyya, the muʿarrab and gharīb al-Qurʾān literature, the qirāʾāt, and iʿjāz lughawī, supplies instruments more precise than those the volume deploys, and proposes an integrative methodology coordinating both registers.
🔬Design:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Scope:2011 Verileri
⚙️Variables:Tefsir · Tefsir Metodolojisi · Kur'an Araştırmaları

Abstract

This study offers a methodological reassessment of Gabriel Said Reynolds’ edited volume New Perspectives on the Qurʾān: The Qurʾan in Its Historical Context 2 (Routledge, 2011), fifteen years after publication, situating it within Reynolds’ wider research programme. Measured against uṣūl al-tafsīr, balāgha, and ʿulūm al-Qurʾān, the volume’s framework reveals three interlocking assumptions: that “historical context” settles Qurʾanic meaning where the exegetical tradition disagrees; that the cumulative tafsīr tradition can be bypassed in favour of cognate-language evidence; and that the Qurʾan’s literary structure is best read against a biblical “subtext.” Through case studies of Sidney Griffith on al-naṣārā, Christoph Luxenberg on Q 53, and Reynolds on Q 19, the study argues that the classical apparatus, including the furūq al-lughawiyya, the muʿarrab and gharīb al-Qurʾān literature, the qirāʾāt, and iʿjāz lughawī, supplies instruments more precise than those the volume deploys, and proposes an integrative methodology coordinating both registers.

Özet

Bu çalışma, Gabriel Said Reynolds tarafından editörlüğü yapılan New Perspectives on the Qurʾān: The Qurʾan in Its Historical Context 2 (Routledge, 2011) adlı eserin yayımlanmasından on beş yıl sonra metodolojik bir yeniden değerlendirmesini sunmaktadır. Usûlü't-tefsîr, belâgat ve ulûmü'l-Kur'ān ölçütleriyle değerlendirildiğinde, eserin çerçevesi üç birbiriyle bağlantılı varsayımı ortaya koymaktadır: "tarihsel bağlam"ın, tefsir geleneğinin ihtilaf ettiği yerlerde Kur'ân anlamını belirlediği; mütearif tefsir geleneğinin sâmî dillerden gelen kanıtlar lehine atlanabileceği; ve Kur'ân'ın edebî yapısının en iyi şekilde İncîlî bir "alt-metin"den türetilmiş olarak okunacağı. Sidney Griffith'in en-Nasârâ, Christoph Luxenberg'in Q 53 ve Reynolds'ın Q 19 okumalarına ilişkin örnek olay incelemeleri aracılığıyla bu çalışma, klasik tefsir geleneğinin—özellikle furûku'l-luğaviyye, kırâ'ât ve iʿcâzü'l-luğavî—eserin kullandığından daha hassas analitik araçlar sunduğunu ve her iki kaydı koordine eden bütünleştirici bir metodolojinin Kur'ân metnine daha yüksek sadakatli okumalar verdiğini ileri sürmektedir.

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Cite This Article

Şerefeddin, M. (2026). The Limits of Historical Context: A Methodological Reassessment of Reynolds’ New Perspectives on the Qurʾān. İslam Medeniyeti Araştırmaları Dergisi, Sayı: 2026. https://doi.org/10.20486/imad.1939845

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