QUR’ANIC INTERPRETATION AND MODERNITY: UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF TAFSIR IN CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC THOUGHT
Abstract
This study explores the evolving role of Qur’anic interpretation (tafsir) within the context of modernity and its significance for contemporary Islamic thought. Modern intellectual, social, and ethical transformations have generated new questions regarding the authority, methodology, and relevance of classical exegetical traditions, making tafsir a crucial site of engagement between revelation and changing realities. The objective of this research is to examine how tafsir functions as an intellectual mediator that enables Islamic thought to respond to modern epistemological and societal challenges while maintaining continuity with the Qur’anic tradition. The study employs a qualitative research design based on textual and interpretive analysis of selected classical and contemporary tafsir works that explicitly engage with modern issues. Hermeneutical and conceptual frameworks are used to analyze interpretive patterns, methodological orientations, and thematic emphases. The findings reveal that contemporary tafsir demonstrates significant methodological diversity, with a growing emphasis on contextualization, ethical reasoning, and thematic interpretation. Tafsir emerges not as a static tradition but as a dynamic intellectual practice that actively shapes modern Islamic discourse. The study concludes that tafsir plays a central role in negotiating the relationship between Islam and modernity, serving as a bridge between sacred text and contemporary thought.
Full text article
References
Abdullah, M., Gokaru, S. U., Abdul Ha-Mid, F. @. A. F. B., & Mohd Nor, M. R. (2025). Quranic Exegesis Studies in Malaysia: Realities, Challenges and Future Direction. Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-Qur’an Dan Hadis, 26(1), 1–30. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.v26i1.5779
Alimuddin, H., Djalal, M. A., Abbas, A. H., Syatar, A., & Haq, I. (2025). Reconstruction of the Concept of Nusy?z in Islamic Law: Perspectives of Religious Figures in Ternate, Indonesia. El-Usrah, 8(1), 26–49. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.22373/07a9hd02
Aykut, S., & Yaka, E. (2025). The Role of the Science of Qir?’?t in the Tafs?r Tradition of the Indian Subcontinent: A Study on al-Tafs?r al-Ma?har?. Hitit Theology Journal, 24(2), 515–532. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.14395/hid.1740733
Azhar, M. H. M., Bakri, M. F. M., Ahmad, K., & Rosele, M. I. (2025). Ethics and Limits of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Quranic Exegesis According to the Epistemological Framework of Islamic Knowledge. Quranica, 17(2), 97–124. Scopus.
Baidowi, A., & Ma’rufah, Y. (2025). Localizing The Qur’an in Javanese Pesantren: A Socio-Cultural Interpretation of Al-Ibr?z and Al-Ikl?l. Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-Qur’an Dan Hadis, 26(2), 302–326. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.v26i2.5842
Bashier Badi, J. A. B. (2025). FUNDAMENTAL THINKING TERMS IN THE QUR’?N: A CONNOTATIVE ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR ISLAMIC EPISTEMOLOGY. Al-Shajarah, 30(2), 313–354. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.31436/shajarah.v30i02.2169
Bazli Ahmad Hilmi, A. B. A., Saleh, M. H., Mohamad, A. S., & Amir, S. (2025). Developing Model for Integrating Quranic Verses with Acquired Knowledge: An Inquiry-Based Learning Approach. AlBayan, 23(3), 395–425. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.1163/22321969-12342303
Demircigil, B. (2025). The Conceptualization of Jurisprudential Exegesis as the Intersection of Tafsir and Fiqh: A Critical Approach. Religions, 16(2). Scopus. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16020254
Factors affecting the taqd?r of ellipsis/?adhf in the tafs?r tradition. (2025). Cumhuriyet Ilahiyat Dergisi, 29(2), 204–227. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.18505/cuid.1743368
Gé, S. (2025). Exclusionary Texts in ‘A Common Word.’ In Religiously Exclusive, Socially Incl.: A Religious Response (pp. 201–214). Taylor and Francis. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.5117/9789463723480_CH13
Halil, H. (2025). Negotiating Scriptural Intertextuality: Al-Biq???’s Engagement with Biblical Sources in Qur??nic Exegesis. Unity and Dialogue, 80(2), 251–284. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.34291/Edinost/80/02/Halil
Hati, L. P., Indra, F., Sikumbang, A. T., & Sitompul, A. (2025). Between Cult and Spirituality: A Theological Interpretation of Pilgrimage Practices at Sacred Sites in the Nusantara. Pharos Journal of Theology, 106(4), 1–16. Scopus.
Hudri, M. (2025). DIGITAL RELIGIOUS LITERATURE AND ITS ROLE IN SHAPING RELIGIOUS MODERATION AMONG INDONESIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. Jurnal Lektur Keagamaan, 23(2), 432–461. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.31291/jlka.v23i2.1444
Ibrahim, N. S., Latifah, L. A., & Junaidi, J. (2025). Definition of Period Poverty according to the Quran: An Analysis Based on Tafsir and Natural Language Processing (NLP) Approach. Quranica, 17(2), 345–369. Scopus.
Imron, A., & Muallifah, A. Y. (2025). Fiqh of Biotechnology: Reinterpreting Qur’anic Verses on the Impurity of Pigs and Its Implications for the Halal Status of Vaccines. Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-Qur’an Dan Hadis, 26(1), 189–216. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.v26i1.6134
Ismail, M. A., Bazli Ahmad Hilmi, A. B. A., Mohamad, M., Ali, M. Z., & Amir, S. (2025). (HAMKA and Contemporary Da’wah Approach in the Interpretation of Verses Related to the Prophetic Biography). Quranica, 17(1), 117–141. Scopus.
Ismath, N. H. M., & Aziz, A. H. B. A. (2025). A Relevance Theory Approach to the Pragmatic Interpretation of Surah Al-Mulk. Quranica, 17(2), 216–236. Scopus.
Kamal, H. (2025). Constructing Religious Moderation through Language: A Comparative Study of Verses on Tawasut. Journal of Al-Tamaddun, 20(2), 233–249. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.22452/JAT.vol20no2.17
Lahdeb, R. (2025). A Value-Based Approach to Qur’an Exegesis: A Study of Qur’anic Address (nid??) in Surahs Luqman and Al-?ujur?t. Journal of College of Sharia and Islamic Studies, 43(2), 75–96. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.29117/jcsis.2025.0417
Mauluddin, M., Firdaus, M. F., Munir, M., & Azkiyah, U. M. (2025). Sufi Hermeneutics and Symbolic Tafsir in the Javanese Manuscript Hakikate Bismillah. Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-Qur’an Dan Hadis, 26(2), 413–443. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.v26i2.6315
Mohamad, M. Z., & Sahad, M. N. (2025). REASSESSING THE TRANSLATION OF ANTHROPOMORPHIC VERSES IN THE QURAN BY N. J. DAWOOD: A CRITICAL AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS. Afkar, 27(1), 295–340. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.22452/afkar.vol27no1.8
Muchtar, M. I., & Amin, S. (2025). PLURALISM AS DIVINE ORDINANCE: Ahmad Sonhaji’s Contextual Tafsîr and the Construction of Muslim Identity in Singapore. Miqot: Jurnal Ilmu-Ilmu Keislaman, 49(2), 493–515. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.30821/miqot.v49i2.1476
Muhammad Alwi, H. S., Parninsih, I., & Abubakar, A. (2025). The Phenomenon of Bugis Tafsir on Islamization in Eastern Indonesia. Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-Qur’an Dan Hadis, 26(2), 444–468. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.v26i2.6271
Muhammad, M. (2025). RELIGIOUS PLURALISM IN INDONESIA: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF INDONESIAN MUSLIM INTERPRETATIONS. Afkar, 27(1), 341–382. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.22452/afkar.vol27no1.9
Musaffa, M. U. A. (2025). Language Politics and Fiqh’s Authority on Qur’anic Reinterpretation in Indonesian Translation Practices. Al-Mazaahib, 13(1), 114–121. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.14421/al-mazaahib.v13i1.4357
Mutlak, A. I. H., & Kareem, A. S. (2025). Phonological Analysis of Vowel Lengthening and Shortening in Qur’anic Readings: A Study of Al-Hakimi’s Tafsir. Dragoman, 22, 178–191. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.63132/ati.2025.phonol.7585
Pisani, E. (2025). Christians and religions in Abu al-Qasim al-Qusayri’s Lata’if al-isarat (d. 465/1073). MIDEO - Melanges de l’Institut Dominicaine des Etudes Orientales du Caire, 40, 113–144. Scopus.
Qadafy, M. Z. (2025). Just a Philomath, not a Polymath: Did the Paradigm of Integration-Interconnection of Sciences Obscure or Illuminate the Study of the Qur’an and Tafsir in Academic Institution? Jurnal Studi Ilmu-Ilmu al-Qur’an Dan Hadis, 26(1), 53–76. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.v26i1.5790
Rokhim, A., Fuad, S., & Sahin, C. (2025). QAW??ID AL TAFS?R AS AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL MODEL FOR VALID QUR’ANIC INTERPRETATION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MAR?H LAB?D AND AL-MI?B??. Jurnal Lektur Keagamaan, 23(2), 696–732. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.31291/jlka.v23i2.1488
Rostandi, U. D., Rohandy, F., & Wasik, A. (2025). Translanguaging practices among English, Indonesian, and Arabic: Enhancing a holistic approach to tafsir in an Indonesian interpretation classroom. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15(1), 224–235. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v15i1.80705
Sa’ad, S., Ming, D., Sukirno, A., Rahman, Y., & Riyadi, A. K. (2025). The repercussions of Sufi thoughts in the contemporary Qur’anic Interpretation to Sustainable Development in Indonesia. Pharos Journal of Theology, 106(SpecialIssue-2), 1–15. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.46222/pharosjot.106.2018
Sa’i, M. (2025). Interfaith Marriage in the Perspective of the Qur’?n: An Analysis of Social Interpretation of a Pluralistic Society in Indonesia. Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 15(1), 385–400. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.151.22
Salma, Y., Kamilah, Z., Kamil, A. Z., Iwanebel, F. Y., & Maulana, M. I. (2025). NARRATIVE HERMENEUTICS AS DIGITAL TAFS?R: RECONSTRUCTING QUR’ANIC MEANING AND RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY ON INSTAGRAM @NADIRSYAHHOSEN_OFFICIAL. Jurnal Lektur Keagamaan, 23(2), 733–772. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.31291/jlka.v23i2.1492
Sati, A., Halim, A., Nasution, A. H., & Ridwan, M. (2025). The Digital Transformation of Tafsir and Its Implications for Islamic Legal Derivation in the Contemporary Era. MILRev: Metro Islamic Law Review, 4(1), 389–415. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.32332/milrev.v4i1.10425
Syafi’i, I., Hasyim, F., & Jawid Marwat, M. (2025). Transformational Curriculum Model through Interpretation Epistemology; Islamic Boarding School Curriculum Management Perspective. Munaddhomah, 6(3), 387–403. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.31538/munaddhomah.v6i3.1802
Umar, A., & Wibowo, A. M. (2025). Dimensions of Basic Educational Character in the Qur’?n:A Hermeneutic Analysis of Tafs?r Al-Jawahir by Sheikh Tantawi Jauhari on Surah Nuh. Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 15(1), 435–453. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.151.25
Wahidi, R., Afwadzi, B., & Rahman, R. (2025). Tawhid and Qur’anic Interpretation in Early 20th-Century Minangkabau: A Philological-Theological Study of Abdul Latif Syakur’s al-Taw??d (1882–1963). Jurnal Studi Ilmu-ilmu al-Qur’an dan Hadis, 26(2), 327–350. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.14421/qh.v26i2.6268
Yildirim, T. (2025). K?fiyaj?’s Exegetical Method: An Analysis of the First Part of the Treatise Nuzhat al-A???b. Hitit Theology Journal, 24(2), 974–999. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.14395/hid.1740054
Zulfikar, E., Hafizh, A. A., Aini, A. F., Tambunan, S., & Inthizam, K. M. (2025). An Interreligious Dispute on the Controversial Case of Elia Myron’s Correction to Tafsir: An Analysis Based on Kim Knott’s Framework. Afkar, 27(2), 253–288. Scopus. https://doi.org/10.22452/afkar.vol27no2.8
