Rational approach and its impact on the science of the classes of interpreters

Abstract

Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon His Prophet Muhammad, the Master of Messengers, and upon his pure and virtuous family. At that moment when the Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) received the heavenly message in that desolate cave, it was this moment in time that changed the course of humanity from error to guidance, and to the present that we live in, a present bursting with information. This miraculous text has captivated the Arab mind in particular, and the Western mind in general. Those interested in its scope and concerned with its affairs have devoted themselves to reading it and exploring its contents, using whatever tools and methods they have at their disposal to help them do so. In addition to contemplating, reflecting, and applying reason, various approaches and methods have been adopted for interpreting it. The rational approach to interpretation occupies a special place among the approaches to interpretation. It is sometimes called the approach to interpretation by ijtihad (independent reasoning). It may also be mentioned as a subset of the approach to interpretation by opinion, and it may be viewed as equivalent to the philosophical approach to interpretation. Hence, in this research, we wanted to reveal the rational approach and its impact on the classes of interpreters. The nature of the research required that it be divided into an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion, and a list of sources and references. After the study, it became clear that the rational approach is an ancient approach that began with the revelation of the Holy Quran, which urged the use of reason, thought, contemplation, and reflection on its noble verses. The Sunnah of the Prophet, represented by the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family), and the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), also emphasized it. Despite the impact of the rational approach on the classes of interpreters, the books of classes and biographies did not devote a special section to it, but rather included it within the time periods in which the interpreters were present.