Interpretation of religious texts (historical perspective)

Abstract

This study aims to examine the impact of interpreting religious texts through the various intellectual schools in Islam (a historical perspective). The interpretation of religious texts represents one of the central issues that have occupied Islamic thought, both historically and in contemporary times, due to its cognitive and behavioral implications for individuals and society. This research relies on both the historical and analytical methods by presenting the concept of interpretation, outlining the historical roots of textual interpretation in Islam, and then focusing on the approaches to interpreting religious texts in Islamic thought through the perspectives of the Ashʿarites, Muʿtazilites, and Imamis. The study also compares these approaches. Among the main findings of the research is that methodology is the decisive factor in reading religious texts, as it regulates the relationship between the text and the recipient; any deviation from a sound methodology leads to incorrect conclusions and extremist readings. It has also been shown that interpretation is not an incidental aspect of Islamic thought but has accompanied the text since its revelation. It began with the Companions, then developed in theological and jurisprudential schools, with disputes concerning its rules rather than its essence. Interpretation approaches in Islamic thought vary: the Ashʿarites linked it to the transcendence of God, the Muʿtazilites considered reason as the ultimate reference, and the Imamis employed it to safeguard the doctrines of Imamate and justice, with each approach serving its intellectual framework.