A systematic study of the different interpreters' perception of Qur'anic terms

Abstract

Qur’an has and is still the focal point of Islamic thoughts and scholarly efforts. Because of that, the interpretation of Qur’an (Tafsir) is one of most important Islamic disciplines. Muslim scholars undertook unwavering effort in interpreting every single letter in Qur’an which has produced a vast library of Tafasir in all Qur’anic subfields. This study aims to research the interpretations of four words in the Qur’an namely, Tadabbur, Tafakkur, Tafsir and Ta’wil to find the differences in interpretation between different scholars and to what extent this has affected their interpretation methodology of the whole Qur’an. Employing a qualitative deductive methodology, this study found that the interpretation of the aforementioned words does not have a significant influence on the scholar’s interpretation of the whole Qur’an. Rather, their interpretations are more influenced by their Mathahib, their chosen methodology and other factors