The origins, growth and dissemination of Salafi Qur’an Interpretation: the role of al-Qasimi (d. 1914) in the shift from premodern to modern modes of interpretation

Salafism as a contemporary Islamic movement, claiming to return to the ‘pure’ Islam of the age of Muhammad, is widely distrusted as radical in societal debates. ‘This distrust mainly concerns the ‘puritan’ Salafism that has become more prominent in contemporary Islam, at the expense of ‘reformist’ Salafism. To understand the rise of this puritan trend, it is urgent to analyze the origins, growth and dissemination of Salafi Qur’an interpretation. This project therefore delves into its roots, and traces its rise to prominence in the 20th century.

The project aims to understand its role in the decline of exegetical polyvalence in Islamic modernity. It focuses on a more puritan Levantine Salafi-trend as decisive in this development, thus correcting a bias towards the more reformist-minded Egyptian Salafi-trend in current scholarship. I will argue that an in-depth study of Beauties of Interpretation, the Qur’an commentary of the Levantine Salafi scholar al-Qasimi (d. 1914 CE) is quintessential to understand the rise of Salafi hermeneutics. Using my expertise in Arabic philology and history of Qur’an commentaries, I will evaluate the position of this work within the modern history of Qur’an commentaries and analyze its influence on the rise of Salafi interpretation in the 20th century. I intend to clarifiy al-Qasimi’s role in redefining the Islamic canon of Qur’an commentary in a more puritan-Salafi direction. I propose that al-Qasimi’s reintroduction of the heritage of Ibn Taymiyya -arguably the medieval arch father of Salafism- in his Qur’an commentary led to a paradigm shift towards a more puritan, Salafi way of interpreting the Qur’an in the 20th century. This would identify his commentary as one of the most influential works for modern and contemporary Salafi Qur’an interpretation. Beside my academic output, I will facilitate the societal debate on Salafism through popularizing lecture series and articles.

Researcher
dr. P. Coppens

Duration
1 January 2019 to 30 June 2023

Research programme
Veni SGW

Outputs

H Abacı, P Coppens, MT Boyalık (2019): Breaking with the Traditional Ottoman Tafsir Curriculum? Al-Qasimi's Tamhid kha?ir fi qawa?id al-tafsir in the Context of Late-Ottoman Arabism pp. 13 - 34 , Istanbul
HA Bakker, P Coppens, BJ Lietaert-Peerbolte (2022): Islamitisch martelaarschap en geweldloos protest: Nieuwe toe-eigeningen van oude teksten en begrippen in de Arabische protestbeweging van 2011 pp. 85 - 107 , Amsterdam
P Coppens (2020): Nieuwe technologie heeft grote invloed op de canon van Tafsir
P Coppens (2020): Joden als Ezels die Boeken Dragen

Scientific articles

P Coppens (2021): Did Modernity End Polyvalence? Some Observations on Tolerance for Ambiguity in Sunni tafsir pp. 36 - 70
P Coppens (2021): A Silent u?ul Revolution? Al-Qasimi, igtihad, and the Fundamentals of tafsir pp. 21 - 61
P Coppens (2021): The ‘Mugtahids’ Incident’ According to al-Qasimi’s Memoirs pp. 63 - 97
P Coppens (2022): Tafsir Studies and the Conundrum of Normativity pp. 36 - 51

Publications

P Coppens (2021): Geldt misleiding alleen bij extremistische Koraninterpretaties? De exegetische (on)mogelijkheden van de islam in de moderniteit pp. 24 - 33
P Coppens (2021): De opkomst van salafi-Korancommentaar