A long list of contemporary Muslim scholars
have proposed new approaches to relating the
Quran to modern life and have taken up that
task of interpretation according to a limited set of
themes. Most of them come from a new Muslim
intelligentsia, rather than the ranks of the ulama,
reflecting the democratization of Islamic learning
and the fragmentation of traditional aUthority.
Some of them received some or all of their educa-
tion in Western-style schools and universities, or
have held academic appointments in Europe and
North America. These include FazlUr rahman (d.
1988), mUhammad arkoUn (b. 1928), nasr hamid
abU zay d (b. 1943), khalid aboU el Fadl (b.
1963), Abd al-Karim Soroush (b. 1945), Muham-
mad Shahrur (b. 1938), Aisha Abd al-Rahman (d.
1999), and Amina Wadud (b. 1952). Several of
these scholars have focused on specific literary
themes or linguistic characteristics of the Quran,
as well as the comparative study of the concrete
historical situations within which different suras
were composed. Others have been more concerned
with finding new ways to think about quranic law
and ethics, as seen in light of contemporary topics
such as human rights, women’s rights, social jus-
tice, inter-religious dialogue, and pluralism. Such
undertakings, along with the continued study of
classical books of tafsir and the mobilization of
quranic ideas in the service of radical Islamist ide-
ologies, attest to the pivotal importance that the
Quran has held and continues to hold in the eyes
of Muslims around the world. They also serve as
an indication of the critical importance tafsir in its
many forms has acquired in adapting the Quran
to the changing social and cultural circumstances
experienced by Muslims through history.
See also arabic langUage and literatUre;
companions oF the prophet; Fatiha; imam; ismaili
shiism; madrasa; salaFism; sUFism; tWelve-imam
shiism.
Further reading: Mahmoud M. Ayoub, The Quran and
Its Interpreters. 2 vols. (Albany: State University of New
York Press, 1984, 1992); Meir M. Bar-Asher, Scripture
and Exegesis in Early Imami Shiism (Leiden: E.J. Brill,
1999); John Burton, “Quranic Exegesis.” In Religion,
Learning and Science in the Abbasid Period, edited by
M. J. L. Young, J. D. Latham, and R. B. Serjeant, 40–55
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990); Farid
Esack, The Quran: A User’s Guide (Oxford: Oneworld,
2005), 121–146; Helmut Gätje, The Quran and Its Exe-
gesis: Selected Texts with Classical and Modern Muslim
Interpretations. Translated by Alford T. Welch (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1976); Jane Dammen
McAuliffe, “The Tasks and Traditions of Interpretation.”
In The Cambridge Companion to the Quran, 181–210
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006); Abu
Ammar Yasir Qadhi, An Introduction to the Sciences of the
Quran (Birmingham, U.K.: Al-Hidaayah Publishing and
Distribution, 1999); Andrew Rippin, ed., Approaches to
the History of the Interpretation of the Quran (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1988); Kristin Z. Sands, Sufi Com-
mentaries on the Quran in Classical Islam (London: Rout-
ledge, 2006); Stefan Wild, “Political Interpretation of
the Quran.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Quran,
edited by Jane Danimen McAuliffe (Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 2006), 273–290.tahara See ablution; circumcision; dietary laws.
tajdid See renewal and reform movements.
Tajikistan See central asia and the caucasus.
tajwid See quran.
takfir See kafir.
Takfir wa’l-Hijra
Takfir wa’l-Hijra is the popular name for a militant
Islamist organization operating in egypt during
the 1970s. Led by Shukri Mustafa, an agronomyK 656 tahara