Tanzil: Jurnal Studi Al-Quran
Vol. 8 No. 2 (2026): April

ABDULLAH SAEED’S CONTEXTUAL APPROACH TO QUR’ANIC INTERPRETATION: EPISTEMOLOGY AND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF CONCEPTUAL MAPPING

Muhammad Barir (UIN Kiai Ageng Muhammad Besari Ponorogo, Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
14 Apr 2026

Abstract

This study explores the epistemological foundations of Abdullah Saeed’s contextual hermeneutics within contemporary Qur’anic studies. In the twenty-first century, the growing demand to relate the Qur’an to changing social, ethical, and legal realities has made context-sensitive interpretation an important scholarly concern. Building upon and extending Fazlur Rahman’s double movement theory, Saeed introduces a contextual connector through a structured hierarchy of values that mediates between the historical meaning of the text and its contemporary application. This research employs a systematic conceptual mapping of Saeed’s interpretive framework, with primary reference to Interpreting the Qur’an: Towards a Contemporary Approach and Reading the Qur’an in the 21st Century. The findings indicate that Saeed offers several significant theoretical contributions, including refining interpretive stages, articulating ideal moral values, and classifying Qur’anic values hierarchically to guide contextual reasoning. This study reconstructs Saeed’s four-stage interpretive process into a simplified and integrative conceptual model that clarifies the epistemological relationship among text, interpreter, context, and application. Overall, Saeed’s framework reflects a coherent epistemological architecture that integrates sources of knowledge, methodological principles, and criteria of interpretive validity to support responsible and contextually grounded Qur’anic interpretation in contemporary Muslim societies. The coherence of the four stages of contextual interpretation constitutes a central element of Saeed’s epistemological validity; the omission of any stage would undermine the internal consistency of the method and consequently weaken its interpretive legitimacy. This study also identifies a reconstructed interpretive framework presented as a conceptual map.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

tanzil

Publisher

Subject

Religion

Description

TANZĪL is a refereed academic journal published by Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Islam (STFI) Sadra in Jakarta. The journal conscientiously aims to provide a scholarly platform for critical and informed articles, particularly in Qur’anic studies. The article arises such issues in the form of literature ...