Ta vil of the Quran and Tafkik School

According to Tafkik School rooted in Mirza Mehdi Isfahani’s ideas, ta’vil (esoteric interpretation) is exclusively done by the Infallible (a.s.) and, in fact, others are never allowed to carry out ta’vil unless they have to do so under highly specific conditions. Based on this viewpoint, ta’vils carried out by other exegetes, scholars especially philosophers and gnostics have no credibility and they are warned not to risk carrying out ta’vil. Proponents of Tafkik School hold that ta’vil concern the whole Quran and not merely the equivocal verses and to understand it, one should refer to hadiths. This paper delves into the approach of Tafkik School towards ta’vil.