The Theory and Methodology of Al-Ḥakim Al-Tirmidhi' in Interpretation of Quran

Despite of the fact that the full version of al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi'sKitab Al Tafsir has not remained to this day, interpretational discussions can be addressed in his corpus reflecting his hermeneutical and exegetical considerations. His influence on the formation of mystic teachings and their evolution necessitates the understanding of his exegetical ideas and methods for the interpretation of Quaran. This becomes more important, when one considers his approach to the wisdom (Al Hikma), thoughts and traditional sciences prevailing at his time in Transoxiana, as well as his unprecedented works in subject-wise exegesis of Quaran and his theories for its esoteric interpretation of it. The comprehension of Quaran in his methodology consists of two layers: the outer and the inner, in Islamic cultured referred to respectively as al-Zahir and al Batin, understanding each of which requires a different method. Here we will focus on the former, that is the one al-Tirmidhi himself calls al-Tafsir, which is different from al-Ta'wil, the understanding of al-Batin of Quaran. To this aim, we will try to survey his attempts in unraveling the meaning of Quran, in different levels of: words, phrases, Suras (paragraphs), and also Quaran as a whole, and we will review his innovational exegetical affairs emphasizing, in particular, on his approaches to subject-wise interpretation of Quaran.