Methodology of “The Study Quran” (Contemporary Interpretation of the Holy Quran) with Critical Atittude

One of the most important duties of commentators is to provide an interpretation of the Qur'an in every era that, while not deviating from the original Islamic path, can offer persuasion to the contemporary world and effective preaching in the international community. In this regard and with the same purpose, a book entitled “The Study Quran” has been compiled in English in the West based on the mystical tendency and the approximation of religions and denominations. The Persian translation of the first volume is entitled “Contemporary Interpretation of the Holy Quran”. Due to being a recent work and sensitivity of the subject, the current article is one of the first studies that has dealt with its methodology and critique with a descriptive-analytical method focused on the study of text-based contemporary interpretation. The results of the present study indicate that the mentioned work did not use a single and steady interpretive method throughout the text; There is also an immethodical use of narrations and in some parts of the text, there is a disregard for Shiite principles. The present research, rejecting most of the claims of the editor-in-chief in the introduction of the book, enumerated the weaknesses for “The Study Quran”; of them,: the authors’ incompetence for ijtihad in selecting and writing the commentary is unknown, the commentary method is not clear, the narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt are ignored and religious pluralism is tolerated; Also, the title “Contemporary Interpretation” was not recognized as a suitable title due to ambiguity in regarding interpretation and the distance between the text and the contemporary adjective.