An Analysis of Esoteric Interpretation From the Viewpoint of Qāḍī ‘Abd al-Jabbār and Naṣr Ḥāmid Abū Zayd

One of the principles accepted by the majority of Islamic sects is esoteric interpretation. Of the main issues common between Mu‘tazila and neo-Mu‘tazila movements is esoteric interpretation. The Mu‘tazila esoteric interpretation is based on intellect, by which they esoterically interpret the verses that are seemingly against intellect. There is another principle that has roots in Islamic legislation. This principle regards dividing the qur’ānic verses into ambiguous and non-ambiguous verses and then esoterically interpreting the ambiguous ones. In these cases, they try to accord the intellect with the narrations; however sometimes due to the lack of accurate understanding of the narrations or mistakes in the intellectual rules, they try esoteric interpretation of the narration. The neo-Mu‘tazila intellectual movement is one of the outstanding theological trends in the Islamic world. Its roots can be traced back to the old Mu‘tazila thinkers, who tried to found the basis of Islamic knowledge on intellectualism. They tried to use esoteric interpretation and figurative expression in the interpretation of texts and also use intellect in understanding Islamic knowledge and sciences. The study at hand adopts a descriptive-critical approach to analyze the viewpoints of Qāḍī ‘Abd al-Jabbār Hamdānī – an old Mu‘tazila member – and Naṣr Ḥāmid Abū Zayd – the most important neo- Mu‘tazila figure. ‘Abd al-Jabbār uses a completely theological and doctrinal basis to conduct esoteric interpretation for the outward of the verses. However, Naṣr Ḥāmid Abū Zayd believes that esoteric interpretation is a method or instrument for understanding the phenomena. He believes that from an ideological perspective, esoteric interpretation cannot be defined, and the esoteric interpretation of religious texts is not possible.