The Concept of Taʾwīl in the Qurʾān and Ḥadīth: Diagnosis and Evaluating the Ideas of Muslim Thinkers

The subject “Ta’wīl” has long been the focus of researchers and interpreters of the Qur'an, and the connection of this concept in the topic of the Quran (Ta’wīl of the Quran) with the issue of interpreting concepts has made it important. Despite examining the concept of Ta’wīl of the Qur'an in the views of the ancients, thinkers in recent centuries and especially in the contemporary period have tried to find the meaning of Ta’wīl in various topics in the Qur'an and hadiths by presenting theories. The current research has tried to provide the necessary bases for the presentation of future new theories by means of descriptive-analytical method, by recognizing the components of the most important theories of Ta’wīl in the Qur'an (and hadiths), evaluating and criticizing them. Some of the criticisms of the examined theories (Ibn Taymīyyah, Mullā Ṣadrā, Allāme Ṫabāṭabāī, Ma˓refat, Abū Zayd and Pākatchī) include: The rejection of the practical meaning of Ta’wil and the existence of an internal conflict in Ibn Taymiyyah's view, the contradictions of Allāme's theory with the Quranic application of “Ta’wīl of the Qur'an”, Not expressing the connection between the meanings of Ta’wīl, while cutting a narrative in the theory of Ma˓refat, The existence of a hidden interpretative presupposition in Abu Zayd's view and the lack of clear connection between different meanings of Ta’wīl in Pakatchī's view.