Revisiting the Components of the Outer (Ẓāhir) and Inner (Bāṭin) Dimensions of the Qur’an in Light of Narrations
The belief that the Holy Qur'an has both exoteric (zahir) and esoteric (batin) aspects is a common understanding among most Islamic scholars. However, various views regarding the nature and characteristics of these aspects have been presented from the past to the present. Despite the narrational origin of these two concepts, the theories proposed are either not based on narrations or, if they are supported by narrations, they often face issues such as a lack of a comprehensive view of the hadiths, reliance on unrelated narrations, and neglecting the semantic dependence of the exoteric and esoteric aspects within them. Therefore, this study employs a descriptive-analytical method to explore the narrations in this field and, with a critical approach towards the most significant previous viewpoints, investigates the shared and differing aspects of the exoteric and esoteric, as well as their interconnection. Ultimately, the research identifies several components for both the exoteric and esoteric aspects, some of which include: the comprehensiveness of the exoteric and esoteric aspects concerning all verses, the inclusion of the concepts of exoteric and esoteric in the concept of interpretation, the intentionality of apparent and underlying meanings, the multi-faceted and multi-layered nature of the exoteric and esoteric, the distinction of semantic layers between apparent and underlying implications, the possibility of contextual implications in both the exoteric and esoteric domains, and the semantic continuity between the exoteric and esoteric.
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The Miracle of Influence: An Analysis of the Core of the Quran's Challenge (Taḥaddī) at the Time of Revelation
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Journal of Contemporary Islamic Studies, Summer-Autumn 2025 -
Typology of Allegorical Interpretive Narrations: From Theory to Implementation
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Quran and Hadith Studies,