Reconstructing Scriptural Literalism: Muhammad al-Amīn al-Shinqīṭī’s Hermeneutical Defense of Divine Attributes and the Epistemological Rejection of Ta’wīl in Aḍwā’ al-Bayān
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64529/02q0p162Keywords:
Aḍwā' al-Bayān, Bi-lā Kayf, Hermeneutics, Literalism, Muhammad al-Amīn al-Shinqīī, Ta'wīlAbstract
Contemporary Islamic theology is sharply polarized between modernist metaphorical deconstruction and literalist puritanism, often accused of crude anthropomorphism. In this constellation, discourse on interpreting verses of the divine nature (āyāt al-ṣifāt) is positioned dichotomously between rationalist superstition at the expense of textual soundness and rigid textualism considered anti-methodological. This study aims to critically examine the epistemological foundations and hermeneutic methodology of Muhammad al-Amīn al-Shinqīṭī in rejecting the method of ta'wīl and reconstructing scriptural literal realism in his monumental work, Aḍwā' al-Bayān. Using a qualitative design grounded in critical theological hermeneutics and textual philology, this study dissects the micro-exegesis of a corpus of key attributes, namely QS. Al-A'rāf [7]:54, QS. Ṭāhā [20]:5, QS. Al-Fatḥ [48]:10, and QS. Al-Syūrā [42]:11. The findings of the study prove that al-Shinqīṭī'ī's rejection of ta'wīl is not a naïve literalism, but rather a structured epistemic architecture that combines the principle of tafsīr al-Qur'ān bi al-Qur'ān with the lexical axiom of ithbāt bi-lā kayf that simultaneously collapses the analogy of beings (qiyās al-ghā'ib 'alā al-shāhid) without sacrificing the realism of outward meaning. This study concludes that the modern Qur'an needs discursive reconciliation to view orthodox literalism as an independent hermeneutic system with its own logical rigor.
References
‘Abduh, M., & Riḍā, M. R. (1990). Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-ḥakīm (Tafsīr al-Manār) (Juz 1–12). Al-Hay’ah al-Miṣriyyah al-‘Āmmah li al-Kitāb.
Abrahamov, B. (1996). Anthropomorphism and interpretation of the Qur’an in the theology of al-Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm: Kitāb al-Mustarshid. E.J. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004452817
Abrahamov, B. (1998). Islamic theology: Traditionalism and rationalism. Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474470353
Al-Ash‘ari, A. al-H. (1953). The theology of al-Ash‘arī: The Arabic texts of al-Ash‘arī’s Kitāb al-Luma‘ and Risālat Istiḥsān al-Khawḍ fī ‘Ilm al-Kalām (R. J. McCarthy, Ed. & Terj.). Imprimerie Catholique.
Al-Ghazālī, A. Ḥ. (1986). Iljām al-‘awāmm ‘an ‘ilm al-kalām (M. M. al-Baghdādī, Ed.). Dār al-Kitāb al-‘Arabī.
Al-Rāzī, F. al-D. (1981). Mafātīḥ al-ghayb (al-Tafsīr al-kabīr) (Juz 1–32). Dār al-Fikr.
Al-Shinqītī, M. al-A. (1995). Aḍwā’ al-bayān fī īḍāḥ al-Qur’ān bi al-Qur’ān (Juz 1–9). Dār al-Fikr.
Anjani, I. M., & Iwanebel, F. Y. (2023). Muhammad Amin Al-Shinqiti and the idea of economic equity in the Qur’an. DINIKA: Academic Journal of Islamic Studies, 8(2), 203–223. https://doi.org/10.22515/dinika.v8i2.7784
Assagaf, J. (2013). Muhammad Al-Amîn Al-Syinqithy (W. 1393 H/ 1973 M) dan karya tafsîr Adhwâ’ Al-Bayân Fî Idhâh Al-Qur’ân Bî Al-Qur’ân. ESENSIA: Jurnal Ilmu-Ilmu Ushuluddin, 14(2), 239–256. https://doi.org/10.14421/esensia.v14i2.759
Brown, J. A. C. (2007). The canonization of al-Bukhārī and Muslim: The formation and function of the Sunnī Ḥadīth Canon. E.J. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004158399.i-434
Ceric, M. (1995). Roots of synthetic theology in Islam: A study of the theology of Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī. International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC).
El-Bizri, N. (2008). God: Essence and attributes. Dalam T. Winter (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to classical Islamic theology (hal. 121–140). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521780582.007
Frank, R. M. (1992). The science of Kalām. Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, 2(1), 7–37. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0957423900001550
Frank, R. M. (1994). Creation and the cosmic system: Al-Ghazālī and Ash‘arite theology. Carl Winter Universitätsverlag.
Gieryn, T. F. (1983). Boundary-work and the demarcation of science from non-science: Strains and interests in professional ideologies of scientists. American Sociological Review, 48(6), 781–795. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095325
Gleave, R. (2012). Islam and literalism: Literal meaning and interpretation in Islamic legal theory. Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625703.001.0001
Halverson, J. R. (2010). Theology and creed in Sunni Islam: The Muslim Brotherhood, Ash‘arism, and Sunnism. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230106581
Holtzman, L. (2018). Anthropomorphism in Islam: The challenge of traditionalism (700–1350). Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9780748689569.001.0001
Hoover, J. (2007). Ibn Taymiyya’s theodicy of perpetual optimism. E.J. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004158474.i-270
Hoover, J. (2019). Ibn Taymiyya. Oneworld Publications. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781786076984
Ibn Manẓūr, M. al-D. (1990). Lisān al-‘Arab (Juz 1–15). Dār Ṣādir.
Ibn Taymiyyah, A. al-H. (1991). Dar’ ta‘āruḍ al-‘aql wa al-naql (M. R. Sālim, Ed.; Juz 1–11). Jāmi‘at al-Imām Muḥammad Ibn Sa‘ūd al-Islāmiyyah.
Kardas, M. O. (2023). The concept of God in shaping the use of Maqasid by historicist thought in Turkey: The case of İlhami Güler and Mustafa Öztürk. Religions, 14(8), 1018. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14081018
Krawietz, B. (2002). Hierarchie der Rechtsquellen im tradierten sunnitischen Islam. Duncker & Humblot. https://doi.org/10.3790/978-3-428-50620-0
Lauzière, H. (2016). The making of Salafism: Islamic reform in the twentieth century. Columbia University Press. https://doi.org/10.7312/lauz17550
Mustafa, S. S. (2018). Tanzīh and tashbīh in classical Islamic thought: Divine transcendence and immanence. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315143873
Naṣr, S. H. (2002). The heart of Islam: Enduring values for humanity. HarperSanFrancisco.
Saeed, A. (2006). Interpreting the Qur’an: Towards a contemporary approach. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203017388
Saleh, W. A. (2010). Preliminary remarks on the historiography of tafsīr in Arabic: A history of the book approach. Journal of Qur'anic Studies, 12(1-2), 6–40. https://doi.org/10.3366/jqs.2010.0103
Shihadeh, A. (2008). Classical Ash‘arī anthropology: Body, life and spirit. The Muslim World, 98(1), 60–77. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.2008.00210.x
Sunantri, S., Abubakar, A., Nawas, K. A., & Firdaus, F. (2020). Methodology of interpretation of Muhammad Amin Al-Syinqiti. Jurnal Adabiyah, 20(2), 300–322. https://doi.org/10.24252/jad.v20i2a5
Williams, W. (2002). Aspects of the creed of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A study of anthropomorphism in early Islamic discourse. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 34(3), 441–463. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743802003027
Wolfson, H. A. (1976). The philosophy of the Kalam. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674433021
Zaini, A. (2022). Metode istinbat Muhammad Al-Amin Al-Shinqiti dalam menafsirkan ayat-ayat ahkam (Studi terhadap kitab tafsir Adwa` Al-Bayan Fi Idahi Al-Qur’an Bi Al-Qur’an). JURISY: Jurnal Ilmiah Syariah, 2(1), 115–142. https://doi.org/10.37348/jurisy.v2i1.160
Al-Juwaynī, ‘A. al-M. (1950). Kitāb al-Irshād ilā qawāṭi‘ al-adilla fī uṣūl al-i‘tiqād (M. Y. Mūsā & ‘A. ‘A. ‘Abd al-Ḥamīd, Ed.). Maktabat al-Khānjī.
Al-Māturīdī, A. M. (2005). Kitāb al-Tawḥīd (B. Topaloğlu & M. Aruçi, Ed.). Maktabat al-Irshād.
Arkoun, M. (1994). Rethinking Islam: Common questions, uncommon answers (R. D. Lee, Terj.). Westview Press.
Baljon, J. M. S. (1968). Modern Muslim Koran interpretation (1880–1960). E.J. Brill.
Bazzano, E. A. (2015). Ibn Taymiyya, radical polymath, empirical theologist. Religion Compass, 9(4), 100–110. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec3.12147
Bou Akl, Z. (2020). Averroes on divine attributes and anthropomorphism: A critical assessment. Arabic Sciences and Philosophy, 30(2), 211–239. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0957423920000045
Campanini, M. (2011). The Qur’an: Modern Muslim interpretations. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203831120
Caspar, R. (1998). A historical introduction to Islamic theology: Muhammad and the classical period. Pontificio Istituto di Studi Arabi e d'Islamistica.
Dallal, A. (2010). Islam, science, and the challenge of history. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300159110.001.0001
El-Omari, N. (2016). The theology of Abū l-Qāsim al-Balkhī/al-Ka‘bī (d. 319/931). E.J. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004259683
Griffel, F. (2009). Al-Ghazālī’s philosophical theology. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331622.001.0001
Heer, N. (1993). The priority of reason in the thinking of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī. Dalam P. Morewedge (Ed.), Neoplatonism and Islamic thought (hal. 183–195). State University of New York Press.
Ibn Khaldūn, ‘A. al-R. (2005). The Muqaddimah: An introduction to history (F. Rosenthal, Terj.). Princeton University Press.
Izutsu, T. (2002). God and man in the Qur'an: Semantics of the Qur'anic weltanschauung. Islamic Book Trust.
Jackson, S. A. (2009). Islam and the problem of black suffering. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195382068.001.0001
Kermani, N. (2006). The Qur’an as text. Dalam S. Wild (Ed.), The Qur’an as text (hal. 215–228). E.J. Brill.
Madelung, W. (1985). Religious schools and sects in medieval Islam. Variorum Reprints.
Melchert, C. (2006). Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Oneworld Publications.
Moosa, E. (2005). Ghazālī and the poetics of imagination. The University of North Carolina Press.
Nagel, T. (2000). The history of Islamic theology: From Muhammad to the present (T. Thornton, Terj.). Princeton University Press.
Rahman, F. (2009). Major themes of the Qur’an (Edisi ke-2). University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226702841.001.0001
Rippin, A. (2001). The Qur’an and its interpretative tradition. Ashgate/Variorum.
Schmidtke, S. (2016). The Oxford handbook of Islamic theology. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.001.0001
Shah, M. (2010). The philological endeavor of the early Arabic grammarians and its theological repercussions. Journal of Qur'anic Studies, 12(1-2), 143–175. https://doi.org/10.3366/jqs.2010.0107
Treiger, A. (2012). Inspired knowledge in Islamic thought: Al-Ghazālī’s theory of mystical cognition and its Avicennian foundation. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203138861
Versteegh, C. H. M. (1993). Arabic grammar and Qur’ānic exegesis in early Islam. E.J. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004453470
Wansbrough, J. (2004). Quranic studies: Sources and methods of scriptural interpretation. Prometheus Books.
Wild, S. (1996). The Qur’an as text. E.J. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004452589
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Mohammad Imala Bima Chairussagha, Moh. Nor Ichwan (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
