Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Foreign Languages)

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Browsing by Author "Hendricks, Mogamat Mahgadien"

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    The Qur�?nic Sufi Hermeneutics of Shaykh Mu??af?� al-�Al?w?: A critical study of his Lub?b al- �Ilm F? S?rah al-Najm
    (University of the Western Cape, 2018) Hendricks, Mogamat Mahgadien; Mohamed, Yasien
    The main focus of this dissertation is a critical study of the Arabic text, titled: Lub?b al �Ilm F? S?rah al-Najm (The Kernel of Knowledge in the Chapter of the Star) by Shaykh Ahmad bin Mu??af?� al-�Al?w?. Due to the lack of research on esoteric commentaries of the Qur??n in the English language, there is a need to embark upon an in-depth study of such texts. An important work on Shaykh al-�Al?w? in English is Martin Lings� A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century. This book is an excellent introduction to the life, works and thought of Shaykh al-�Al?w?, but it does not deal with a specific text in any detail. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is to examine closely the above-mentioned text of Shaykh al-�Al?w? as a sample of his esoteric interpretation of the Qur??n. For the purpose of this thesis, I shall undertake a translation of his exegesis (tafs?r) on S?rah al-Najm (the Chapter of the Star). I will include with it explanatory notes and identification of key quotations and sources. This sample from Shaykh al-�Al?w?�s work will form the basis of my critical analyses. It will also provide a means for comparison with some of his other works, and with Qur??nic commentaries of the same genre by other Sufi scholars, both classical and modern. In this dissertation, I also seek to offer some answers and proofs concerning the validity of the existence of esoteric tafs?r and why it is needed. I will do this by examining key verses in the Qur�?n and the Sunnah (traditions of the Prophet Mu?ammad). The distinction between esoteric and exoteric interpretations of the Qur??n will also be dealt with in this dissertation. Although the emphasis will be on the esoteric dimension, neither the esoteric nor the exoteric dimension will be treated in a mutually exclusive way. Most Arabic commentaries on the Qur??n tend towards the exoteric and literal meanings of the text, but the exoteric form also has an inner dimension which Shaykh al-�Al?w? demonstrates in his commentary on S?rah al-Najm.