Major Shifts in Classical Tafsīr: From Early Exegesis to the Rise of al-Shurūḥ wa-l Ḥawāshī

This study explores the turning points in the historical development of Qur’ānic exegesis, from its very beginning to the period of annotations and super-commentaries (al-shurūḥ wa-l-ḥawāshī) from the 6th/12th century onwards, using comparative analysis and descriptive content methods, focusing on subfields like the “Nīshāpūr circle,” the “al-Kashshāf tradition,” and “al-Shurūḥ wa-l-Ḥāwāshī” literature. To better understand the formation and transformation of classical tafsīr, however, it is essential to move beyond this simplistic view and trace the transformative paradigms. This study proposes an attempt at such a tracing process, which further and more specific studies should enrich. One of the key transformation points identified in this study is the contribution of al-Ṭabarī and his contemporaries, marking the end of the early period and the transition to comprehensive exegetical writing. The transformative impact of the Nishapurī circle of tafsīr can also be evaluated within this framework. The “al-Kashshāf tradition”, an area whose significance has been somewhat understood in Turkish literature but has yet to be fully appreciated in international Qur’ānic studies, is also brought to the forefront in this article for its transformative role. Moreover, the contributions of Muʿtazilite thought, particularly its influence on Sunni kalām and subsequently on the discipline of rhetoric, and the transformation of tafsīr in the sixth century of the Hijri with the influence of rhetoric are of particular important in the same context. Examining all of these major transformations from a panoramic perspective, this research engages critically with the corpus of Western Qur’ānic studies and proposes enriching this body of work with the developments in Turkish tafsīr literature.