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Vol. 11 No. 2 (2026)
Special Issue: The Qur’ān and the Turkic World

Special Issue: The Qur’ān and the Turkic World: Context and Interpretation

Qur’ānic Hermeneutics in the Ottoman Context: Abū al-Su‘ūd’s Irshād al-‛Aql al-Salīm as an Example

https://doi.org/10.55831/ajis.v11i2.1141

Published 20.04.2026

  • Ghada Ghazal
Ghada Ghazal
Charles Sturt University

Abstract

This article reexamines Abū al-Suʿūd al-ʿImādī’s Irshād al-ʿAql al-Salīm as a milestone in the development of Qurʾānic hermeneutics during the Ottoman era. Departing from the conventional perspective that post-classical tafsīr (exegesis) replicated prior models, it contends that Abū al-Suʿūd formulated an interpretation where language, law, and theology were integrated into a cohesive hermeneutical framework. His commentary elucidates how balāgha (rhetoric) is not merely as a discipline of eloquence but also a medium for moral reasoning and legal authority. The article demonstrates that Abū al-Suʿūd reinvented tafsīr as an intellectual conduit between revelation and governance, integrating the Qurʾān into the moral and institutional framework of the Ottoman Empire through the lenses of linguistic coherence, legal reasoning, and rhetorical form. In response to previous works advocating for resurgence of interest in Ottoman exegesis, this research presents Irshād as a paradigm of interpretive innovation that reconciles the methodological distinctions between classical and contemporary Qurʾānic scholarship. It reestablishes the Ottoman exegetical effort as a vibrant domain of hermeneutical innovation, where the Qurʾān’s aesthetic influence, moral significance, and legal reasoning intersect. The book reframes Abū al-Suʿūd not only as an Ottoman jurist but as a hermeneutical builder whose conception of Qurʾānic coherence persists in influencing modern discussions on authority, interpretation, and ethical responsibility.

Keywords

Ottoman hermeneutics, i’jāz, ‛ilm balāgha, legal-theological synthesis, coherence (naẓm), moral responsibility, rhetorical theology, interpretive methodology

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