A Critical Analysis of the Types of Use of "Reason" in Contemporary Literary-Social Interpretations, focusing on the opinions of Egyptian Scholars of the Qur'an.

The role of reason in understanding religious texts and the extent of its discovery and validity in the production of knowledge have been discussed among thinkers. This issue has had a special effect on the formation of contemporary literary-social interpretations. The application of reason in this approach, which was in response to the damage caused by the prevalence of anti-rational Salafism in the Arab world and was formed under the influence of neo-Mutazila thought and familiarity with Western studies, appeared in axes different from common intellectual interpretations, and It followed a special requirement in interpretation and understanding of the Qur'an and religious knowledge. Appealing to self-based reason, scientism, literary-cultural analysis of Quranic concepts, appealing to reason independent of traditions in jurisprudence, are examples of the use of reason in such interpretations as in the opinions of Taha-Hossein, Abdo, Khouli, Bint al-Shaṭiʾ, and Khalafallah are observed. The most important harm of these applications is in the issues and topics of the philosophy of religion, such as abnormality definitions and analyzes of revelation, the prophet, and the miracles of the prophets, unprecedented analysis of the language and stories of the Qur'an; Minimization and secularization of jurisprudence and ethnic-Arab prejudices can be seen. Meanwhile, the least damage is in Bint al-Shaṭi's interpretation, while she has also distanced herself from the narrative tradition of interpretation. The result is that the application of reason in contemporary social-literary interpretations is a function of humanism, in which non-ruled ijtihad of Qur'anic research is central. In this interpretive approach, reason is not sublime, holy, and connected to revelation. Basically, the literary view of the holy texts has led to the reduction of religion to a socio-cultural matter and the determination of the rationalism.