Al-Mawdūdī's Tafhīm al-Qurʾān and His Foundations in Interpreting the Qurʾān

The interpretation known as Tafhim al-Qurʾān is authored by the contemporary Indian-Pakistani reformer and thinker, Abul Aʿla Mudūdī. It is among the respected exegeses well-received by the youth in the Indian subcontinent and, more recently, in Islamic countries. Considering its significance and position, the current research employs a descriptive-analytical method to elucidate the interpretive foundations of Tafhīm al-Qurʾān. While Mudūdī does not explicitly state his interpretive principles in his book, a thorough examination of Tafhīm al-Qurʾān reveals his most important interpretive foundations, which are in harmony with those of the majority of interpreters from both sects: the incorruptibility of the Qurʾān and the accuracy of all its contents, the wisdom of the Qurʾān, the eloquence of the Qurʾān, the lexical precision and rhetoric of the Qurʾān, the completeness and perfection of the meaning of some verses, the comprehensiveness of the Qur'an, the universality of the Qurʾān, the need for interpreting the text of the Qur'an due to its importance, necessity, and urgency, the possibility of interpreting the text of the Qurʾān, the multiplicity of the Qurʾān's layers of meaning, the general statements of the Qurʾān, and the connection of Qurʾānic concepts with the culture of its time.