Nahwa Tafsir Maudhu'i li Suwar al-Qur'an al-Karim (نحو تفسير موضوعي لسور القرآن الكريم) [Towards a Thematic Exegesis of the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an]

Abstract

A work by Sheikh Muhammad al-Ghazali al-Saqa (1917–1996), a prominent Egyptian scholar, preacher, and Islamic reformist thinker and graduate of Al-Azhar, entitled Nahwa Tafsir Maudhu'i li Suwar al-Qur'an al-Karim (Towards a Thematic Exegesis of the Surahs of the Qur'an), published by Dar al-Syuruq. Unlike thematic exegesis that gathers verses across surahs on a single theme, al-Ghazali takes a surah-by-surah thematic approach: he reads each surah, from al-Fatihah to an-Nas, as a complete unity possessing an axis of meaning, a principal purpose, and coherence of message, and then explains how the parts of the surah are interconnected. In a plain style full of the spirit of da'wah (Islamic preaching), he links the message of the Qur'an to the problems of the modern Muslim community, such as civilisational decline, social justice, morality, and the revival of the ummah, and criticises fragmented and literalistic readings. This book is among al-Ghazali's late works and has become an important reference in the development of tafsir maudhu'i (thematic exegesis) and the study of the thematic unity of the surah (wahdah maudhu'iyyah) in the Muslim world, including in Islamic higher education institutions in Indonesia.