An Analysis of the Interpretive Methods of Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and Allameh Tabataba’i with a Focus on the Revelation-Based Nature of the Qur’an

Abstract

This study, with a focus on the revelation-based nature of the Qur’an, analyzes and compares the interpretive methodology of Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi in Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb and Allameh Tabataba’i in al-Mīzān. The findings indicate that both exegetes did not confine Qur’anic interpretation to lexical explanation or the mere transmission of narrations, but rather employed a range of literary, rational, and theological tools; nevertheless, the organizing logic of their interpretive methods differs. In Fakhr al-Din al-Razi’s exegesis, problem-centered analysis, the presentation of objections and possibilities, together with the defensive and polemical function of reason, plays a central role, and the revelation-based nature of the Qur’an is explained primarily within the horizon of rational proof and theological defense of the Qur’an’s divine origin. By contrast, Allameh Tabataba’i, emphasizing the systematic and intratextual character of the verses, regards reason as a discovery-oriented and explanatory instrument that aids in understanding the interconnectedness of concepts and the semantic coherence of the Qur’an; accordingly, in al-Mīzān, the revelation-based nature of the Qur’an is considered not only the source of the text’s sacred authority, but also the axis of harmony and coherence within the network of Qur’anic concepts and guidance-oriented messages. The difference in their approach to transmitted reports is also noteworthy: Fakhr al-Din al-Razi evaluates transmission in light of reason and theological principles, whereas Tabataba’i, by giving precedence to the Qur’an over narration, grounds the assessment of transmitted reports in the criterion of the Qur’an itself. Overall, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi’s approach leads to the expansion of polemical discussions under the verses, whereas Tabataba’i’s approach, by emphasizing the revelatory coherence of the text, strengthens the possibility of explaining the Qur’an as a coherent and guidance-oriented system.