THE SUFI ORIENTATION IN AL-BIQĀʿĪ’S DIRECTION OF QURʾANIC CONTEXTUAL RELATIONS: SPIRITUAL STATES (AHWĀL) AND STATIONS (MAQĀMĀT) AS A CASE STUDY

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between the science of Qurʾanic contextual relations and Islamic Sufism through tracing the influence of the concepts of spiritual states (ahwāl) and stations (maqāmāt) in Imām al-Biqāʿī’s exegesis Nazm al-Durar. The main research question concerns the influence of Sufism on the way Qurʾanic contextual relations appear in his tafsīr. The study starts from one hypothesis. The cultural background of an exegete shapes the way links between verses appear. Each exegete aims to present connections between verses through a unifying context. The exegete’s intellectual formation emerges in specific aspects, on which he relies to outline this context and to highlight details. Sufism forms one important source of knowledge in this background whenever an exegete engages with Qurʾanic contextual relations. The study adopts an analytical method in reading passages where a Sufi impact appears in al-Biqāʿī’s tafsīr and links these passages to statements of Sufi masters, in order to measure the extent of benefit he draws from them in directing Qurʾanic contextual relations, both at the level of a single verse and at the level of groups of verses within a sūrah. The research concludes that Imām al-Biqāʿī was influenced by Sufi thought in his treatment of ordered relations in the Qurʾan. This finding challenges the widespread claim of his hostility to Sufism and shows that his sharp criticism focused on certain Sufi trends which departed from the principles of moderate Sunni Sufism. The study also confirms that Sufi analyses presented by al-Biqāʿī remain consistent with his pioneering contribution to the science of Qurʾanic contextual relations.