Post on 13-Mar-2023
“Traditional Hermeneutics” an Analysis of Syatibi’s Thought in al-Muwa>faqa>t fi >Us}u>l al-Syari>’ah
Adang Saputra
Jakarta, 2014
Mainstreams of Clasical Hermeneutics
al-’Ibrah bi Khus}u>s} al-Sabab al-’Ibrah bi ‘Umu>m al-Lafz}
Literal-textual
pattern of
understanding
Causality
pattern of
understanding
al-’Ibrah bi ‘Umu>m al-Lafz}
The message laid on textual sound of the Syari’ah Text
(Qur’an or Hadith)
Textual-
Autonomous Logic
al-’Ibrah bi Khus}u>s} al-Sabab
The message laid on paralleled specific cause of
Qur’anic revelation
Causality Logic
al-Syatibi has alternative-innovative pattern
(fresh paradigm) of hermeneutics
al-’Ibrah bi Maqa>s}id al-Syari>’ah
Reponding to two main extreme trends of
understanding the syari’ah
Extreme
Exoteric
Extreme
Esoteric
Extrem
Exoteric
Istinba>t al-
ma’na based on
literal-textual
Qur’an or
Hadith
extremly Extremist
Scriptual
Extreme
Esoteric
Ectracting/pulling
out meaning
excessively beyond
normality Like extreme Shiite,
Sufi, and the like.
the Construction of Syatibi’s Hermeneutics
‘Arabi> has been Understood as Fundamental
Matter of Syari’ah 1
وإنه ,العرب بلسان نزل القرآن إن :قلنا فإن ...عربية المباركة الشريعة هذه إن و الخاصة ألفاظها في العرب معهود لسان على أنزل أنه فبمعنى ...عربي
هذا على وأساليبه معانيه في فالقرآن كذلك كان فإذا ...معانيها أساليب ...الترتيب
من فهمه تطلب إلى سبيل وال ,يفهم العرب لسان جهة فمن تفهمه أراد فمن (306-305 ,2 :الشاطبي) .الجهة هذا غير
the Construction of Syatibi’s Hermeneutics
Syari’ah
as ‘Arabi>
It came down in Arab
Genetically it used the Arabic
language
It has became part of reality
and history of Arab
Syari’ah
as ‘Arabi>
Qur’anic text is
not textual
independent, but
blended inherently
in historical and
sociological
circumstance of
Arab
Qur’anic text has
complexity of
context
relationship
Text is just
a wasi>lah
األلفاظ أصلحت وإنما ,بالمعاني عنايتها كانت إنما العرب أن..." هو إنما فاللفظ ,العربية أهل عند معلوم األصل وهذا ,أجلها من
(321 ,2 :الشاطبي) ”...المراد المعنى تحصيل إلى وسيلة
as Syatibi said:
If his commentary analyzed by using al-Jurjani and al-
Qartajani concepts, al-Syatibi assumed the text as a
“sign” which refer to meaning; whereas the meaning
had been foreknown, and then the phonetic clue
formulated as a sign/code which refer to it. Thus, the
meaning which is expressed by the text is speculative
conception of external realm being.
the Construction of Syatibi’s Hermeneutics
Emphasizing the Circular-Relational
Reading (among Text-Author-Audience and
Paralleled Indicators) 2
عن فضال ,القرآن نظم إعجاز به يعرف الذي والبيان المعاني علم أن” حال :األحوال مقتضيات معرفة على مداره إنما ,الكالم مقاصد معرفة
أو ,المخاطب أو ,المخاطب أو ,الخطاب نفس جهة من ,الخطاب وبحسب ,حالين بحسب فهمه يختلف الواحد الكالم إذ .الجميع
الكتاب فهم في المهمات من فهي ,...ذلك غير وبحسب ,مخاطبين (242-241 ,3 :الشاطبي) “...بد بال
According to his commentary, the establishment of
syari’ah (Qur’anic revelation), in Syatibi’s view, is like a
communication process which has composite elements:
Communicator (al-
mukha>t}ib) Communicant (al-
mukha>t}ab)
Communication
code (al-khit}a>b)
The
message
Thus, the maqa>s}id lays on circular relation among Communicator
(al-mukha>t}ib), Communicant (al-mukha>t}ab), and
Communication Code (al-khit}a>b)
However, the syari’ah has complexity of related variables
Syari’ah
The Text as its
manifestation
God as the Author
Muhammad like
Messenger
Arab context as a frame of circumstance
Arab peoples as the
Audience
the Construction of Syatibi’s Hermeneutics
Realizing the Subjective Circumstance
of Reader 3
the understanding always contains subjectivity,
because when the reader understanding ‘something’
, he/she can not deny his/her subjective
circumstance such like mazhab, nafs, ‘ilm, etc. (it is not Syatibi’s redaction, but it is my an understating of his
commentary in Syatibi; IV, 414-448 )
Frame of circumstance
(location, time,
tradition/culture,
mazhab, etc.)
Reader
(mufassir)
Frame of theology,
historicity, culture, social,
economy, language,
policy, etc.
Text
Author Audience
Interpretation/unde
rstanding
(new text)
Dialectical Relation
the new text will be responded by next readers with the same system, and so on.
Inter-subjective, tentative, and can
be reconstructed/deconstructed
The illustration of Syatibi’s understanding system
Thus, Syatibi’s hermeneutics is not only talking
about object (Syari’ah: Quran and Hadith
aspect) and exegesis mechanism, but also
talking about significance of reader
circumstance which is principal matter of
understanding system.
Finally, I think that Syatibi’s hermeneutics re-
oriented the tradition of hermeneutics in his era,
“from exegetical tradition toward philosophy of
understanding”