Islamic Studies and Quranic Research in the Contemporary World

Islamic Studies and Quranic Research in the Contemporary World

Comparative Analysis of the Methodology and Interpretive Achievements of Hamgām bā Waḥy and Fahm al-Qurʾān al-Ḥakīm

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
maryam shahitavi 1
SEYED MOMAMAD HOSEIN MIRI 2
1 Level 4 graduate of Al-Zahra Seminary Higher Education Institute, Ahvaz
2 Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Khuzestan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
10.22034/iscw.2026.2078464.1219
Abstract
The emergence of the chronological (revelation-based) exegetical approach has led to the production of works with distinct aims and methodologies. Two prominent commentaries—Hamgām bā Waḥy by ʿAbd al-Karīm Behjatpour and Fahm al-Qurʾān al-Ḥakīm by Muḥammad ʿĀbid al-Jābirī—despite sharing a common foundational premise, differ markedly in their exegetical goals and outcomes. This study undertakes a comparative analysis of the methodologies of these two commentaries and extracts their interpretive achievements in the educational, historical, and epistemic domains, while also addressing the major critiques directed at each in order to clarify their fundamental differences.The findings indicate that Hamgām bā Waḥy, aiming to uncover a transformative model and to offer a practical solution for contemporary societies, emphasizes the extraction of an “educational geometry” and the gradual formation of the Islamic community. However, its heavy reliance on narrations concerning the order of revelation and the challenges related to the generalizability and empirical testability of its proposed model constitute key criticisms of this approach. By contrast, Fahm al-Qurʾān al-Ḥakīm, adopting a historical–rational perspective, considers an understanding of the Qurʾān contingent upon reconstructing the process of its emergence alongside the Prophetic mission, with a focus on historical context and the development of Qurʾānic narratives. Major critiques of this work include rational reductionism, the weakening of the Qurʾān’s existential–guidance dimension, and the reduction of the universal moral function of Qurʾānic narratives to mere historical analysis. Ultimately, these two works represent two distinct epistemic trajectories: one oriented toward educational–civilizational modeling, and the other toward historical–rational rereading.
Keywords
Revelatory-order approach
Hamgām bā Waḥy
Fahm al-Qur&‌‌rsquo
ān al-Ḥakīm
Methodology
Interpretive Achievements
Subjects
·        Qur’an
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Islamic Studies and Quranic Research in the Contemporary World
Volume 4, Issue 2 - Serial Number 8
February 2026
Pages 161-191

  • Receive Date 27 November 2025
  • Revise Date 22 February 2026
  • Accept Date 24 February 2026
  • First Publish Date 24 February 2026
  • Publish Date 21 January 2026