Intentionality and Acceptability in Abu al-Su‘ud’s Exegesis: A Textual Study

Abstract

This study engages with modern linguistic studies, including the seven standards of textuality, according to which a text cannot be regarded as a text unless these seven standards are present collectively. Among these standards, the study selects two—intentionality and acceptability—and traces their foundations in Irshād al-‘Aql al-Salīm ilā Mazāyā al-Kitāb al-Karīm, commonly known as Tafsīr Abī al-Su‘ud, by its author Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Mustafa al-‘Imādī al-Hanafi (d. 982 AH), as an applied model for analysis.

The study adopts the descriptive-analytical method, following a theoretical discussion of the importance of these two standards. Hence, the research is entitled Intentionality and Acceptability in Abu al-Su‘ud’s Exegesis: A Textual Study. The study is divided into two chapters: the first is devoted to the standard of intentionality, and the second to the standard of acceptability. It seeks to uncover the roots of text linguistics, which represents a modern trend in the study of texts and in grammatical inquiry, with particular emphasis on these two standards—namely, intentionality and acceptability—in Abu al-Su‘ud’s exegesis of the Holy Qur’an.

The study demonstrates the possibility of tracing the presence of these two standards in Abu al-Su‘ud’s Qur’anic exegesis, even though he did not designate them by these specific terms in his own time. At the conclusion of the study, a number of findings are presented, reached by the grace of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Bountiful.