An Approach to Understanding Religious Texts, the World of Reality, and the Interests and Harms

Ali Al-Alawi

Abstract

In this article, we try to explore the phenomenon of how the approach to understanding religious texts is influenced by the world of interests and harms, where it constitutes the infrastructure from which the Legislator proceeds to formulate His legislative texts and entrusts them to the responsible person (who has reached the required age to perform religious duties in Islam), and the impact that the real world can have on that approach. In this article, we have reviewed the influence of reality on understanding the religious texts in a way showing that this reality is not the basis for the production of religious texts, but rather contributes to establishing a deeper understanding that is most consistence with the truth. It can create a vital context from which one, who practices the process of ijtihad, starts to address the many questions that may arise from the evolution and expansion of life in all fields.We also examine the extent to which the understanding of religious texts is influenced by the world of interests and harms, so that it becomes an understanding consistent with this world. We also discuss the potential consequences of ignoring the infrastructure of texts, that have become clear among modernist thinkers in their studying of religious texts, and the resulting multiplicity of understandings or interpretations.

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)