Imam Al-Alusi's Jurisprudential on Surat Al-A'raf through his Interpretation Ruh Al-Ma'ani" (The Spirit of Meanings): A Comparative Interpretive Study

The interpretation of Imam Al-Alusi, Ruh al-Ma‘ani (The Spirit of Meanings), is considered one of the well-known modern-era commentaries. This is due to its inclusion of the opinions of earlier commentators on one hand, and the analysis and evaluation of these opinions on the other. It is rightly regarded as a comparative exegesis, in which Imam Al-Alusi gathered the statements of previous scholars across various disciplines and sciences—be they linguistic, theological, or jurisprudential. He then proceeds to weigh these views, distinguishing the stronger from the weaker based on an examination of the evidence presented in each issue. This is what led me to choose the jurisprudential issues mentioned by Al-Alusi in his tafsir where he reports a scholarly consensus (ijmā‘). I limited my study to Surat al-A‘raf only, to avoid an overly lengthy discussion. After presenting Al-Alusi's views on each matter, I followed up with my own commentary on them.