Scientific exegesis of al-quran and its relevance in dealing with contemporary issues: An appraisal on the book of ‘al-jawahir fi tafsir al-quran al-karim

Al-Quran, as the last Holy Book sent down by Allah, is remarkably different from its predecessors. Ultimately, it has to be the only one of such a kind. More so since the universal nature of the divine guidance it carries within is valid and relevant for all of humanity of all ages, spaces and times. True to its character as an enduring miracle, science can never dismiss the truth of Al-Quran as it accordingly, can be scientifically proven, time and again, without fail. Sheikh Tantawy Jauhary, among others, is one of those renowned scholars of Tafsir (exegesis) who studied the scientific attributes of Al-Quran. Sheikh Tantawy’s seminal work, “Al-Jawahir Fi Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim”, applied scientific methods of exegesis via his observation of the spectacular creation of the universe as a hard and living evidence of the all-powerfulness of Allah. For centuries, Muslims depend on Al-Quran, through its Kawniyyah verses, to study the universe. It needs to be highlighted that there are about 750 verses of Kawniyyah in Quran as opposed to only 150 verses of Fiqh (Jurisprudence). Besides, apart from providing scientific exegesis of Kawniyyah verses, Sheikh Tantawy also deliberated on verses over laws and morality as well the uniqueness of the creatures like the animals, plants, heavens and the earth. Accordingly, this paper provides a succinct overview of the bibliography of Sheikh Al-Tantawy and his thoughts in the exegesis of Al-Quran. By highlighting a number of relevant examples of Sheikh Al-Tantawy’s scientific exegesis, it consequently provides an analysis of the significance and essentiality of the need and necessity of such a method of Tafsir in order to deal with contemporary issues.