ABSTRACT
In our sixth chapter we explore the contextualist approach to the interpretation of the Qurʾān presented by Abolqasem Fanaei, whose work is almost unknown outside Iran—nothing has been written about him in Western languages. Central to Fanaei’s work is the idea that the Qurʾān should be understood both as a text revealed in the context of seventh-century Arabian society and as a text with universal aspects which are not confined to its immediate audience and can be extended to everyone, in all times and under all circumstances. Like most Iranian contextualist scholars, Fanaei believes in the distinction between the essential (immutable) and accidental (mutable) elements of the Qurʾān; he has also proposed that the sociolegal texts of the Qurʾān should be interpreted in light of their spirit, as well as the purpose and underlying reasons for their revelation (maqāṣid).
