ABSTRACT
Our exploration of Mohsen Kadivar’s ideas about the Qurʾān in Chapter 5 focuses on his contextualist methods. Kadivar does not believe it is necessary to come up with a new theory of revelation for the task of interpretation. He does not challenge traditional theories of revelation and is even less explicit than other contextualist Iranian scholars in calling the Qurʾān a historical text (matn-e tarīkhī), but he does argue that Islam cannot be reduced to its traditional exegesis. He asserts that any method of interpretation should discover the spirit of the Qurʾān and the objectives and goals of its precepts. Based on this approach, Kadivar concludes that finding a religious precept in the Qurʾān does not necessarily mean that that precept is an eternal provision which must be applied in all times and places.
