ORTHODOXY AS METHOD: SUNNI NORMATIVITY AND THEOLOGICAL BIAS IN AL-DHAHABI’S AL-TAFSIR WA AL-MUFASSIRUN

Abstract

Muhammad Husayn al-Dhahabi’s al-Tafsir wa al-Mufassirun is a standard reference for mapping the history and schools of Qur’anic exegesis, yet its classifications are far from neutral. This article examines how al-Dhahabi’s theological-ideological bias manifests in this work and in two companion texts, al-Isra’iliyyat fi al-Tafsir wa al-Hadith and al-Ittijahat al-Munharifah fi Tafsir al-Qur’an. Using qualitative library research, contextualist hermeneutics, and purposive sampling of three works, the study inventories al-Dhahabi’s critiques of various exegetes and tests the grounds of his judgments. Three findings emerge. First, a Sunni normative framework shapes his taxonomy: the distinction between tafsir bi al-ma’thur and bi al-ra’y, and the split between praiseworthy and blameworthy ra’y, in practice relegates Mu’tazilites, Shi’ites, Batiniyya, philosophical Sufis, and philosophers to the blameworthy category. Second, the tafsir–ta’wil dichotomy and his rejection of the five Mu’tazilite principles operate as instruments of theological delegitimization rather than purely methodological critique. Third, these standards are applied inconsistently, as seen in his leniency toward al-Razi’s philosophically inflected commentary and al-Ghazali’s symbolic readings. These findings suggest that al-Dhahabi’s historical assessment of exegetical schools is normative and polemical rather than descriptively neutral. The work should therefore be read critically, with awareness of its author’s theological positionality.