Theological Requirements for Interdisciplinary Research on the Qur’an; Based on Epistemology, Terminology and Methodology

The direct bond between the Qur’an and Muslims’ beliefs is one of the important factors, considered to result in a kind of exclusivism in conducting research on the Qur’an on the part of religious scholars in the Islamic tradition of studying the Qur’an. Due to this kind of control, there has always been a restriction as to how the Qur’an must be approached. Thus, the results of these studies have been mainly in accordance with the Islamic beliefs and principles, because the researchers have already been fully familiar with Islam, Islamic theology and the Qur’an. But by the virtue of the changes and developments occurring in science and research and the emergence of interdisciplinary studies and also to avoid exclusivism, a larger number of researchers currently engage in Qur’anic studies. Considering the inevitability of this climate, the sensitivity of research on the Qur’an and necessity of preventing mistakes in this field, it is of great importance to identify theological requirements for Qur’anic study in various fields of research. This article, by focusing on the theological requirements for interdisciplinary research on the Qur’an and using library method, tries to introduce the requirements for this type of research at three levels of epistemology, terminology and methodology so as to develop a proper outline for such research and thus alleviate worries about the results of interdisciplinary Qur’anic studies.