IIS Publishes Volume on Qur’anic Commentary of Abu’l-Qasim al-Qushayri

The IIS is pleased to announce the publication of Sufi Master and Qur’an Scholar: Abu’l-Qasim al-Qushayri and the Lata’if al-isharat by Martin Nguyen. This volume, the eighth in the Qur’anic Studies Series, examines the Qur’anic commentary (tafsir) entitled, Lata’if al-isharat (Subtleties of the Subtleties), written by Abu’l-Qasim al-Qushayri, a scholar from Nishapur (Khorasan) who lived in the 11th Century CE. Sufi Master and Qur’an Scholar is the first extensive study in English of the Lata’if al-isharat and provides the first detailed biography of Qushayri’s life.

Qushayri has long been recognised as an important Sufi intellectual. Martin Nguyen, however, demonstrates that while Qushayri’s Sufism is indeed fundamental to his thought, this Persian scholar can be better understood by analysing the multiple fields of knowledge with which he engaged. Thus, he was not only a Sufi but also a Qur’an commentator, a Shafi‘i jurist, an ‘Ashari theologian and a hadith scholar. The book covers these wide-ranging traditions and demonstrates the importance of the Lata’if for understanding both Qushayri’s thought and his intellectual and religious context.

This volume also examines Qushayri’s hermeneutical methods, his use of hadith, parallels with other exegetical traditions, and the tafsir’s legal and theological content. It culminates with an analysis of Qushayri’s mystical exegesis of the Qur’an, focusing on the theological discussions of miracles and the identity of the “Friends of God” (Awliya’ Allah).

Sufi Master and Qur’an Scholar: Abu’l-Qasim al-Qushayri and the Lata’if al-isharat by Martin Nguyen would appeal to scholars and students of both Sufism and Qur’anic exegesis.

Related Pages on the IIS Website:

• Publication Content: An Anthology of Qur’anic Commentaries - Volume I: On the Nature of the Divine
• Publication Content: Sufi Hermeneutics: The Qur’an Commentary of Rashid al-Din Maybudi