Reassessing Sufi Quranic Exegesis: A Methodological Critique of Coppens’ Frameworks with an Integrated Analytical Model

This study critically evaluates Peter Coppens’ analytical frameworks for Sufi Quranic exegesis, identifying their limitations and introducing the Integrated Sufi Exegesis Model (ISEM) to address these shortcomings. While innovative, Coppens’ models of “crossing the boundary” and “center and periphery” are argued to rely on non-indigenous theories, which oversimplify the rich conceptual and historical diversity of Sufi interpretations and neglect crucial discursive and institutional dynamics that shaped Sufi thought. To demonstrate these limitations, the article employs an interdisciplinary approach, combining critical textual analysis of primary sources, historical-social investigations, and social network mapping. New textual evidence from influential Sufi commentaries by al-Sulami, al-Qushayri, Maybudi, Ruzbihan Baqli, Tustari, Hujwiri, and Sarraj, alongside non-Sufi exegesis by al-Tabari, highlights conceptual diversity (e.g., annihilation, proximity, and unity of existence) and regional variations which characterized Sufi interpretive traditions (e.g., in centers such as Nishapur, Baghdad, and Andalusia). These critiques are further substantiated by historical sources, including The History of Nishapur and The History of Baghdad. The ISEM, applied through a detailed case study on al-Qushayri’s Lata’if al-Isharat, integrates textual-historical, phenomenological, discursive, and social network analyses to offer a more context-sensitive framework. This model enhances the study of Sufi exegesis by prioritizing indigenous concepts and interdisciplinary methods.

کلیدواژه ها:

Sufi interpretations ، Peter Coppens ، crossing the boundary ، Center and periphery ، Integrated Sufi Exegesis Model ، Sufism