Engineered Spirituality in Bābīyah and Bahā’īyah: A Critical Study of Al-Dakhīl in Qur’anic Exegesis
Keywords:
al-Dakhil fi al-Tafsir, Bābiyyah, Bahā’iyyah, Hermeneutic
Abstract
This study investigates the hermeneutical strategies of the Bābīyah and Bahā’īyah, focusing on their symbolic and esoteric reinterpretations of the Qurʾān in legitimizing new religious authority. Employing a qualitative library-based approach, the research examines primary texts alongside classical tafsīr traditions and modern hermeneutical theories. The analysis demonstrates that the Bābīyah and Bahā’īyah shifted from the linguistic-philological hermeneutics of classical mufassirūn such as al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, and al-Dhahabī toward charismatic-symbolic readings, where the authority of the interpreter overrides transmitted knowledge. Comparative engagement with contemporary hermeneutical models, including Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd’s cultural-linguistic paradigm, Abdullah Saeed’s contextualist approach, and Sahiron Syamsuddin’s maʿnā-cum-maghzā method, highlights both divergences and resonances. The study concludes that al-Dakhīl fī al-Tafsīr should not merely be viewed as deviation, but as a distinct hermeneutical logic mobilized in constructing theological legitimacy and communal identity.
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References
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Al Adawiyah, Abidah, and Safinatul Ilmi Al Kamil. “Ad-Dakhīl Fī at-Tafsīr: Analisis Ad-Dakhīl Dalam Penafsiran Sekte al-Bābiyyah Dan al-Bahā’iyyah.” Hamalatul Qur’an: Jurnal Ilmu-Ilmu Al-Qur’an 6, no. 1 (2025): 130–37.
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Al-Ṭūsī, Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan. Al-Tibyān Fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Maktabat al-Amīn, 1957.
Amanat, Abbas. Resurrection and Renewal: The Making of the Babi Movement in Iran, 1844–1850. Cornell University Press, 1989.
Amir, Ahmad Nabil, and Tasnim Abdul Rahman. “Muhammad Abduh’s Rational Hermeneutics and Its Implications for Islamic Legal Reform.” Al-Daulah : Jurnal Hukum Pidana Dan Ketatanegaraan 14, no. 1 (2025): 30–42. https://doi.org/10.24252/al-daulah.v14i1.56526.
Anoshka, Siarhei A. “Transition, Emulation and Dispute over Authority in the Bábí/Bahá’í Faith.” Religions 15, no. 5 (2024): 577. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15050577.
Bahāʾ Allāh. Kitāb-i-Aqdas. Bahāʾī World Centre, 1992.
Bayḍāwī, Nāṣir al-Dīn al-. Anwār Al-Tanzīl Wa Asrār al-Taʾwīl. n.d.
Buck, Christopher, and Youli A. Ioannesyan. “Last Prophet and Last Day: Shaykhī, Bābī and Bahā’ī Exegesis of the ‘Seal of the Prophets’ (Q. 33:40).” Religions 14, no. 3 (2023): 341. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14030341.
Cole, Juan Ricardo. Modernity and the Millennium: The Genesis of the Baha’i Faith in the Nineteenth-Century Middle East. [Studies in the Bábí and Bahá’í Religions v. 9] 9. Columbia University Press, 1998.
Ḏahabī, Muḥammad Ḥusain- al-. Al-Tafsīr wa al-Mufassirūn. Dār al-Ḥadīṯ, 2001.
Hidayatulloh, Taufik, Theguh Saumantri, Hajam Hajam, and Wahyudi Akmaliah. “Ibn Arabi’s Hermeneutics as an Alternative Religious Exegesis for Contemporary Urban Muslim Communities.” Akademika : Jurnal Pemikiran Islam 30, no. 1 (2025): 61–76. https://doi.org/10.32332/akademika.v30i1.10082.
MacEoin, Denis. The Messiah of Shiraz: Studies in Early and Middle Babism. Vol. 3. BRILL, 2008.
Milani, Farzaneh. Veils and Words: The Emerging Voices of Iranian Women Writers. Syracuse University Press, 1992.
Momen, Moojan. “Persecution and Resilience: A History of the Baha’i Religion in Qajar Isfahan.” Journal of Religious History 36, no. 4 (2012): 471–85. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9809.2012.01225.x.
Munawar, Ali Mahfuz, Muhammad Diaz Supandi, Alfan Arif Rabbani, Abdillah Isnainurrahman, and Muhammad Muzaini Asyauqillah. “Epistemological Distinctions between the Living Qur’an Methodology and Hermeneutics: A Theoretical Study in Contemporary Tafsir Studies.” Kalamizu: Jurnal Sains, Sosial, Dan Studi Agama 7, no. 2 (2025): 461–76.
Musyarrofah, Eva. Al-Dakhil fi al-Tafsir: Refleksi Analitik terhadap Infiltrasi dalam Penafsiran Alquran. 1st ed. Edited by Muhammad Lutfi. Kencana (Prenadamedia Group), 2023.
Rahman, Fazlur. Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition. University of Chicago Press, 1982.
Rāzī, Fakhr al-Dīn al-. Mafātīḥ Al-Ghayb / Tafsir al-Kabīr. Dār al-Fikr, 1981.
Saeed, Abdullah. Interpreting the Qur’an: Towards a Contemporary Approach. Routledge, 2005.
Saeed, Abdullah. Interpreting the Qur’an: Towards a Contemporary Approach. Taylor & Francis, 2006. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203016770.
Shahidi, Iqan. “Principled Engagement: The Bahá’í Community of Iran’s Approach to Social Change.” Religions 16, no. 9 (2025): 1149. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16091149.
Suhemi, Emi. “Semiotics in Qur’anic Interpretation: The Application of Semiotic Theory in the Tafsir of Jalalain, Ibn Kathir, and Al-Tabari on QS. An-Nur Verse 35.” El-Sunan: Journal of Hadith and Religious Studies 2, no. 1 (2024): 93–108. https://doi.org/10.22373/el-sunan.v2i1.5695.
Sulaiman, Ahmad. “From Textuality To Discursity; The Hermeneutics of Quran Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd.” Sophist : Jurnal Sosial Politik Kajian Islam Dan Tafsir 5, no. 2 (2023): 304–27. https://doi.org/10.20414/sophist.v5i2.96.
Supena, Ilyas. “Epistemology of Tafsīr, Ta’wīl, and Hermeneutics: Towards an Integrative Approach.” Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization 14, no. 1 (2024): 121–36. https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.141.08.
Syafi’i, Muhamad Ridwan. “Corak Pemikiran Hermeneutika Al-Qur’an Prof. Sahiron Syamsuddin.” Jurnal Budi Pekerti Agama Islam 2, no. 5 (2024): 45–54. https://doi.org/10.61132/jbpai.v2i5.509.
Ṭabarī, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-. Jāmiʿ al-Bayān ʿan Taʾwīl Āy al-Qurʾān. Edited by Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir. Bayrūt : Dār al-Maʿārif, 1995.
Ulinnuha, Muhammad. Metode Kritik Ad-Dakhil Fi at-Tafsir: Cara Mendeteksi Adanya Infiltrasi Dan Kontaminasi Dalam Penafsiran al-Qur’an. 1st ed. Qaf Media Kreativa, 2019.
Zabihi-Moghaddam, Siyamak. “The Babi-State Conflict at Shaykh Tabarsi.” Taylor & Francis (Routledge) 35, nos. 1–3 (2002): 87–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/00210860208701941.
Zamakhsharī, Abū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad al-Khuwārazmī al-. al-Kashshāf ʿan Ḥaqāʾiq Ghawāmiḍ at-Tanzīl wa ʿUyūn al-Aqāwīl fī Wujūh at-Taʾwīl. 1st ed. Edited by al-Shaykh ʿAlī Muḥammad Muʿawwaḍ al-Shaykh ʿĀdil Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Mawjūd. Bayrūt : Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2009.
ʿAbbās, Ibn. Al-Tanwīr al-Miqbās min Tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās. Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1992.
Published
2025-10-23
How to Cite
Qohi, A., Ahmad, N., & Mansur, A. (2025). Engineered Spirituality in Bābīyah and Bahā’īyah: A Critical Study of Al-Dakhīl in Qur’anic Exegesis. Islamic Review: Jurnal Riset Dan Kajian Keislaman, 14(2), 243-260. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.35878/islamicreview.v14i2.1683
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