BALJON AND CHANGE IN WESTERN APPROACHES TO QURAN ANDQURANIC INTERPRETATIONAL RESEARCHES

The works of J. M. S. Baljon (1919-2001) can be regarded as an important progress in enquiries about the Qur'an and its exegesis in the West. He intensified his prolonged studies in the area of India and Pakistan. He drew a profile of the last two-century history of Islamic thought and Qur'an commentary in that area. Therefore, he can be seen as pioneering expert on contemporary Qur'anic studies and on Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Shah Wali Allah ad-Dihlavi in particular. It is understood from his whole studies that he approved a method of understanding and explaining the other. In opposition to most of his predecessors he took an objective and unbiased attitude in his studies and contributed to Islamic scientific studies by analysing Islamic sources in depth. In this regard, his studies can be regarded as a turning point within orientalistic approach to the research on Qur'an and its exegesis.

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