Abdul Halim Hasan and his Contributions in Quranic Exegesis in the Malay World

Abstract

The main objectives of this paper are to expound the exegetical methodologies and contributions of Syeikh Abdul Halim Hasan (d. 1969) in enriching the corpus of Quranic exegetical works in the Malay World. In particular, it focuses on his two main exegetical works entitled Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim which he authored with the assistance of his pupils from 1937 until his demise in 1969, and a work on legal verses of the Quran entitled Tafsir al-Ahkam. Due to its nature, appropriate qualitative methods are applied in this study comprising mainly historical, library research and content analysis. The findings highlight some of the salient features of the exegetical methods of the author and its primal role in influencing the style of exegetical composition by succeeding authors. These books also reflect the concern of the local scholars on the needs of the Muslims for credible religious works and references in languages accessible to them, which have also had its impact on the development in the field of Quranic exegesis in the region.