Constant and Variable in Understanding the Qur'an: An Interview with ‘Allāma Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn Faḍl Allāh

In this interview, ‘Allāma Faḍl Allāh answers several questions concerning how to understand the Qur'an. The topics discussed in this interview are as follows: criteria for understanding the text; constant and variable in understanding the Qur'an and religious texts; nature of tafsīr; revealed text (naṣṣ) and external meaning (ẓāhir); the relativity of constancy and variation in understanding; the role of lexicons in understanding the Qur'an; the role of traditions in tafsīr of the verses; the function of the interpreter's beliefs in tafsīr of the Qur'an; the role of language devices in understanding the Qur'an; and finally, the status of the Qur'an in jurisprudence and jurisprudential ijtahād (legal reasoning).