The writer has, in this article, pointed out the seven meanings presented for "Understanding the Text in its Historical perspective", and has further introduced the theory of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd, the controversial Egyptian writer. He considers the Qur'an a cultural product which is naturally the outcome of the culture of its own time rather than as overshodowing that culture. Thus he believes that to understand the Qur'an, one should take into account its historical perspective which includes three parts: levels of historical perspective, historical perspective of the interpreter, and focal perception of the text. According to the writer (of the article), Abu zayd has proposed the same concept-association of perspectives-that Gadamer has brought up in hermenutics. In the end, reviewing and criticizing this theory, the writer introduces the historical-cultural perspective and intellectual status of Abu Zayd, and criticizes his thought accordingly, for the latter views the Qur'an from a secular standpoint rather than an Islamic position.
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