Analytical evaluation of Ahmad Hamdi Aksekili'scommentary on chapter asr in the light of modern Qur'anic exegesis

Ahmad Hamdi Akseki was under the influence of his time, social and politcal turmoil. Having seen the degeneration in his community, he aims to rectify society from ethical and moral perspectives in his writings. According to Aksekili, main reason behind Muslims' degeneration lies in their neglect in understanding the Qur'an and putting its teachings into their life. Thus he wants to bring a new outlook to Qur'anic exegesis and elevates the status of the people to the level of companions. To do so, Aksekili uses various way and methodologies developed by Muhammad Abduh. He places great stress on the importance of the reason and scientific developments. In brief, for him Qur'anic exegesis is not a simple discipline to text madrasa students' Arabic profeciency but a tool to rectify society. Nevertheless, having been studied in madrasa for a long time, Akseki uses from time to time madrasa type arguments in his exegesis. Our thesis major topics are the analysis of Aksekili's commentary on Chapter Asr from various perspectives. The thesis is consist of three main chapters. The first one is to deal with the life of the Ahmad Hamdi Aksekili, socio-political athmosphere during his life. The second chapter focuses on the exegesis of Surah Asr and its place in Modern Muslim exegetical tradition. The third (last) chapters presents Aksekili's relationship and intellectual dialogue with his contemporaries such as Muhammad Abduh and Elmalılı Muhammad Hamdi Yazır.