Evaluation of science-centered popular interpretations of the Qur'an in terms of the science of tafsir in today's Turkey: The example of Caner Taslaman

In the contemporary Islamic world, the understanding of the Qur'an and scientific interpretation is popular and continues to gain popularity. According to this understanding, scientific data provides a more accurate understanding of verses and phrases that talk about existence, the universe, and phenomena, since they refer to the experience of the external world. Therefore, the proponents of the scientific approach think that as the periphery of modern science grows, the incomprehensible aspects of the verses shrink. Thus, in today's studies on the scientific interpretation of the Qur'an, one witnesses an effort to refer to every new invention, technological development or scientific data, thus transforming Qur'anic statements into scientific propositions. What is striking about this tendency is the attempt to build meaningful bridges between the Qur'an and science, despite the frequent emphasis that the Qur'an is not a book of science. In today's Turkey, Caner Taslaman is one of the authors who draws attention with many similar statements. In our study, rather than defining an identity in this sense, we consider whether it is correct to look at the Qur'an from the perspective of positive science in the example of Caner Taslaman in terms of the principles and limits of the science of tafsir. Our study consists of an introduction, conclusion and two main chapters. In the introduction, after the subject, purpose, importance, method and source analysis of our research, the historical process of the scientific approach to the Qur'an is emphasized. In the first part, science-centered studies on the Qur'an in contemporary Turkey and critical works on the Qur'an are discussed together due to their relevance to the subject. In the second part, after giving general information about Caner Taslaman's life and works, the author's evaluations of the verses that he handled within the framework of the scientific interpretation of the Qur'an were taken into the center and the drawbacks of this approach in terms of the science of tafsir were determined. In our study, it is concluded that the principle of relying on a valid method, which is the most important need in understanding and interpreting the Qur'an correctly, is missing in the scientificist approach and that this paves the way for many problems. Finally, the study is completed with the suggestions mentioned in this regard.