The importance of the sīrat in understanding the Qur’ān: The example of Surah Al-Ankabût

The Qur’ān is a revelation consisting of verbal addresses directed at specific audiences, interwoven with historical events and revealed gradually. For this reason, literal and linguistic elements alone are not sufficient to grasp the meaning of the Qur’ānic text. One of the key steps in correctly understanding the Qur’ān is to identify its addressees and the context of its revelation as accurately as possible. The field to which one must turn in order to incorporate the Qur’ān’s historical context into tafsīr with a holistic understanding is the sīrat. Although studies on the relationship between the sīrat and revelation have become widespread in the modern era, it has been observed that the question of how and by what criteria the historical context should be incorporated into tafsīr has not yet been sufficiently addressed within a methodological framework. This study focuses on the importance of the historical context in understanding the Qur’ān and addresses the necessity of evaluating this context through a methodological approach. The study aims to address the sīrat method as a distinct category within the ulūm al-Qur’ān. In this context, the definition, formation process, and scope of the ulūm al-Qur’ān have been examined, revealing that this field is not a static or closed discipline but rather possesses a dynamic structure capable of expanding in response to new needs. Based on this finding, it was concluded that the sīrat method can be structured within the ulūm al-Qur’ān, the definition, history, benefits, fundamental characteristics, and principles of the sīrat method in understanding the Qur’ān were discussed. In the sample section of the thesis, certain tafsīr on Surah Al-Ankabût were examined, and the applicability of the method was demonstrated. In the process, the extent to which the tafsīr under examination applied this method and the amount of space they devoted to it were determined. Furthermore, the interpretive difficulties that arise when this method is not applied were addressed. Thus, the importance of the sīrat method in understanding the Qur’ān was emphasized.