Ishari and sufi intepretations in Mâturîdî's Te'wîlât

Imam Māturīdī is a famous Islamic scholar who has left his mark on important fields of basic Islamic sciences with his thoughts and works. One of his most valuable works is his tafsir titled Tafsir al-Ta'wīl al-Qur'ān. Many studies have been conducted on al-Māturīdī and his work in question, and different aspects of him have been emphasised in each study. The common aspect of these studies is that they emphasise that he was a rationalist scholar and his tafsir was written with this idea in mind. This approach has brought along the perception that al-Māturīdī distanced himself from and even opposed Sufism. In our study, on the basis of his tafsir work titled Tafsir al-Ta'wīl al-Qur'ān, his approach to the terms related to Sufism is discussed, and his interpretations on parables, worship, divine verses, Hurūf al-Muqattaa and the verse of Nūr are investigated. Of course, our aim in this study is not to categorise al-Māturīdī's work, al-Ta'wīlāt al-Qur'ān, into the category of purely literalist exegesis. However, it is important to determine that such a great exegete has noteworthy views on the issues in this field. When Imam Māturīdī's approach to concepts such as asceticism, piety, nafs, heart, etc. is analysed, it is seen that he perceives these concepts in almost the same way as Sufis. For example, he interprets the commandment "kill your souls" as "jihad with your souls". He draws attention to the concept of "muharraran" (unconditionally devoted to you) in the verse mentioning the Prophet Maryam and expresses that one finds one's freedom/liberty in giving up everything and devoting oneself to the worship of Allah (swt) with devotion. On the other hand, Imam al-Māturīdī draws attention to the fact that there may be some secrets in things in the interpretation of the Hurūf al-Muqattaa and the limits of the intellect and the means of perception at the point of reaching the truth of these secrets. He says that reaching the truth in question can only be possible if Allah (swt) reveals His secrets to the heart of His servant. This perspective shows that not only intellectual endeavours are not sufficient, but spiritual experiences and inner discoveries are also important in the journey of human beings to reach and understand knowledge and the truth of things. As a result, Imam Māturīdī was not alien to Sufism, which constitutes the mystical aspect of the Islamic thought system, and the interpretations brought by it; he found it valuable to make and record such interpretations in his exegetical work called Te'wīlāt al-Qur'ān.