Mawdudi's approach to stories: Example of the Moses narrative

The aim of this study is to determine the exegetical methodology of Abul A'la Mawdudi within the framework of the story of Prophet Moses. The study consists of an introduction, three main chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction chapter includes the research topic, its significance, methodology, and a review of the relevant literature. In the first chapter, Mawdudi's life, education, the socio-political influences of the period in which he lived, his political views, ideas, professional life, and works were examined. Additionally, the activities and impacts of Jamaat-e-Islami, the organization he founded, were explored and an analysis of the characteristics of his exegetical work, Tafhim al-Qur'an, was presented. The second chapter investigated the semantic meaning of the term qissa (story) and its conceptual counterparts in the Qur'an, providing insights into the purposes and content of Qur'anic stories. The chapter, then, addressed the debate surrounding whether these stories are accounts of actual historical events, discussing counterclaims of different views. In the last chapter of the study, Mawdudi's method of interpreting qissa was investigated by categorizing his methodology into three areas: interpretation through the Qur'an, interpretation using non-Qur'anic sources, and interpretation based on personal reasoning. In this section, through the story of Prophet Moses, attention was drawn to the social messages that are of interest to the society and individuals of the Qur'anic revelation period and today. Similar points between the opponents of the Prophet Muhammad and Pharaoh were mentioned and warnings about their fate were presented.