al-Tahrir wa-Tanwir al-Aql al-Jadid min Tafsir al-Kitab al-Majid (The Liberation of Meaning and the Illumination of the New Mind) by Muhammad al-Tahir b. Ashur (d. 1973 CE), Rector of al-Zaytuna University in Tunisia, is widely considered the most important and rigorous modern scholarly tafsir in the Arabic language, spanning 30 volumes. Its objective is to subject the Quran to the most thorough and independent modern scholarly analysis, bringing the full apparatus of Arabic linguistics, classical Quranic sciences, and Islamic legal theory to bear on the text, while engaging critically and originally with the classical tafsir tradition. The manhaj is a distinctive modern synthesis: Ibn Ashur frequently departs from received classical opinion where he considers it linguistically or rationally weak, applies his pioneering maqasid al-shariah (objectives of Islamic law) framework to Quranic interpretation, and writes with a rigor and independence that sets the work apart from both traditional and modernist tafsir. He is Ashari and Maliki in madhhab. The work is universally regarded as indispensable for advanced scholars of Quranic studies, Islamic legal philosophy, and Arabic linguistics, and is among the most intellectually significant tafsir works of the 20th century. More...