Abstract:

Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi or Imam al-Razi was among the commentators who frequently used the word lataif in his tafsir while interpreting verses of the Quran. At the same time, he alsolink the word with various fields of knowledge. This lataif term is often and clearly repeated a number of times in his interpretation as if the term carries a specific meaning and concept. This article aims to explain how his background influenced his ability in adopting aspects of lataif term. This study also intends to examine discourses on the term lataif amongst Islamic scholars in their tafsir works. This qualitative study was conducted based wholly on the method of analysis of data obtained from documents of primary and secondary sources. Findings of this study show that there were three factors which influenced Imam al-Razis life background namely political situation, scholastic climate and societys religious environment. Also, Imam al-Razi was the first mufassir to systematically use the term lataif, even though the term had been used by other tafsir scholars before him. This study is of significant importance because lataif Quraniyyah can be considered as a unique discipline in Quranic studies.

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