The third volume of the Handbook of Qur_anic Hermeneutics presents hermeneutical approaches to the Qur_an from the 13th century to the early 19th century. This period is characterized by the preservation and adaptation of earlier major commentaries to new contexts, emphasizing the transmission of exegetical traditions even as the chains of transmission became shorter. Scholars were primarily concerned with traditional materials such as grammar and poetry, and explored the historical and contextual backgrounds of Qur_anic verses. This volume highlights the preference of scholars for established hermeneutical traditions over innovation. It also shows how the dispersion and diversity of Qur_anic scholarship increased after the fall of Baghdad and the end of the Abbasid state, with notable flourishing in various other regions such as Khurasan and Transoxiana. However, the loss or unedited state of many exegetical works complicates the assessment of the hermeneutics of the period. This volume also reveals diverse perspectives, including conventional Sunni and Shiite hermeneutics, mystical interpretations, jurisprudential interests, and thematic commentaries, and highlights the dichotomy between traditional and mystical interpretations of the Qur_an.
