The Thirteenth Century

Explanation

The thirteenth century is used as a moment of decline in the history of Qur’anic exegesis, when repetition begins after early creativity. It is an important temporal marker in Mohammed Arkoun’s account of the transformation of Islamic thought from vitality to stagnation.

Referred to by

• Qur’anic interpretation flourished and then declined into repetition
• Qur’anic interpretation declined after the thirteenth century
• Stagnation appeared with the guardians of faith