Thematic unity in the Holy Quran A review and comparison between Mahmoud Bostani and Sayyid Qutb

The importance of examining the thematic unity in the Holy Qur’an lies in the connection of the subjects and the clarification of their interference in the surahs of the Qur’an, which has given a clear understanding and another dimension to the surahs of the Qur’an and shows the miraculous face of the Holy Qur’an.

Thematic unity, in short, means that a surah of the Holy Qur’an presents a single subject while it is composed of a set of axes, which include the subject that is the subject of the surah.

Thematic unity is very important in Quranic studies because, in this way, a correct understanding of the Holy Quran can be achieved. This view can have great dignity and status if it is adopted as a way to accurately understand the meanings of Quranic surahs. This view is obtained by knowing the context of the verses, the aims and purposes of the surahs, and their connection with the general context of the Qur’an, which helps to understand the meaning.

Our research on thematic unity is devoted to the interpretive approach of Sayyid Qutb and Dr. Mahmoud Al-Bustani. Because each of them had a special and unique insight in applying the thematic unity to the Qur’anic surahs and how to use it as a method of study, which distinguishes these two great scholars from the others. Each of them had a special and different perception of the other, which stemmed from the confrontation between their scientific history and the flourishing of their scientific personality.

According to this research, we find that Dr. Mahmoud Bostani’s interpretation is different from Seyyed Qutb’s interpretation in terms of form and method. His structural interpretation is based on scientific and methodological rules, the aim of which is the scientific and methodological control of the interpretation process, so that the fundamental interpreter is based on strong rules from which he does not deviate.

Dr. Bostani believes that the text of the Qur’an should be studied and interpreted in terms of the architecture and content of the surah according to its structure and content. Dealing with the noble chapters of the Qur’an in terms of architecture is done based on two methods: one is to reflect on the intellectual and thematic features that connect the verses, and the second is to reflect on its technical features. In other words, on the one hand, examining the totality of the surahs in terms of their beginning, end, and middle; and on the other hand, the relationship of each verse with what came before and after it.

As for Sayyid Qutb, he is one of the most prominent people who has put the thematic unity in the Qur’an into practice and has been able to present the Qur’an on this basis. He provided a general definition of the surah, based on which he talks about the axis of the surah, which connects its contents and components.

Sayyid Qutb’s method of expressing the thematic unity of the Qur’anic surahs was to divide the surah into several coherent, complete, and successive parts, in order to achieve the general purpose of the surah and to connect it with its main and basic subject. Those sections are the characteristics of the existence of that thematic unity in his interpretation (the shadow of the Qur’an).