An Examination of the Principles and Rules of Qur’anic Exegesis from the Perspective of Martyr Ayatollah Khamenei

Throughout the history of Islam, Quranic exegesis has been grounded in diverse foundations, principles, and methodological approaches. Each exegete, based on his own intellectual and epistemological framework, has articulated a distinctive model for understanding and explicating the divine verses. Among contemporary exegetes, Ayatollah Khamenei—drawing upon the Shi‘i exegetical heritage while simultaneously advancing certain innovative foundations and principles—has developed a coherent and integrated theory of interpretation. The present study aims to identify, explicate, and analyze the principles and rules governing Quranic interpretation from Martyr Ayatullah Khamenei’s perspective and to reconstruct the methodological system underlying his exegetical thought. Employing a descriptive–analytical method, this research is based on an examination of his exegetical works, speeches, and Quranic viewpoints. The findings indicate that Ayatollah Khamenei’s interpretive principles rest upon a set of general foundations, including the inimitability (iʿjāz) and incorruptibility of the Quran, the inseparable nexus between the Quran and the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), the authoritative status of reliable narrations, and the epistemic validity of reason in understanding the Quran. In addition, his approach incorporates specific foundations such as the Quran’s epistemic authority, its comprehensiveness in guidance, its transformative role in the domain of the human sciences, and a socio-civilizational perspective toward the divine verses. Moreover, the exegetical rules employed in his methodology include attention to textual context (siyāq), the principles of application and extension (jary wa taṭbīq), the extraction of deeper semantic layers (baṭn) from the verses, engaging the Quran in dialogical interrogation (istinṭāq al-Qur’ān), linguistic analysis, and the simultaneous utilization of the Quran-by-the-Quran method, narrational, rational, and comprehensive ijtihād-based approaches. The results of this study demonstrate that Ayatollah Khamenei’s interpretive principles and rules, articulated within a coherent epistemological framework, provide the basis for producing specialized socio-political exegesis, advancing interdisciplinary studies between the Quran and the human sciences, and fostering the development of Quran-based bodies of knowledge. Accordingly, his exegetical theory may be regarded as one of the innovative and influential paradigms in contemporary Quranic studies, possessing the capacity to address individual, social, and civilizational issues in the Muslim world.