Today the beta version of the database „Linked Open Tafsir“ of the AIWG Longterm Research Group was launched. This version of the database offers new searching options for Quranic exegetical works and can be viewed and tested by interested users before it will be made available in its final version in October.

After four years of research and development, the database can be accessed on the homepage of the research group, which was also launched today. It offers scholars access to all relevant passages in the 26-volume exegetical work of the Muslim scholar at-Tabari in a matter of seconds via various search and filter functions.

To the database

The homepage of the Linked Open Tafsir offers videos as well as additional background information on the project and will be gradually expanded with accompanying theological texts from various sub-disciplines of Quranic research. Click here for the homepage of the project group.

„The AIWG is very pleased that this joint research group has succeeded in combining expertise from theology, Islamic religious education and IT in a way that has made it possible to develop not only a simple search page, but also an innovative digital approach to Quran exegesis. The first outcome is the beta version, developed using the example of the Tafsir work by At-Tabari. It is a prototype that creates the digital basis for further search functions, academic research, exchange of expertise and research on the question of modern Quranic science and exegesis.“
Dr. Raida Chbib, Managing Director AIWG

 

What can the beta version do?

The now released beta version of the Linked Open Tafsir database offers the possibility of a „simple search“ for words and text sections and a „complex search“. Users can also search for entries on 14 central „topics“ and „subtopics“ on Quranic exegesis. These include:

• Asceticism
• Isra’iliyyat
• Law
• Linguistics
• Religious groups
• Sciences –
• Subsequent periods
• Theology
• Prophetic biography

Further „topics“ are currently being worked on and will be available in autumn along with the launch of the final version of the database.

Further information on the beta version and the further development of the database can be found here on the homepage of the research group.

 

Feedback appreciated

In order to optimise the Linked Open Tafsir database and make it more user-friendly, the research group is looking forward to your remarks.

What worked? What functions did you not understand? What is missing? You can send your feedback via email to:

• Dr. Misbahur Rehman ( rehman[at]em.uni-frankfurt.de) and
• Tugrul Kurt (tugrul.kurt[at]hu-berlin.de).

Click here to test the beta version!

 

About the AIWG Longterm Research Group Linked Open Tafsir

Over the course of four years, the research group has created an online database of early Islamic exegetical traditions. This database is derived from the commentary on the Quran (Tafsīr) by the scholar aṭ-Ṭabarī (died 310 AH/923 AD). Its aim is to record the information contained in the traditions on historical events at the time of revelation as well as the cultural, religious, social and linguistic framework conditions of the creation of the Quran. With this, the project will create a research basis for scholarly reflections on the revelatory dynamics of the Quran in early exegesis with the help of the Digital Humanities. The database will be open so that further compilations of transmission materials can be added at a later stage. The project has brought together several subdisciplinary perspectives: At Goethe University Frankfurt, the focus is on technical database creation and reflection on the significance of the project results, especially for Quranic research and exegesis. At the Justus Liebig University Giessen, the participating researchers are reflecting on the relevance of the results for religious education. At Humboldt University Berlin, the focus is on questions of Islamic law.