Tadabbur Begins Only After Understanding the Text: Quran Interpreter
Hojjat-ol-Islam Abdulkarim Bahjatpour, a senior seminary lecturer and author of Hamgam ba Wahi (Walking with Revelation) interpretation, said the core meaning of tadabbur has often been misunderstood.
Speaking in an interview with IQNA, he explained that the Quranic use of the term does not refer to reading verses sequentially.
“Tadabbur means ‘taking hold of the understanding behind the understanding,’” he said. “In hadith as well, this meaning is used: do not weave verses together like hair, and do not stop like sand; when there is a point, reflect on it.”
He noted that the Quran presents tadabbur as a process that goes deeper than comprehension. “Imam al-Baqir (AS) would engage in dialogue with the verses and respond to them with prayer. So tadabbur is pursuing the implications of what you have understood,” Bahjatpour said.
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According to Bahjatpour, understanding is only the first step. “Understanding is a prelude to tadabbur. It is not part of it,” he said.
“When correct understanding is achieved, then the ground for tadabbur is prepared. The problem today is that people either stop at mere recitation or at a basic level of translation and interpretation. They almost never reach tadabbur.”
He rejected claims that tadabbur is simply analytical reading or extracting thematic points from sequences of verses. “This view is incorrect and confuses different categories,” he said.
“Any effort to understand the verses is only preparation. It is not tadabbur itself.” While he welcomed innovative approaches to Quranic study, he stressed that such work must not be mislabeled.
“These confusions have caused significant disruption in the field of tadabbur,” he warned.
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Explaining what tadabbur requires, Bahjatpour said it means extending understanding into action. He cited the verse ‘and there was a share in their wealth for the beggar and the deprived’ (Quran 51:19). First, the meaning is understood, he said; then a believer must ask themselves: “Why have you not set aside a share for this?” Acting on that realization is tadabbur.
To revive tadabbur in society, he urged clarity on its principles and small, steady initiatives.
If religious educators help people internalize and act upon even 10 percent of the verses, he said, “society will itself move toward the rest of the Quran.”
Bahjatpour called for a shift from “translation-based understanding” to what he termed “tadabburi translation,” a reading that engages both mind and heart and motivates practice.
“If we can guide people from understanding to tadabbur,” he noted, “society will come alive.”
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