Ma`rifat Farhangi Ejtemaei

This research concentrates on investigating the process of the development of social interpretation which is considered as one of the cultural-social changes in the Islamic world in the recent century. A method of conceptual analysis used in this research which is based on study of sequential and thematic interpretations. This method of interpretation can be recognized within the framework of the encounter between the Islamic world and modern world. The encounter between the Islamic world and the scientific and technical advances in the West and the backwardness in the Islamic world, have urged some social reformers to look for a remedy. Having identified the cause of the problems of the Islamic world, they realized that they have no solution other than referring to the Qur’an and reviewing it so as to fulfill man’s modern needs. Social interpretation was first established in the beginning of the fourteenth century by some interpreters like Rashid Reza and appeared in the form of the sequential interpretation of Al-Manar, and its development is still continuing taking the form of a sequential and thematic interpretation. The most important characteristics of this approach: its realistic interpretation, considering social reality in the investigation of Divine message and using a critical approach to the current state of the Islamic world, especially modern society.