Collaborative Qur'anic Interpretation: Rekonstruksi Epistemologi Tafsir Al-Qur'an di Era Post-Truth

Abstract

The rapid advancement of digital technology has fundamentally transformed the landscape of Qur'anic interpretation through the emergence of social media, digital platforms, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which have broadened public access to diverse exegetical resources while simultaneously challenging the authority and validity of Qur'anic interpretation. At the same time, the post-truth era is characterized by the dominance of virality, confirmation bias, and algorithm-driven information, which increasingly undermine scholarly verification and reshape the production and dissemination of religious knowledge. This study aims to examine the development of the epistemology of Qur'anic interpretation from the Prophetic period to the post-truth era, analyze the transformation of interpretive authority, methodology, and knowledge legitimacy, and propose an epistemological reconstruction that is responsive to the contemporary digital ecosystem. Employing a library research method with a historical-epistemological approach, this study applies descriptive-critical analysis to classical and contemporary literature on Qur'anic exegesis, Islamic epistemology, and digital Islam. The findings reveal that digital transformation has not altered the foundational epistemology of Qur'anic interpretation, which remains grounded in the Qur'an, the Sunnah, established exegetical methodologies, and the scholarly authority of qualified mufassirūn. Instead, it has transformed the ways exegetical knowledge is produced, verified, and disseminated. The shift from a hierarchical model of interpretive authority to a more open and decentralized digital authority has made the validation of interpretation increasingly complex. As its principal theoretical contribution, this study proposes the concept of Collaborative Qur'anic Interpretation, an epistemological framework that positions revelation as the primary source of knowledge, exegetical methodology as the mechanism of scholarly validation, and mufassirūn and academic scholars as the legitimate interpretive authorities, while digital platforms and Artificial Intelligence function as epistemic instruments that facilitate analysis and knowledge dissemination rather than serve as independent sources or authorities of interpretation. This framework expands the discourse on the epistemology of Qur'anic interpretation by incorporating digital technology into the contemporary knowledge ecosystem and underscores the importance of digital religious literacy, interpretive ethics, and the principle of tabayyun (critical verification) in safeguarding the integrity of Qur'anic interpretation in the post-truth era