Human Identity
A Paul Ricoeur Hermeneutical Analysis of the Interpretation of Surah An-Nas in Tafsir Al-Azhar by Buya Hamka
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15642/Javano.2026.4.2.103-118Keywords:
Human Identity, Surah An-Nas, Buya Hamka, Tafsir Al-Azhar, Paul Ricoeur's Hermeneutics.Abstract
The existential crisis of modern humanity frequently originates from an illusion of absolute autonomy that overlooks moral and spiritual vulnerability. This study aims to reconstruct the concept of human identity through the interpretation of Surah an-Nas in Buya Hamka's Tafsir Al-Azhar using Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutical framework. Employing a qualitative library research method, the analysis operates across the three stages of the hermeneutical arc: semantic-symbolic (expliquer), reflective-existential (comprendre), and moral praxis (appropriation). The findings indicate that Hamka deconstructs human sovereignty through the grammatical status of the soul as an entrusted entity and the biological-organic dependence on divine sustenance. Existentially, human identity is positioned as a fragile self whose interiority serves as a battleground for whispering doubts (waswas) amidst ambivalent social relations. At the level of appropriation, human integrity can only be restored through active agency moving beyond verbal passivity into concrete protective praxis within the fortress of tawhid. This study proves that human identity according to Hamka is relational, ethical, and transformed through dynamic moral agency.
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