Qur’anic Perspectives on Child Grooming: An Analytical Study of Ibn ‘Ashur’s Tafsir al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir

Abstract

Child grooming involves a gradual process of approaching, manipulating, and gaining control over children for exploitation, including sexual exploitation, and may occur in person or online. Although the Qur’an does not explicitly address child grooming, its teachings on protecting vulnerable people and preventing sexual misconduct offer a basis for examining it. This study analyzes QS. al-Nisa’ [4]: 9, QS. al-Isra’ [17]: 32, and QS. al-Nur [24]: 30–31 in relation to child grooming through Muhammad al-Tahir ibn ‘Ashur’s interpretation in al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir. Using library research and a descriptive-analytical approach, the study reads the three passages together. The analysis finds that QS. al-Nisa’ [4]: 9 emphasizes responsibility toward vulnerable children; QS. al-Isra’ [17]: 32 establishes a preventive principle by prohibiting approaches to adultery; and QS. al-Nur [24]: 30–31 addresses ethical conduct, bodily privacy, and social relations. Viewed through Ibn ‘Ashur’s maqāṣid approach, these passages provide an ethical framework for preventing the manipulation and sexual exploitation of children. The study contributes a Qur’anic interpretation of child protection that extends these preventive principles to the contemporary phenomenon of child grooming.