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A tafsir ( (Arabic: تفسير )tafsīr, also transliterated tafseer, Arabic "explanation") is Qur'anic exegesis or commentary. Someone who writes tafsir is a mufassir ( (Arabic: مفسر ) mufassir, plural (Arabic: مفسرون) mufassirūn).

Sources of Tafsir

The five traditional sources for commentary of the Qur'an are:
  1. The Qur'an. This is regarded as the highest form of tafsir, on the theory that the Qu'ran a) is the word of Almighty God and b) is authoritative when it explains itself. A related Muslim belief is that the Qur'an is c) free of contradiction, and that apparent inconsistencies in its message are inevitably resolved through closer study of the Qur'anic text.
  2. The hadith. Muslims believe that Muhammad was sent, among other reasons, to explain and clarify the Qur'an to people. The accounts of Muhammad's teaching recorded in the hadith collections thus contain much tafsir of the Qur'an, under titles such as "Meaning of Qur'anic verses." An authenticated hadith is regarded the second highest form of tafsir, because the Islamic prophet is explaining it -- but many, of these traditions are disputed.
  3. The reports of the Sahaba. The Sahaba, or companions of Muhammad, also intepreted and taught the Qur'an. If Qur'anic explication is absent, and there is no authentic tradition deriving from Muhammad, then a consensus of the companions may be helpful in interpreting a certain verse, scholars have an obligation to follow that consensus.
  4. The reports of those who learned from the companions. These people grew up in an environment with people who had known the Prophet, so their insight is the next in line of the sources of tafsir. (In addition, the recorded practice of those who lived in the Prophet's city of Medina carry special weight in the Maliki school.)
  5. Reason. A qualified scholar's personal reasoning (deductive logic and personal evaluation of arguments) is the final method of understanding the Qur'an; it exists in conjunction with the other four. See Ijtihad. Early caliphs are strongly associated with this method of tafsir.

Genres of Tafsir

  • Asbāb al-nuzūl: defining the "occasions of revelation" of the suras.
  • Naskh: dealing with the abrogation of one Qur'anic verse by another.

Prohibited Tafsir

Muslims believe that it is prohibited to perform Qur'anic interpretation using solely one's own opinion. This, they base on an authenticated hadith of Muhammad which states that it is prohibited.

The Qur'an, the utmost authority on Islam asserts that the word was sent to all of mankind and it is up to the whole of mankind to receive it and sincerely ponder upon its meaning. Islam acknowledges no "clergy" nor monopolisation of "The Word of God", Islam only acknowledges the "knowledgable" ones from among a community of people, the "Ulama" or scholars. In the Qur'an, God exhorts mankind to "think" and "ponder" and "realise" for themselves, thereby awakening true belief inside each and every human being.

Major Mufassireen

Major Tafsirs of the Qur'an include:

  • Ibn Kathir: "Tafsir ibn Kathir" - A classic tafsir, considered a summary of the earlier Tafseer by Ibn Jarir (at-Tabari). It is especially popular because it uses 'hadith' to explain each verse and chapter of the Qur'an.

  • Fakhr al-Din al-Razi: "Mafateeh ul Ghayb" also known as "Tafsir Kabir" - A voluminous work covering many aspects including science and medicine. Ibn Taymiyyah once critically said of this tafsir that it "contains everything but tafsir".

  • Qazi Abu Saud al-Hanafi: "Irshad ul Aql as-Saleem ila Mazaya al-Qur'an al-Kareem" also known as "Tafsir Abu Saud".

  • Imam Abu Abdullah al-Qurtabi: "al-Jami' li Akam il-Qur'an" by the famous Maliki Jurist of Cordoba. This 10-volume tafsir is a commentary on the Qur'anic verses dealing with legal issues. Although the author was a Maliki he also presents legal opinions of other major schools of Islamic jurisprudence; thus it is popular with jurists from all of the schools of Islamic law. One volume of this tafsir was translated into English by Aisha Bewley.

  • "Tafsir al-Baghwi" - A popular tafsir amongst Sunni Muslims.

  • "Tafsir al-Baydawi" - Shortened version of the above tafsir printed in 2 volumes. In Turkey it is often published with marginal notes by an unknown Turkish Sheikh called 'Konyawi' in 7 volumes.

  • "Tafsir ibn Atiyyah" - A tafsir popular in North West Africa.

  • "Tafsir an-Nasafi" - Written by the great Hanafi theologian Nasafi and published in 2 volumes.

  • "Tafsir Abu Hayyan" also called "Bahr al-Muhit" - This tafsir is in several volumes and contains many stories that some commentators consider to be unreliable. However, it is popular in North Africa as it origiated from Andalusia.

  • "Tafsir Jalalayn" - The great Shafi Sheikh Jalal ud-Din Siyuti wrote 2 tafsirs - one named "Jalalayn" and the other "ad-Durr al-Munu'r". Both are published (the second in several volumes) and the Jalalayn is very popular with Muslims all over the world due to its simplicity.

Modern Mutafassireen

  • Sayyed Qutb: In the Shade of the Qu'ran - Many praise it as a modern tafsir of the Qur'an. However, many critics including some Wahhabi and Salafi scholars say that Qutb had little Islamic knowledge and did tafsir in his own opinion. It has also been attacked for not containing the classical tafsir style (using the above mentioned sources).

  • Amin Ahsan Islahi: Tadabbur-i Qur'an - written by Indian/Pakistani scholar. Based on idea of the nazm (thematic and structural coherence) in the Qur'an.

  • Muhammad Al-Ghazzali, a recent Egyptian scholar (not the Imam Al-Ghazali): "A Thematic Commentary of the Qur'an" - A Tafsir that tries to explore the themes that weave through the entire Qur'an as well as the main theme of each surah.

  • Hadhrat Mirza Basheerud Deen Mahmood. Tafseer e Kabeer*. Written by the second successor and son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, a sect considered out of the fold of Islam by muslim scholars because the founder claimed to be a prophet. It is the most detailed commentary on the Quran in modern times. Like many other tafseers,it has also been published in Arabic, Urdu and English.

Tafsir in other languages

Tafsir was almost always written in Arabic but during the 20th century with the emergence of modern states, the need was felt by Muslims to write commentaries in local languages so that those who do not know Arabic can still have access to the meaning of the Qur'an.

The following are a list of tafsirs that have been written in non-Arabic languages.

  • Elmalili tefsir: Published in 10 volumes it remains the most popular tafsir in the Turkish language.

  • Omer Bilmen: Author of an 8-volume tafsir written in the firct hlaf of XX. century. The language used is an old form of Turkish that many Turks find difficult to understand.

  • Konyali Tefsir. A voluminous tafsir written in simple Turkish language but less popular than the Elmalili tafsir.

See also

External links

Islamic texts | Tafsir

علم التفسير | Tafsir | Tafsir | Tafsir | ตัฟซีร | Tefsir

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Tafsir".

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