Lecture #4: Qur'anic Interpretation and the Interpreters
v The Meaning of Tafsir and Ta'wil
v The Sciences the commentator must know
v The divisions of Commentaries
v Prophetic Commentary
v The Companions commentary
v The Tabi'un commentary
v The well-known books of Tafsir
v Qur’anic Interpretation and Interpreters: Tafsir wal Mufassirun
o Tafsir:
§ Elucidation
§ Explanation
o Shari’a definition:
§ The knowledge that explores the intended meanings of Qur’an to the extent humanly possible.
§ The knowledge of elucidating the meanings of the Book of Allah that was revealed to the Rasul (saw).
v Tafsir and Ta’wil:
o Some scholars say they are synonymous
o Some say ta’wil has deeper meanings, meanings below the surface
v ‘ibn ‘Abbas said there are four types of Tafsir:
o Legal
o Philological
o Scholarly
o Divine (only known to Allah swt)
v 3 Categories of Tafsir:
o Tafsir bi al-Riwaya- focuses on transmitted interpretations
o Tafsir bi al-Ra’i- focuses on interpretations of scholars (scholarly opinions)
o Tafsir bi al-‘Ishara- focuses on allusive interpretations
v Al-Tafsir al-Ma’thur- tafsir based upon transmission:
o Tafsir focuses on transmitted interpretations as explained by:
§ Qur’an
§ Sunnah
§ Sahaba
v 10 greatest interpreters from amongst sahaba:
o Abu bakr
o ‘umar
o ‘uthman
o ‘ali (greatest)
o ‘abdullah bin mas’ud- 6th to accept Islam, Rasul’s servant
o ‘abdullah bin ‘abbas- said he learned everything from ‘Ali
o Ubayy bin Ka’b
o Zayd bin thabit
o Abu musa al-ash’ary
o ‘abdullah bin zubayr
v ‘ibn Abbas was asked how he attained knowledge and he said, “with a sound heart and a smart tongue”
o Half of knowledge is asking good questions
v ‘Ali (ra) when asked about ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud, he said he was the knowledge of Qur’an and Sunnah (meaning he embodied it).
v The Interpreters from the tabi’in:
o Meccan
§ Mujahid bin Jabr
§ Ata’ bin abi Rabah
§ Sa’id bin Jubayr
§ Ikrima Maula ibn ‘Abbas
§ Tawus bin kaysan al-yamani
o Madinan
§ Zayd bin aslam
§ Abu al-‘Aliya
§ Muhammad bin Ka’b
o Iraqi
§ Masruq bin al-Ajda’
§ Qatada bin Da’ama
§ Al-hasan al-basri
§ ‘ata bin abi Muslim
§ Murra al-hamdhani
v Famous Tafsir Works:
o Jami’ al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Qur’an- Imam ibn Jarris al-Tabari (first to include strengths of narration, grading)
o Al-Durr al-Manthur fi al-Tafsir bi al-Ma’thur- Imam al-Din al-Suyuti (also wrote Tafsir al-Jalalyn with his student Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli)
o Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azim- Imam Isma’il bin ‘Umar ibn Kathir (most authentic)
o Ma’alim al-Tanzil- Imam al-Husayn bin Mas’ud al-Baghawi
o There are more than 100 Tafasir
v Pre-requisite knowledge (interpreter must master and be pious):
o Philology
o Grammar
o Morphology
o Rhetoric
o Theology
o Qur’anic Recitations
o Islamic legal theory
o The circumstances behind Revelation
o The Qur’anic Narratives
o The abrogating and abrogated verses
o The Hadith that exposed the general and ambiguous verses
v Tafsir based on Scholarly Reasoning:
o Tafsir al-Jalalyn- Imam Jalal al-Din al-Mahalli and Imam Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti
o Anwar al-Tanzil wa Asrar al-Ta’wil- Imam Nasir al-Din al-Baydawi
o Ma’fatih al-Ghayb- Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi
o Madarik al-Tanzil wa Haqa’iq al-Ta’wil- Imam ‘Abdullah bin Ahmad an-Nasafi
o Lubab al-Ta’wil fi Ma’ani al-Tanzil- Imam ‘Ali bin Muhammad al-Khazin
v Tidbit: “A drop of caprice can spoil an ocean of knowledge”
v Levels of intellect:
o Lower- just knowing basic computations and problem solving
o Higher- light to show what is best at the given moment
Lecture #5: Allusive Interpretations
v Definition
v Foundations
v Conditions for validity
v Famous commentaries
v Qur'anic Examples
Notes:
v Allusive interpretations:
o Elucidation of hidden meanings and subtle indications of Qur’anic verses that appear to those endowed with spiritual insight.
v Abu Hurayra- had two types of knowledge
o One he spread to others while keeping the other type or else people would’ve been taken aback because they wouldn’t be able to grasp it. (like the practice of tasawwuf/tazkiyah)
o Even the Rasul spoke to people at their level of understanding
v Following verses pertinent to knowledge:
o Al-baqara ch.2 v.282
o Al-kahf ch.18 v.65
v Rasul (saw) said, “Every verse has an outward and inward aspect, a limit and a place of rising.”
v Conditions for the validity of allusive interpretations:
o Must not contradict the outward meaning
o Must not claim to be the only meaning
o Must not be an implausible interpretation
o Must not conflict with the sacred law or sound reasoning
v Famous allusive commentaries:
o Lata’if al-Isharat- Imam Abu al-Qasim bin Hawazin al-Qushayri
o Tafsir al-Tustari-Imam Sahl bin ‘Abdullah al-Tustari
o Ruh al-Ma’ani- Imam Muhammad al-Alusi
o Al-Bahr al-Madid- Imam Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba al-Hasani
v Tidbit: Imam Sahl bin ‘Abdullah al-Tustari asked as a youth, “can the heart prostrate?” No one knew so he went to Baghdad looking for an answer where he came in contact with a scholar who told him yes it can, and when it does, it stays in sujood/prostration.
v Examples of allusive interpretation:
o Al-qasas ch.28 v.88 – allusive meaning- everything done someone with Haqq or some truth will stay when everything perishes. It will remain with you and will be preserved.
o Al-kahf ch.18 v.24 – allusive meaning- that you forget everything else because you’re always in remembrance of your Lord.
o Ta-ha ch.20 v.14 – allusive meaning- establish prayer to remember you (with you being yourself)
o Al-naml ch.27 v.34
o Ash-shu’ara ch.26 v.218-219
v ‘Ali (ra) said, “if I were to comment on Sura Fatiha it would take 70 camels to carry all the volume.”
v Sustenance of heart is intellect; sustenance of ruh is rembrance
v Imam al-Ghazali said, lower level of intellect refers to what you know and higher level of intellect is by how you know, by which you know.
v Lexical meaning- refers to how the arabs of the time understood it.
v ‘umar (ra) started the calendar and started it from hijrah.
v Allah in the Qur’an refers to himself in the Royal “We”
v The Rasul has more right to the believers than anyone else and his wives are their mothers (mothers of the believers)
v Almost ½ of the ahkam of shari’a trasmistted from sayyidina ‘Aisha (ra)
Lecture #6
Notes:
v Yawm al-Mazid is referred to as Friday, or the day of abudance
v Rasul (saw) said there are three things that if one has he’ll taste sweetness:
o Allah swt and Rasul saw are more beloved to him than anything
o Love someone for the sake of Allah swt
o Detest returning/falling to Kufr (disbelief)
v Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi said, “the purpose of the Qur’an is to call creation to the worship of God and to enter this religion. Therefore, this purpose necessitates two matters that to them all of the meanings of the Qur’an return:
o A clarification of the worship to which the creation is called
o Motivating the creation to this worship
v Allah’s rahma encompasses everything
v Ibadah- outward worship; ‘uboodiyah- heart’s servitude
v Worship
o Belief (iman)
o Action (amal as-salih)
v Motivation
o Encouragement
o Warning
v Mahal- state; maqam- station
o Going from mahal to maqam is the goal (transiency to permanency)
o Strive to level of Taslim
v ‘Ali (ra) said “whoever worships God out of fear is a slave, whoever worships God in return for paradise is a businessman, and whoever worships Allah because he deserves [out of thanks] to be worshipped is truly free.”
v Seven Themes of the Qur’an:
o God
§ Essence, attributes, actions
o Prophethood
§ Affirming their prophethood, the scriptures, the angles, the way God addresses and praises the prophets
o Afterlife
§ Paradise, hell, the reckoning, the scales, the scrolls, the terrors of day of judgement
o Rulings- the commands and prohibitions
§ Obligatory, wajib
§ Recommended, mandub
§ Permissible, mubah
§ Offensive, makruh
§ Impermissible, haram
o Promises
§ Related to this world
§ Related to the hereafter
o Warnings
§ Related to this world
§ Related to the hereafter
o Stories
§ The previous prophets
§ The righteous
v Imam Junaid said, “stories are the Army of Allah”
v Tidbit:
o Seeing beyond the signpost on the manifesting attributes are the people of recollection
o Book reference- Science of the Cosmos by Willam Chedik; Beyond the Modern Mind by Huston Smith
v The only thing that Allah (swt) created that opposes him and his divine will is, Nafs (prevents us from submission).
v Dual purpose of Life:
o Vicegerency (earth, human beings, and relationship/worship to Lord)
o Servitude
Lecture #7
Notes:
v Outward etiquettes of Recitation:
o Purification
§ Bring in a state of ritual purity
§ Choosing the appropriate place and time
§ Using the siwak
§ Making righteous intentions
o Respectable Posture
§ Standing or sitting respectably
§ Facing qibla
§ Lowering one’s head
o Consistent Recitation
§ Once a year
§ Once every two months
§ Once a month
§ 2 or 3 times a month
§ Once a week
§ Once a day
§ Multiple times a day
o Proper recitation
§ It is an obligation to give every letter its due
§ The purpose of proper recitation is to:
· To assist in contemplation
· To exalt the book of Allah (swt)
· The recitation of prophet
o Weeping
§ It is recommended to weep during recitation
§ The prophet (saw) used to weep constantly
§ The way to evoke weeping from within
o Prostration of recitation
§ Legal rulings pertaining to prostration
§ 14 times in Qur’an where recommended to prostrate
§ Accompanying the prostration with supplication
o Invocations
§ Invocations before, during, and after recitation
o Reciting audibly
§ The minimum amount to be considered audible
§ Some say that recite so others can hear (so louder)
§ Harmony between the two opinions: if afraid of being ostentatious, then low; if not, louder is better (depends on person’s state)
o Beautifying one’s voice
§ Proof from sunna
§ ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud
§ Abu Musa al-Ash’ary
v Rasul said, “he is not from amongst us who does not adorn their voices when reciting Qur’an”
Lecture #8
Notes:
v Inner etiquette of Qur’anic Recitation
o Exaltation of the word of God,
§ exaltation of God himself
§ his symbols i.e. Rasul, Ka’aba, Salah, etc.
o Presence of Mind
§ overcoming inner speech
§ the gardens of meaning in the Qur’an
o Contemplation
§ is beyond presence of mind
§ purpose of recitation is contemplation
§ example of the Prophet and the Righteous predecessors
o Striving to understand the meanings
§ the attributes of God
§ the acts of God
§ The stories of the Prophet
§ The state of deniers
§ The commands and prohibitions
§ The garden and fire
v ‘Ikrima bin abu Jahal became Muslim after battle of ‘Uhud when he had fled from Makkah in fear of being dealt with harsly since his father was abu Jahal (who was given the blow of death by Abdullah bin Mas’ud). When the Rasul had learnt of this, he sent for ‘Ikrima offering him him security and protection from reprisal. Out of concern, the Rasul didn’t even speak ill of abu Jahal (enemy of Islam) in front of him as this would hurt ‘Ikrima. After this, ‘Ikrima became Muslim.
v ‘Uthman said, “were are hearts to become pure we would never become satiated with Qur’an”
v Rasul (saw) said, “the love of this dunya is the fountainhead of all wrong doing”
v Imam al-Haddad said, “you are not a mureed until you find everything you need in the Qur’an”
v Abu Dharr narrates Rasul spent the entire night reciting only one verse
v The heart of the Qur’an is Ya-sin and the heart of Ya-sin is the verse, “salamun qawlam-mir rabbir raheem…”
