8-6-2016 Devaint Tafseer

The Quraan, Gods final book of revelation to man,

represents the primary source of the principles which
constitute the way of life known as Islaam. The passages
of the Quraan contain advice and guidance in the form of
laws,parables, stories, and arguments for those who
choose to believe in God and the Day of Judgment.
Hence, a believers success and happiness in this life and
the next largely depend on his understanding,
internalization, and application of the concepts contained
in the Book. However, the depth of comprehension of the
Quraans meanings will vary from individual to individual
due to natural differences in intelligence. This variation
existed even among the sahaabah (companions of
Prophet Muhammad (r), in spite of the Quraans clarity of
expression and its revelation in seven different dialects.
Moreover, Allaah, the Most Wise, chose to place
generalities in the Quraan, some of which He later
explained in its other verses, while some he explained
only to the Prophet (r).The Prophet (r) knew and
understood the Quraan completely because Allaahhad
chosen him and explained it all to him. Hence, Allaah said
in one verse

Indeed, upon Us is its collection [in your heart] and [to

make possible] its recitation. So when We have recited it
[through Gabriel], then follow its recitation. Then upon Us
is its clarification [to you].

(Surah Qiyamah 17-19)

Therefore, it was the Prophets job to explain the Quraan
to his followers by his actions, as well as his statements.
Allaah stated this in the Quraan:

And We revealed to you the message that you may make

clear to the people what was sent down to them and that
they might give thought. (surah Nahal 44)

Consequently, the sahaabah all turned to the Prophet (r)

whenever possible during his lifetime for the tafseer
(explanation, understanding, interpretation) of the
Quraan. For example, Ibn Masood related that when the
following verse was revealed:

They who believe and do not mix their belief with

injustice - those will have security, and they are [rightly]
guided.(surah anam 82)

some of the companions became distressed, because the

general linguistic meaning of thulm covers any kind of
wrong, major or minor, and none of them

were free from error. However, when they approached the

Prophet about it, he replied,

This is not how you understand but its like what Luqman
As said to his son

And [mention, O Muhammad], when Luqman said to his

son while he was instructing him, "O my son, do not
associate [anything] with Allah . Indeed, association [with
him] is great injustice." (Surah Luqman 13)
Among the sahaabah who became the most noted for
their ability to make tafseer of the Quraan are the
following: The four Righteous Caliphs,27 the Prophets
wife, Aaishah bint Abee Bakr, Ibn Masood, Ibn Abbaas,
Ubayy ibn Kab, Zayd ibn Thaabit, Aboo Moosaa al-
Asharee, Abdullaah ibn az-Zubayr, Anas ibn Maalik,
Abdullaah ibn Umar, Jaabir ibn Abdullaah, and
Abdullaah ibn Amr ibn al-Aas

(Al-Itqaan fee Uloom al-Quraan, vol. 2, p. 239.)

The Method of Tafseer The Quraan is the last book of

divine revelation sent to man, and Allaah has promised to
protect it from any distortion or loss. He said in the
Quraan:

Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed,

We will be its guardian.(Surah Hijir 9)

Its written and recited forms have been preserved without

even the slightest change for over fourteen hundred
years He also safeguarded the original meaning. If the
protection of the Quraans meaning had not taken place,
deviants would have turned the Book of Allaah into a
jumble of symbols, riddles and codes open to a
multiplicity of interpretations, and its original meaning
would have been lost. Allaah preserved the meaning of
the Quraan by explaining some of its generalities within
the Quraan itself and by entrusting the tafseer of the
remainder to His Messenger, Muhammad ibn Abdillaah
 1. Tafseer of Quraan by Quraan:

There are many places in the Quraan where

questions are asked in order to catch the mind of the
reader and subsequently answered to increase the
impact of the concept in question. In other places,
general statements are made and then later
explained in order to vary the modes of presentation
and encourage readers and listeners to reflect more.
This self-explanatory process is referred to as tafseer
Islamic Online University Usool at-Tafseer
http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com 21 of the
Quraan by Quraan. Allaah chose to clarify what He
intended by revealing other explanatory verses. For
example, Allaah asks,

By the sky and the night comer. And what can make you
know what is the night comer? It is the piercing star
(Surah Tariq 1-3)

Allaah also states in the Quraan:

O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts. Lawful for

you are the animals of grazing livestock except for that
which is recited to you [in this Qur'an] (surah al maidah
1)

Two verses later He details the exceptions to the general

rule:
Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of
swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than
Allah , and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a
violent blow or by a head-long fall or by the goring of
horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten,
except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death],
and those which are sacrificed on stone altars, and
[prohibited is] that you seek decision through divining
arrows. That is grave disobedience (surah al maidah 3)

2. Tafseer of Quraan by the Sunnah:

On many occasions, the Prophet (r) added further

clarification to various verses of the Quraan. Allaah
had entrusted the job of explaining the Quraan to
the Prophet (r). This trust was expressed in the
Quraan in no uncertain terms,

Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], al-

Kawthar.

(surah al khuthar 1)

referred to a river in Paradise which Allaah has given him.

(Reported by Anas and collected by Muslim (Sahih

Muslim, vol. 1, p. 220, no. 790) and Ahmad.)
Then upon Us is its clarification [to you].(Surah Qiyamah
19)

Ibn Abbaas explained that the statement, Then it is for

Me to explain it, means, upon your tongue [O
Muhammad]. 80 Consequently, no other human
interpretation can be given precedence over that of the
Prophet. ( Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol. 6, p. 422, no. 450.)

3. Tafseer of Quraan by Aathaar:

Whenever the sahaabah could not find the tafseer of a

passage in the Quraan itself or in the Sunnah, they would
use their own reasoning based on their knowledge of the
contexts of the verses Consequently, one of the greatest
commentators of the Quraan, Ibn Katheer, wrote in the
preface of his tafseer, If we are unable to find a suitable
tafseer in the Quraan or in the Sunnah, we go to the
opinions of the sahaabah. For verily, they knew the
Quraan better than anyone else due to their knowledge
of the circumstances of its revelation, their complete and
accurate understanding of it, and their righteous deeds.
These explanations of the sahaabah are known as tafseer
by aathaar (the sayings of the sahaabah). For example,
when Ibn Abbaas was questioned about the verse:

And tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their

vision and guard their private parts and not expose their
adornment except that which [necessarily] appears

(surah al Noor 31)

he replied, It refers to the face and hands. (Collected by
Ibn Abee Shaybah in al-Musannaf, vol. 4, p. 283, and al-
Bayhaqee in as-Sunan alKubraa. Al-Albaanee ruled in
Jilbaab al-Marah al-Muslimah, pp. 59-60, that the isnaad
of this statement is saheeh.)

However, the tafseer transmitted from the Prophet (r) and

the sahaabah did not cover all of the verses of the
Quraan. The Prophet (r) explained only what was unclear
to the sahaabah, and they, in turn, only explained what
was unclear to the taabioon

4. Tafseer of Quraan by Language:

With the passage of time, words took on new meanings

and old meanings became lost, foreign words entered
into the language, and vast sections of vocabulary fell
into disuse. This natural process necessitated the
explanation of some of the Quraanic words according to
their literal and grammatical meanings. Consequently,
this period witnessed the appearance of dictionaries
written specifically to deal with Quraanic Arabic
vocabulary and philology. In cases where words had more
than one meaning, this step created differences of
opinion which could only be solved by finding some
support in the Sunnah. For example, lams literally
means to touch, but figuratively it means sexual
intercourse. Thus, the later scholars were of two basic
opinions concerning the following verse,
.or you have contacted women and find no water,
(Surah an Nisa 43)

Imaams ash-Shaafiee and Maalik held that it meant the

touch of the hand, though each imaam added certain
stipulations to it. On the other hand, Imaam Aboo
Haneefah ruled that it meant sexual intercourse.
However, the Prophets wives reported that he kissed
them before performing salaah, which indicated that
touching was not intended by this verse. (The hadeeth is
reported by Aaishah and collected by Aboo Daawood
(Sunan Abu Dawud, vol. 1, p. 43, no. 179), at-Tirmithee,
Ibn Maajah and Ahmad. Al-Albaanee authenticated it in
Saheeh Sunan Abee Daawood, vol. 1, p. 36, no. 165.)

5. Tafseer of Quraan by Opinion:

Opinions based on a careful study of the first four

steps can be considered valid as long as they do not
contradict any of those steps. Likewise, the
application of obvious meanings of the Quraan to
existing situations and the formation of conclusions
based on their similarities are also allowed, as long
as such interpretations do not clash with authentic
classical explanations.

Deviant Tafseers:
The only acceptable tafseer is that which adheres to
the following sequence: tafseer of Quraan by the
Quraan, then by the Sunnah, then by the sayings of
the sahaabah, then by language, and finally by
opinion, as long as it is based on the preceding four
methods and does not contradict any of them

Opinion-based argument about the Quraan is kufr.

He repeated it three times, then said, What you
know of it, act upon; and what you are ignorant of,
refer it to one who knows. (Reported by Aboo
Hurayrah and collected by Ahmad, Ibn Jareer in his
Tafseer and Aboo Yalaa. Authenticated by al-
Albaanee in Silsilah al Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah, vol.
4. pp. 26-8.)

In order to clarify the potential danger and corruption

inherent in tafseer by unsubstantiated opinion, the
following examples of deviant tafseers have been
collected from various movements, sects, and
philosophical schools from the distant past to the
present.

In the Mutazilee (Rationalist) tafseers of the

Abbaasid era, revelation was interpreted according
to human logic. Hence, the word heart in the
following verse was given a new meaning:
 And (remember) when Ibraaheem said, My Lord,
show me how You give life to the dead. [Allaah]
replied, Do you not believe? Ibraaheem said, Yes,
but (I am asking You) in order that my heart may be
at rest. (Al baqra 260)

It was claimed that Ibraaheem had a friend whom he

referred to as his heart and, thus, the true meaning
of the verse was, Yes, but I am asking You in order
that my friend may be at ease. (This tafseer given
by Ibn Fawrak is quoted in Mabaahith fee Uloom al-
Quraan, p. 358.)

This interpretation was considered necessary to

explain away the doubt which Ibraaheem felt in his
heart, as it seemed inconsistent with prophethood,
according to the Rationalists

According to Elijah, since the white man resembles the

black man, he was referred to as mankind in the
Quraan, that is, a kind of man!104 Therefore, in the
verse:

O mankind, verily, We105 have created you from a male

and a female (Surah al Hujraat 13)
We was interpreted by Elijah to refer to the black
men/gods who supposedly created the white race
(mankind).( Message to the Black Man in America, p. 118)

These few examples of tafseers based solely on sectarian

opinions clearly show the incoherence and deception that
result from the disregard for the correct method of
tafseer. The Quraan becomes a voice for each sects
deviant and heretical claims. The Quraan is manipulated
mercilessly, as there are no logical boundaries nor
coherent rules by which the founders of these sects
abide; hence, the same verse may have a multiplicity of
meanings for them. Whatever interpretation promotes
their ideas become correct. For them, the Quraan is no
longer a book of guidance, but a book containing the
hidden secrets of their sect, which only their leaders and
the specially initiated can unlock.