INTRODUCTION TO TAFSIR - Understanding the foundations of Tafsir in brief

Class 1

What is the importance of learning Tafsir?

Allah SWT says: “And We send down of the Qur’ān that which is healing and mercy for the believers, but

it does not increase the wrongdoers except in loss.” - [Surah al-Isra 17:82].

The verse states the Quran does not just guide, heal and benefit, but it also misguides, increases in loss and

harms:

1. It gives benefit to those that sincerely believe in the Quran and interpret it correctly.

2. It increases in misguidance and loss to those that do not seek correct understanding. They will

think Allah is supporting what they say while this is not the case.

3. Every time a disbeliever disbelieves in a verse it increases them in loss and harm.

The Quran will not cause one effect for everyone, rather, it will depend on each individual. If we want to

benefit from the Quran then we must ensure we understand it properly and use that guidance correctly.

Definitions

1. Quran - The Book revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (‫ )ﷺ‬in the sahih recitations of which

there are 10.

2. Tafsir -

a. Explaining the Quran

b. Discussing related topics - this is quite vague and some Mufassiroon are narrow in what

they will deem a related topic while others are broad. E.g. Allah says, “It is He who created

the heavens and earth…” - [Surah al-Hadid 57:4]. Does this mean all of science is now

Tafsir as the creation of the heavens and earth are related to science?
 c. Deriving lessons and benefits

3. Usul al-Tafsir - Theory or foundational principles a mufassir will use to do Tafsir. The usul will

dictate what tafsir you arrive at.

4. Ulum al-Quran - Any subject at all related to the Quran will fall into this category (history,

tajweed, usul, tafsir, when verses were revealed ect). This is a much broader subject.

Building blocks of Tafsir

1. Definition and determination - When we read a verse, the first step is defining what the words

in the sentence are saying.

2. Taweel of Mushtarak - Some words could have multiple meanings and we may not be sure

which meaning is intended. E.g. ‘Ain can mean eye, river/spring or spy. One may need to decide

which of the meanings is intended.

the verse is saying. E.g. Allah says, “And brought [within view], that Day, is Hell…” - [Surah al-Fajr

89:23]. We can add more details to this through the hadith, “Hell will be brought on that day

with seventy thousand reins, each rein carried by seventy thousand angels.” - [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim]. Its

not that the word has multiple meanings, but rather the word/sentence is vague. It may also be

that stories mentioned in the Quran are summarised, such as the story of Ayub AS, and through

other sources we add details.

These 3 are the building blocks of tafsir and through it we can:

a. Derive lessons (tadabbur).

b. Find wisdoms in why Allah chose how and what He said (Balaghah). We look for lessons

from the subtle phrasing.

4. Nazm - Coherence, order between different verses, passages or surah or even the relations

between Surahs.

History of Tafsir

1. Era of the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬- Tafsir then was not like it is today. He did not go through each word

of the Quran, explaining each meaning, rather, whenever a verse was revealed he (saw) would act

on it and that was tafsir. E.g. when Surah an-Nasr was revealed, with the verse, “Then exalt [Him]

with praise of your Lord and ask forgiveness of Him. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of Repentance.”

- [Surah an-Nasr 110:3] the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬started acting upon it: It was narrated that 'Aishah said:

"The Messenger of Allah (‫ )ﷺ‬used to say when bowing and prostrating: 'Subhanakallahumma,

Rabbana wa bihamdik. Allahumma-ghfirli (Glory be to You O Allah, Our Lord, and praise. O

Allah, forgive me," following the command of the Quran. - [Sunan an-Nasa’i]. The prophet very

rarely did verbal tafsir, it was rare. Vast majority of the time he would act on it. Reason is twofold:

a. Sahabah already had the correct understanding due to their knowledge of the language

and the context.

b. The Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬didn’t want to do tadabbur for us, rather, he wanted later generations

to do this themselves, as Allah says, “Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an?” - [Surah
 an-Nisa 4:82]. Also, this would take too much time as we can see how big books of

Tafsir are. He had conveyed the important parts and the rest he left for us to ponder as

that is one of the purposes of the Quran, for us to ponder on.

2. Era of the Sahabah (RA) - They did not need tafsir because they already knew the context of the

revelation and they also knew the language of the Quran. They did not need much explanation

from the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬, they did not need overt tafsir, but only in things like balagha or for an

exact definition of a word. Sahabah focused on explaining the language and context.

3. Era of the Salaf (RH) - The salaf used judeo-christian sources to explain further. But they also

focussed on the Arabic of the Quran as it needed to be preserved due to its corruption of the

language which occurred with the spread of Islam into different regions. They focussed on what

Allah meant by words not used anymore.

4. Era of books - Then we have tafsir books, al-Tabari being one of the first.

Types of Tafsir

1. Tafsir al-Mathoor - Transmitted tafsir.

Tafsir by referring to Allah, the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬, the salaf or concensus. E.g. the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬said

so and so, or ibn abbas said so and so, or Qatada said so and so about said verse. The source may

also be the language of the Quran. It means you refer to an authority.

2. Tafsir bil-Ra’yi - Tafsir by opinion. Using other sources to explain this verse, although not

directly linked. One is saying its own thing and you are using it your own way to explain another

verse. Two types:

a. Tafsir with sources - Quran, Sunnah, history, observation etc. this and that happened/has

been said, so it must mean xyz.

b. Tafsir with language - This is what the language indicated so it means abc.

Tafsir should be through both transmission and ijtihad. We would need transmission to see what the

Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬said about a verse. Also, arabic was stronger in the past, so we will not understand as well as

the salaf. This is why we need transmission to make sure our tafsir is accurate to their understanding. We
need ijtihad as the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬didn’t explain everything that is in the Quran. Salaf may have done so,

but they are not infallible. Even with their arabic, tafsir is more than just arabic, they have made

inferences, it is not necessary that one of the salaf is right, although consensus would be a different story.

Allah says; “Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an?” - [Surah an-Nisa 4:82], “...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 an-Nahl 16:44], “Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an that you might

understand.” - [Surah Yusuf 12:2]. Earliest tafsir would be very useful for understanding Arabic, and as it

is closer to the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬the explanations may be from him. But, ijtihad did not stop in tafsir, there is

no such thing as an early tafsir that is completely correct. There is more work to be done. It could be that

those who came later are more correct than those that came earlier.

Three Tafsir we will use

Shaykh Akram Nadwi explained that if the people only had these three tafsirs, it would be enough for

them; Tabari for reports, Zamakhshari for language and Razi for ideas.

1. Tabari - He was an early Mufassir approximately 400AH, after Imam Ahmad. He was a

muhaddith and historian.

a. The book - It is called Jami’i al bayan ‘an ta’weel ayi al Quran (The compilation of the

taweel of the verses of the Quran). Before Taweel was synonymous with Tafsir.

b. Style - He would first explain verse in his own wording, in easier words. Use poetry and

other things to explain words. He would then share different opinions on words and

narrate from early scholars for each opinion that he mentions. He would also mention the

different qiraat. At the.end he might, if there is need, explain his preference if there are

differences in opinion, or he would not mention a preference.

c. Methodology - Follow the majority opinion of the salaf. Even if he did not like that

opinion and preferred another due to language and context. If there was no majority

opinion he would prefer depending on other factors. He mentioned israiliyaat by

being israiliyaat. However, if it was accepted by the majority he would prefer it.

2. Zamakshari - Caution may be required when using his works.

a. The book -al Khashaaf haqaiq gawamidh al tanzeel (Uncovers the truth about the

confusing things about revelation).

b. Style - brief explanations of verses and discussing alot of balagha (wisdoms behind the

language).

c. Methodology - Largely fouccsed on language. He is extremely bad at hadith and narrating

from the salaf in terms of quoting, verifying and references. He is from the mutazilah and

is not sunni which is why caution should be taken. No one takes from him unless strong

aqida and can see differentiate between the good and the abd in his works.

3. Razi - Writings one generation after Zamakshari. Almost a response to the mutazila.

a. The book - Mafateeh ul-ghayb (Key to the unseen).

b. Style - very broad tafsir, he saw tasfir as an extremely broad thing. He would argue, “I can

speak about 10,000 discussion points for fatihah,” justifying it by saying “All praise is to

Allah” can only be understood by counting the blessings, and that is more than 10,000.

Some say “Tafsir of razi included everything except tafsir,” an exegeration but this is how

broad his tafsir was. It included many topics. Razi speaks much about nazm between

verses.

c. Methodology - Focussed on language and intellect. Very logical and calculated, “this word

can mean many things, if it means a then this means this, if it means b then it can be 2

possible things ect ect” we call this Wujoo. Very bad at hadith. E.g. when explaining Hamd

and shukr he uses the hadith, “Whoever does not thank people has not thanked Allah.” -

[Sunan Abī Dāwūd]. The actual hadith uses shukr, but he uses the other word (hamd) to

defend his point. Not good at quoting, references or verifying. He is simply not that

practiced in hadith. He is also Ashari, does alot of kalam so you need to understand his

aqidah to understand his works.

Useful terminology
Tafsir can be divided into these categories:

1. Definitive: Binding on every muslim to believe. For example: la ilaha ila huwa. No room for

debates. Or if Allah swt explains what it means. Eg: al qariah, mal qariah.

2. Strong: Strong evidence that something means this. Can become strong because there is no

alternative. No other tafsir.

3. Ok:

4. Weak

5. Unsupported

6. False

Misc must check - another verse saying something similar makes your opinion stronger but not weaken. But, hadith

that prophet saw said so and so makes other opinons weak.