The Spring of My Heart (QUR101) Week Nine Handout – Course Notes
Exegetes of the Quran
THE EARLY EXEGETES (SAHABAH)
ABDULLAH IBN ‘ABBAS
Hadith (to the effect of the words) : Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas stayed at the Prophet (saw)’s house overnight. The Prophet (saw) woke up for tahajjud and went to relieve himself. When he (saw) came out, he found that ibn ‘Abbas had made some arrangement for water for him to perform ablution from. Upon this he made a special supplication for him:
Allahumma faq-qih-hu fid-deen wa ‘allimhut-ta’weel O Allah grant him understanding of the religion and teach him the (science of) interpretation.
Incident during the khilafah of Umar (ra): Umar (ra) had a question to ask about Surah an-Nasr regarding which he asked ibn ‘Abbas (ra).
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The Spring of My Heart (QUR101) Week Nine Handout – Course Notes
Imam al-Mufassireen
Largest number of tafseer narrations
Most reliable of chains from ibn ‘Abbas: Abu Salih Mu’awiyah ibn Salih Ali ibn Abi Talha
Book : Tanweer ul Miqyaas fi Tafseer ibn ‘Abbas
ALI IBN ABI TALIB Abu Tufail: I heard Ali give a khutbah in which he said, “Ask me anything about the Book of Allah for by Allah there is not a single verse in the Quran except I know whether it was revealed by day or night, whether it was revealed on the planes or in the mountains.”
Ali (ra) moved to Kufa hence his teachings spread there.
ABDULLAH IBN MAS’UD Hadith (Bukhari): “If you would like to read the Quran then read it to ibn Mas’ud.”
More narrations than Ali (ra)
Masruq ibn al-Ajda’: “ibn Mas’ud spent most of his day in tafseer.” “I benefitted from many sahabah and I came to the conclusion that the knowledge of all the sahabah is contained within 6 men: Umar, Ali, ibn Mas’ud, Zayd ibn Thabit, Abu Darda and Ubay ibn Ka’b.
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The Spring of My Heart (QUR101) Week Nine Handout – Course Notes
The knowledge of these 6 is contained within 2: Ali and ibn Mas’ud. ” (^may Allah swt be pleased with them all)
UBAY IBN KA’B Qari “Aqra’uhum Ubay ibn Ka’b”
Even in ‘Abbas benefitted from him First mufassir whose tafseer was compiled in book format Ibn Jarir, ibn Hatim, Imam Hakim (d. 405 AH) all narrated from this book
OTHERS Zayd ibn Thabit Mu’azh ibn Jabal Abdullah ibn Umar Abdullah ibn Amr Aaishah Jabir Abu Musa al-Ash’ari Anas ibn Malik Abu Hurayrah (^may Allah swt be pleased with them all)
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The Spring of My Heart (QUR101) Week Nine Handout – Course Notes
THE LATER EXEGETES (TABI’IN)
MUJAHID IBN AL-HAJJAAJ AL-MAKHZUMI
(D. 103 AH) Special student of ibn ‘Abbas Completed the reading of the Quran with ibn ‘Abbas 30 times and the tafseer 3 times Qataadah: “a’lamu man baqiya bit-tafseer” Respected among the sahabah “I spent time with ibn Umar…I used to intend to serve him but he would serve me…” Ibn Umar: “How I wish my son Salim ibn Abdillah ibn Umar and my servant Naafi’ had a memory like yours.” Most authentic of narrations
SAEED IBN AL-JUBAYR (D. 94 AH) Famous for his zuhd Martyred by al-Hajjaaj Wrote a tafseer book
‘IKRAMAH MAWLA IBN ‘ABBAS (D. 94 AH) “I spent 40 years seeking knowledge.” Ash-Sha’bi (regarding ‘Ikramah): “In our times no one remains who is more knowledgeabale about the Book of Allah”
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The Spring of My Heart (QUR101) Week Nine Handout – Course Notes
TAWUS Abu Abdur Rahman Tawus ibn Kaysan al-Hinyari al-Jundi From Jund (Yemen) Learnt from the sahabah Performed 40 haj Imam Zuhri: “If you see Tawus, you can believe he will not lie.” (D. 95 AH)
‘ATHAA IBN ABI RABAAH Muhammad ‘Athaa ibn Abi Rabaah al-Makki al-Quraishi Born during the khilafah of Uthman (ra) Ibn Jurayj: “For 20 years the floor of the masjid remained his bed.”
SA’EED IBN AL-MUSAYYAB Sa’eed ibn al-Musayyab ibn Hazan al-Qurayshi al-Makhzumi Son in law of Abu Hurayrah (ra) Story: was present for the azhan for 40 years
MUHAMMAD IBN SIREEN Muhammad ibn Hisham stayed at his house…”laughed during the day and cried at night…” Anas (ra) requested that ibn Sireen give his ghusl when he dies
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The Spring of My Heart (QUR101) Week Nine Handout – Course Notes
POPULAR TAFASIR
TAFSEER IBN KATHEER
Imam Abul-Fidaa Ismaeel ibn al-Khateeb Abi Hafs Umar ibn Katheer ash-Shafi’i
(D. 747 AH) Also a muhaddith (mostly sound narrations)
AL-TAFSEER AL-KABEER (MAFAATEEH UL-GHAYB)
Imam Fakhrud-Deen Muhammad ibn ad-Deen Umar ar-Razi (D. 606 AH) Unmatched detail and organization Features: grammatical analysis / asbaab un-nuzul / fiqh / refutes sects comprehensively / rubut between the verses
TAFSEER QURTUBI TAFSEER ABI SA’UD
Qadhi Sa’ud Muhammad ibn Al-Jaami’ li Ahkaam il-Quran Muhammad al-Hanafi (D. 671AH)
(D. 951 AH) Maliki scholar (from Andalus – Spain) Features: full force of ‘I’jaaz Features: fiqh / balaaghah
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The Spring of My Heart (QUR101) Week Nine Handout – Course Notes
RUHUL-MA’ANI
Allaamah Mahmud Aalusi al- TAFSEER AL-JALAALAYN
Hanafi Imam Suyuti (D. 270 AH) Features: very concise Features: connections / deeper meanings / 30 volumes
TAFSEER AL-KASHAAF Zamakhshari Mu’tazili scholar Features: most points comply with our aqeedah hence accepted
AHKAAM UL-QURAN
Al-Jassaas
MODERN TAFASIR AL-BAYDHAWI Qadi Baydhawi Ma’aariful Quran
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