Principles of Tafsir

From Silvers

back to Tafsir

back to Ulum al-Qur'an

• (comments from Laury): This page is incomplete. When completing it give thought to the organization of the ideas. It seems from the way they are (not really) laid out here the reader does not grasp the technical distinctions. Direct quotes are not an acceptable form of explanation. One should summarize and explain the points in one's own words, then cite the source or quote it and cite it. Check for confusing spelling errors as well (i.e., exotic).

From Dr. Mahmoud Ayoub: The Qur'an and Its Interpreters

General science involves two distinct branches

Tafsir means uncovering or unveiling, as when a woman unveils her face or when dawn unveils the sky of the darkness of night. Tafsir must determine whether a verse or passage belongs to the Meccan or Medianan period of revelation, whether it is muhkam (unambiguous verses) or mutashabih (ambiguous verses), abrogating or abrogated, and whether it has a general or specific reference or purport (Zakashi). Tafsir may be characterized as the general elucidation of a verse with the view to discovering its exotic meaning and application.

Ta’wil means the final end (‘aqibah) of a matter, as the Qur’an says: On a day when its [the Qur’an’s] ta’wil [that is, fulfillment] shall come” (Q, 7:53, see also 10:39). Thus it is the final purpose, meaning or end of a thing. Zarkashi defines ta’wil as the act of “referring a verse back to whatever meanings it can bear.” Still another view holds ta’wil to be the iyalah (shaping or arranging of a thing so as to place its various significations in their proper perspectives (see Zarkashi). In addition, Ta’wil is the science of elucidating the general as well as particular meanings of the words of the Qu’ran.

The difference between tafsir and ta’wil, according to some commentators, is that Tafsir is concerned primarily with the transmission (riwayah) of tradition, whereas ta’wil is concerned with the deeper comprehension (dirayah) of the inner meaning of the sacred text (see Zarkashi).

Branches of Tafsir

• Ma'ani (Science of meaning)

This branch of tafsir focuses on understanding a verse, interpreting its obscure words or phrases, and elucidating its general linguistic problems.

Four Aspects: Four Modes of Tafsir

“There are four aspects of Tafsir: one which the Arabs know through their speech, another for the ignorance of which no one may be excused, another aspect which only the learned know, and finally an aspect which only God knows” (Tabari)

• In other words, the aspect of which the Arabs know through their speech- is that which one who understands the Arabic language can understand because it is evident in the plain language. The second aspect is the basic and outlined laws that everyone one, and which no one can be excused from not knowing. The third is a deeper and more analytical aspect that only those that have studied the Qu’ran can really understand. The fourth aspect is that which no one will know because it is forever with God.

In another tradition related on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas, the Prophet declared, ‘The Quran was set down in four modes’ (corresponding to the four aspects of tafsir just cited). The first, he said, concerns lawful and unlawful actions, which everyone must know. The aspect about which the Arabs are best qualified to speak is that relating to their tradition of poetry, their history, and their customs. The mode that is known to God alone consists of the obscure (mutashbih) verses such as those dealing with the end of the world, the blowing of the trumpet on the day of resurrection (see Q 18:99), and the like.

Approaches to tafsir

The first and most important source for the interpretation of the Qur’an is the Qur’an itself. Thus, whenever a verse, phrase or word of he Qur’an may be elucidated by another, no recourse to any other source is necessary.

The second and most important source outside of the Qur’an is the Prophet, whose life, words, and actions (sunnah) are regarded as living commentary on the Qur’an and provide the framework with which tafsir is to be exercised. (this mode is known as tafsir bi-al-ma’thur, tafsir through transmitted prophetic tradition (hadith), and refers primarily to precepts (ahkam) of the Qur’an.