Tafsir Al-tabari

[Annette Fazzari]

Tabarifinished his work in 883, often dictating sections to his students.[1][4] It is his second great work after "History of the Prophets and Kings" (Tarīkh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk), also known as "Tarikh al-Tabari".

Tabari has relied on narratives of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, including narrations and comments of sahabah and tabi'in where necessary. Tabari supplies the chain of narrations for the reports included in the commentary, sometimes elaborating on the trustworthiness of narrators.[1][5] Narratives are selected based on their authenticity; a notable example is the rejection of the same historical sources he had already used for his historical works.

In the preface, general facts about the Quran are given, including its superiority to any other text, what tafsir and tawil are, the seven qira'at, companions who commented on the Quran and the naming of the suras.[1][6]

The language of the Quran, Arabic, is discussed and the view that there are foreign words in the Quran is rejected.[1][7] Tabari mentions that these foreign words are coherent with Arabic, entering the Arabic language before the revelation of the Quran, and that they are very rare, and cannot be used as counter evidence that the Quran is Arabic.[vague]

Interpretations start with "al-qawlu fī ta'wīli qawlihi ta'ālā" (English: The tawil of this word of God is) for every verse. Then hadith and other previous interpretations are stated and classified according to their compatibility to each other. Interpretation using other verses and Arabic language is favored, qualifying this tafsir as riwaya, but the inclusion of critiques and reason is an integral part of the books unique character; as Tabari has refrained from interpretation using merely his own opinion and opposed those who do so.[1][8]

Lexical meanings of words are given, and their use in Arabic culture is examined. Tabari's linguistic views are based on the school of Basra. Opinions of linguists are given where appropriate. Evidence from Arabic poetry is used frequently, sometimes with its origins.[citation needed]

Tabari is also a qira'at scholar, reflected in his opinions on qira'at debates in his book. Choices of qira'at are usually given according to the Kufa school. Sometimes both qira'at are preserved, leaving the choice to the reader.[1][9]

Mansur I, a Samanid king who ruled in Khorasan between 961 and 976, asked for the legal opinion (fatwa) of jurists on the permissibility of translating the Quran into Persian. The scholars affirmed that reading and writing the translation of the Quran in Persian was permissible for those who did not speak Arabic. Subsequently, the King ordered a group of scholars from Transoxiana and Khorasan to translate Tafsir al-Tabari into Persian. The Persian translation of the tafsir has survived and has been published numerous times in Iran.

Heres one to make my sunni friends happy:) You know I have a good salafi friend (brother taha would know him aswell) and he was always really big on Ibn-Katheer, but no wonder, after some research I found out that he is the student of Ibn Taymiyya!!

I would disagree with some of their opinions regarding qur'aanic commentary and in particular their classifications of muhkam and mutashaabih verses. I think Allama Tabatabaa'ee deals with that pretty well in his "Qur'aan dar Islaam" :)

With relation to the book Maqtal al-Husain, attributed to Abi Mikhnaf, be very cautious as the currently circulated version's authenticity is seriously doubted by shia scholars, for the following reasons:

yes ahsant. But just so theirs no confusion, apparently the version that you are talking about is being circulated in places like Qom. Theres actually another version (which you may have come across) that's in fact even been traslated into english. I think the islamicdigest.net team are responsible for its circulation...

also, just to clear up an earlier remark I made about ibn kathir and ibn taymiyya. A good brother had pointed out to me that their aqeedas where quite different. Ibn Katheer was a shaafe'ee and Ibn taymiyya a Hanbalee. So it doesnt do justice to say that the student was like the teacher. they both had their own approaches and ideologies

I do not know of any Ulema who have labeled Imam Tabari an extremist Shia, save a few whose opinions are not regarded for they based their Jarh on personal rivalry, and it is known that such a Jarh is not acceptable.

Yet it is well known that Imam Tabari made some rivals during him time, most notably the Hanbalis, due to a book he wrote on the Ikhtilaf of the Fuqaha in which he failed to mention Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal. When asked why he answered that Imam Ahmad was more of a scholar of hadith then fiqh. One of the prominent Hanbalis who opposed Tabari was Abu Bakr ibn Dawud, and he was the one who started spreading the belief that Tabari was an extremist Shia as Dhahabi states. [3]

واخرج بن عساكر من طريق محمد بن علي بن محمد بن سهل بن الإمام قال سمعت أبا جعفر الطبري وجرى ذكر علي فقال أبو جعفر من قال ان أبا بكر وعمر ليسا بامامي هدى أيش هو فقال له بن الأعلم مبتدع فقال له الطبري منكرا عليه مبتدع مبتدع هذا يقتل من قال ان أبا بكر وعمر ليسا بامامي هدى يقتل يقتل

- Ibn Asakir narrated that Al Tabari once asked scholar what is the ruling concerning one who says that Abu Bakr and Umar are not two guided Imams (or Imams of guidance). He replied: He is an innovator. Al Tabari said angrily: Innovator!! Innovator!! Whoever says that Abu Bakr and Umar are not two guided Imams should be killed! Should be killed! [4]

محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري الإمام الجليل المفسر أبو جعفر صاحب التصانيف الباهرة مات سنة عشر وثلاث مائة ثقة صادق فيه تشيع يسير وموالاة لا تضر اقذع أحمد بن علي السليماني الحافظ فقال كان يضع للروافض كذا قال السليماني وهذا رجم بالظن الكاذب بل بن جرير من كبار أئمة الإسلام المعتمدين وما تدعي عصمته من الخطأ ولا يحل لنا أن نوذيه بالباطل والهوى فان كلام العلماء بعضهم في بعض ينبغي ان يتأتى فيه ولا سيما في مثل امام كبير فلعل السليماني أراد الآتي انتهى ولو حلفت ان السليماني ما أراد الا الآتي لبررت والسليماني حافظ متقن كان يدري ما يخرج من رأسه فلا اعتقد انه يطعن في مثل هذا الإمام بهذا الباطل والله أعلم وانما نبرا بالتشيع لأنه صحح حديث غدير خم وقد اغتر شيخ شيوخنا أبو حيان بكلام السليماني فقال في الكلام على الصراط في اوايل تفسيره

Ibn Hajar said: "He is Thiqqa, truthful, and had slight Shiasm in him and allegiance (muwala) that does not harm. Ahmad ibn Ali Al Sulaymani , the Hafidh, has exaggerated. He (Sulaymani) said: He used to fabricate (hadiths) for Rafidites, such said Al-Sulaymani, and this is accusing with lying thoughts, rather Ibn Jarir is one of the big Imams of Islam whom people depend on, and we do not claim his infallibility not to make mistake, and it is not permissible for us to harm him with falsehood and whims."

He said: " He has only been accused of Shiasm because he authenticated the hadith of Ghadeer Khum, and the Shaikh of our Shaikhs , Abu Hayan, was deceived by the statement of Al Sulaymani so he said with regards to Al Sirat in the beginning of his tafsir: "And Abu Jafar Al Tabari, who is one of the Imams of Imamiya, said that Sirat is in the accent of Quraysh etc" and I have pointed this out so that no one would be deceived by it for the Imams of hadith have mentioned his biography at his time and later and did not describe him as such, rather he was harmed because his name and his father's name , as well as his Kunya, time and multitude of books he authored is shared (with a Rafidi scholar referreing to Muhammad Ibn Jarir Ibn Rustum Al-Tabari who is a Rafidi scholar), and Allah knows best, such said Al-Khateeb. [5]

In addition to presenting the standard Classical and Modern Commentaries on the Holy Quran (tafsir or tafseer) texts of all eight schools of jurisprudence, the site also contains works of various mystical, philosophical, linguistic and theological currents. Moreover, the first time in one place, comparative studies between the Shafii, Hanafi, Maliki, Hanbali, Jafari, Zaydi, Ibadi and Thahiri schools can be carried out complete with multi-screen displays and search programs.

Through an enormous scholarly labour, each of the Quranic Commentaries (tafsir or tafseer) has been typed in, word by word, individually, and at least triple checked by different teams of scholarsnone have been scanned inin order to make it possible, through the use of the latest technology, to search and cross-reference for single words or groups of words, hadiths, or Quranic verses anywhere on website database.

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