Commentators

Now we know that as long as the Messenger was alive there could be no disagreement as to the meaning of the Message,

as those around him simply had to ask.

And even when travelling to teach Islam in distant parts,

there was no need to do more than to refer questions back to the Messenger in Madinah.

And the first science of the Qur'an was correct recitation,

and this was passed on from teacher to pupil through the generations, for three hundred years before an attempt was made to put this science into writing,

with the works of al-Anbari and Ibn al-Sayrafi.

And the companions could pass on what explanations they had heard from the lips of the Messenger,

and some of them specialised in this.

And some specialised in the properties and meanings of the Arabic language,

and especially the Quraishi dialect.

What the early companions also passed on, however, was the context of the Message, the 'Asbab al-Nuzul',

the events surrounding the revelation of the various surahs and ayats,

to whom they might have been addressed,

and if they were in answer to specific questions or circumstances.

This context was crucial to an understanding of the Message,

but it was 400 years before al-Wahidi collected and systematised some of the information into something recognised as a separate Qur'anic science,

This was explored by al-Jabari 300 years later,

al-Asqalani 100 years after that,

and al-Suyuti 100 years later still in the 10th century AH.

Another science, 'Ilm al-Makki wal Madini',

knowledge of the place of revelation,

may seem to be similar but actually takes a different approach, dealing with different historical materials,

not just the place, but a much wider view of the revelation as a historical event taking place during a specific period of time.

So this science considered whether the revelations took place during the day or night,

whether the Messenger had company or was alone,

and if in company how did they get there and what were their individual personalities and their relationships.

It was considered as to whether the meaning of the verses was affected by

if he was in a tent or a house or in the open,

stationary or in motion,

whether he was involved in some activity,

and even the weather at the time.

Muslims exercised their imaginations through such questions,

and established a rigorous historical criticism of the nature and purpose of the revelation.

All of these sciences could be found folded within the science of Tafsir,

which after 300 years led to what many consider to be the greatest work of tafsir based on the compilation of tradition, that of al-Tabari,

though over the centuries that followed many well-known commentators followed in his footsteps,

reaching a high point 400 years later with the work of Ibn Kathir.

But the traditions were numerous and varied,

and as the Message of Islam spread rapidly around the world they were quickly swamped by spurious additions,

and a way had to be found to reconcile their differences and judge which were inapplicable.

So the other sciences were brought to bear on this problem,

but all approaches were placed at the service of reason and common sense.

This led to Tafsir based on reason, Tafsir bil-Ra'y,

which took as its foundation that the best commentary on the Qur'an should be the Qur'an itself,

out of which there was a need to develop a critical understanding of the underlying concepts of the Message

so that they could be developed into a general understanding of ways for individuals to behave.

This development of principles of behaviour from the Qur'an were naturally followed

by attempts to find ways of applying those principles in a system of laws that could be applied to the community at large,

and this branch of Tafsir quickly expanded into a vast body of work

specifically focussed on the science of 'Istinbat al-Ahkam',

the Extraction of Law from the Qur'an.

But the best known works of Tafsir bil-Ra'y are perhaps those of Zamakhshari, who lived some 500 years after the Messenger,

and al-Razi who lived 100 years later,

though of course there have been many others since,

such as al-Baydawi and al-Nasafi about 100 years later still.

And of course, all these traditions of Tafsir continue to this present day.

The works of Muhammad Abduh and Rashid Rida are widely read in Egypt,

while the many volumed Tafsir of Shaikh Abul 'Ala Mawdudi have also been translated into English,

as have the Tafsir of another Egyption Muhammad al-Ghazali.

The commentators mentioned below that are mentioned in this level of the Eternity Well, occur frequently in Tafsir collections, even if their complete works are not widely translated.

But they are sufficiently well known for you to be able to find out more about them easily enough if you are interested.

Well known as they are, they are still just a glimpse into the vast library of commentaries on the boundless and inexhaustible Qur'an.

Ibn Mas'ud d.32AH Ibn Abbas d.68AH Ja'far al-Sadiq d.148AH Muqatil ibn Sulayman d.150AH Hud b. Muhakkam d.290AH Al-Tabari d.310AH

Qushayri d.465AH Al-Ghazali d.505AH Maybudi d.520AH Zamakhshari d.538AH al-Tabrisi d.548AH Al-Razi d.606AH

al-Qurtubi d.671AH al-Kashani d.736AH Ibn Kathir d,774AH Burusawi d.1137AH Ibn 'Ajiba d.1224AH Tabataba'i d.1401AH