Al-Tafsir wa l-mufassirun (book)

Al-Tafsir wa l-mufassirun fi thawbih al-qashib

Author	Muhammad Hadi Ma'rifat
Language	Arabic
Series	2
Subject	Quranic sciences
Publisher	Daftar-i Nashr-i Danishgah-i Ulum-i Islami-yi Radawi

Al-Tafsīr wa l-mufassirūn fī thawbih al-qashīb (Arabic: التفسير و المفسرون في ثوبه القشيب) is a book written in Arabic by Muhammad Hadi Ma'rifat concerning Quranic sciences. The book is a defense of Shiite beliefs against al-Dhahabi's al-Tafsir wa l-mufassirun.

The book is published in two volumes. The first volume is about the definition of the Quranic exegesis (tafsir), ta'wil, translation, and the history of Quranic exegesis. The second volume concerns speculative (ijtihadi) and hadith-based (athari) methods of Quranic exegesis, among other things. The book particularly considers fabricated hadiths and Isra'iliyyat.

Author

Muhammad Hadi Ma'rifat (d. 2007) was a Shite scholar of Quranic sciences. He wrote books such as al-Tafsir wa l-mufassirun, al-Tamhid fi ulum al-Qur'an, al-Tafsir al-athari al-jami', Shubuhat wa rudud hawl al-Qur'an, and Siyanat al-Qur'an min al-tahrif.

Contents and Structure

Al-Tafsir wa l-mufassirun fi thawbih al-qashib is a book concerning Quranic sciences published in two volumes. According to the preface of the book, Muhammad Hadi Ma'rifat wrote the book after he read the books, Kitab madhahib al-tafsir al-Islami and al-Dhahabi's al-Tafsir wa l-mufassirun, and found untrue anti-Shiite and anti-Islamic contents therein. It is believed by some that the motivation for writing the book was to introduce and continue the exegetical practice of the Prophet's selected companions, prominent Tabi'un, and the Imams (a). The book begins with an introduction in which features of the book and the reasons for its writing are mentioned.

Exegesis, Ta'wil, Translation, and the Statement of Views

The first three chapters of the first volume of the book concern the definition, conditions, and kinds of Quranic exegesis and its relationship with ta'wil as well as Quranic translation and the Quranic parlance. The rest of the volume concerns the historical development of Quranic exegesis from the period of the Prophet (s), Sahaba, and Tabi'un as well as the role of Ahl al-Bayt (a) in the exegesis of the Qur'an. Chapter seven of the volume provides biographies prominent exegetes after Tabi'un. Some materials in the last chapter of volume one are supplemented with additional materials at the beginning of volume two.

Hadith-Based and Speculative Quranic Exegeses

The second volume of al-Tafsir wa l-mufassirun has two parts. The first part concerns issues such as hadith-based (athari or naqli) exegesis, its problems, fabricated exegetical hadiths, Isra'iliyyat, Shiite and Sunni hadith-based exegeses, and the most important Shiite and Sunni hadith-based exegeses since the 3rd/9th century. The second part concerns issues such as the method of speculative exegesis, jurisprudential, comprehensive, scientific, literary, philological, ordinal (tartibi), thematic (mawdu'i), social, and mystical exegeses of the Qur'an.

Features and Objections

Researchers characterize the book as follows.

• Sources: the book is characterized by its reference to a vast number of credible sources. Muhammad Hadi Ma'rifat has referred to over 500 sources, including those concerning Quranic sciences, history, and encyclopedias.

• Innovative contents: according to Muhammad Hadi Ma'rifat, the book contains innovative contents, such as the principles of ta'wil, the role of Ahl al-Bayt (a) in the exegesis of the Qur'an, and the classification of exegetical methods into speculative and hadith-based.

• Isra'iliyyat: the book devotes a separate chapter to Isra'iliyyat or fabricated hadiths which pose challenges to Shiite and Sunni hadith-based exegeses of the Qur'an.

• The first Shiite work on the subject: some people believe that, before Muhammad Hadi Ma'rifat, no Shiite scholar wrote an independent work concerning the Quranic exegesis and Quranic sciences, although there were scattered works concerning the issue.

• Defense of Shiite beliefs: Ayatollah Ma'rifat wrote this book as a reply to al-Dhahabi's al-Tafsir wa l-mufassirun. In this book, al-Dhahabi raises objections to Shiite principles. He is believed to have unfairly and biasedly criticized well-known Shiite exegeses, such as Mir'at al-anwar, Majma' al-bayan, Tafsir al-safi, and Tafsir al-Imam al-Hasan al-'Askari (a). Thus, Ayatollah Ma'rifat wrote the book, al-Tafsir wa l-mufassirun fi thawbih al-qashib, to defend Shiite beliefs and Shiite exegeses of the Qur'an.

Ma'rift's book has also been criticized by some researchers, for example:

• Failing to include all schools of the Quranic exegesis: some people believe that Ayatollah Ma'rifat restricted exegetical schools to those in Mecca, Medina, Kufa, Syria, and Basra, ignoring other schools such as Egypt and Yemen.

• Failing to give an account of Ahl al-Bayt's presence in Medina: it is believed by some people that the book, al-Tafsir wa l-mufassirun, does not provide an account of Ahl al-Bayt's presence and influence in Medina and their replies to Quranic questions.