Suhuf
Ṣuḥuf (Arabic: صُحُف, literally, the Scriptures) refers to any written work containing divine teachings, rulings and signs. In the Qur'an and hadiths, suhuf refers to the books of the prophets (a) in general and some certain books such as the Qur'an and the book of Prophet Abraham (a). Suhuf is also used to refer to the record of deeds.
Meaning
Suhuf is the plural form of the word "sahifa"[1] meaning "anything spread[2] or anything on which they write."[3]
Some researchers believe that suhuf, in usage, refers to any written work containing divine teachings, rulings and signs revealed to the prophets (a). The material each of these suhuf was made of has been various in different times, sometimes, they have been made of wood, sometimes made of animal skin, sometimes made of paper, etc.[4]
Divine Books
In Qur'an 20:133, God has mentioned these books revealed to the prophets (a) as suhuf.[5]
Also, in the Qur'an 74:52, where it is mentioned that "But everyone of them desires to be given unrolled scriptures [from Allah]!", exegetes have considered the meaning of suhuf as "divine books".[6]
In the Qur'an, the books of Prophets Abraham (a) and Moses (a) are called "suhuf"[7]. Exegetes consider "suhuf of Moses (a)" referring to the Torah and also believe that "suhuf of Abraham (a)" refers to the divine book which was revealed to Prophet Abraham (a).[8] In hadiths, the books of Prophets Adam (a),[9] Seth (a)[10] and Idris (a)[11] are also referred to as "suhuf".
Exegetes believe that the Qur'an 80:13[12] and Qur'an 98:2,[13] "suhuf" refers to "the Qur'an".[14]
Record of Deeds
In Qur'an 81:10, the record of humans' deeds is referred to as "suhuf"[15], "When the records [of deeds] are unfolded".[16] In a hadith, Imam al-Rida (a) referred to the record of people's deeds as "suhuf".[17]
Notes
- ↑ Qurashī Bunābī, Qāmūs-i Qurān, vol. 4, p. 110.
- ↑ Qurashī Bunābī, Qāmūs-i Qurān, vol. 4, p. 111.
- ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 9, p. 186.
- ↑ Muṣṭafawī, al-Tahqīq, vol. 6, p. 198.
- ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī, vol. 3, p. 328.
- ↑ Faḍl Allāh, Tafsīr min waḥy al-Qur'ān, vol. 23, p. 228.
- ↑ the scriptures of Abraham and Moses.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 22, p. 555; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 19, p. 45.
- ↑ Ṭayyib, Aṭyab al-bayān, vol. 1, p. 249.
- ↑ Suyūṭī, al-Durar al-Manthūr, vol. 6, p. 341.
- ↑ Mullā Ḥuwaysh Āl Ghāzī, Bayān al-maʿānī, vol. 5, p. 167.
- ↑ in honoured scriptures,
- ↑ an apostle from Allah reciting impeccable scriptures,
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 10, p. 665; Mughnīya, Tafsīr al-Kāshif, vol. 7, p. 594.
- ↑ When the records [of deeds] are unfolded.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 10, p. 283.
- ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 26.
References
- Faḍl Allāh, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Tafsīr min waḥy al-Qur'ān. Beirut: Dār al-Milāk li-Ṭabā'at wa al-Nashr, 1419 AH.
- Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Muḥammad b. al-Murtaḍā al-. Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī. Edited by Ḥusayn Aʿlamī. 2nd edition. Tehran: Maktabat al-Ṣadr, 1415 AH.
- Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad b. Mukarram. Lisān al-ʿArab. 3rd edition. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 1414 AH.
- Muṣṭafawī, Ḥasan. Al-Tahqīq fī kalimāt al-Qur'ān al-karīm. Tehran: Bungāh tarjuma wa nashr-i kitāb, 1360 Sh.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. 1st edition. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
- Mullā Ḥuwaysh Āl Ghāzī, ʿAbd al-Qādir. Bayān al-maʿānī. 1st edition. Damascus: Maṭbaʿat al-Taraqqī, 1382 AH.
- Mughnīya, Muḥammad Jawād al-. Tafsīr al-Kāshif. Qom: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1424 AH.
- Qurashī Bunābī, ʿAlī Akbar. Qāmūs-i Qurān. 6th edition. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1371 Sh.
- Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-. Tafsīr al-Qummī. Edited by Ṭayyib Mūsawī Jazāʾrī. 3rd edition. Qom: Dār al-Kitāb, 1404 AH.
- Suyūṭī, Jalāl al-Dīn. Al-Durar al-Manthūr fī Tafsīr al-Maʾthūr. Qom: Kitābkhāna-yi Ayatullāh Marʿashī Najafī, 1404 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Edited by Aḥmad Qaṣīr al-ʿĀmilī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, [n.d].
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. 5th edition. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1417 AH.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. 3rd edition. Tehran: Naṣir Khusruw, 1372 Sh.
- Ṭayyib, ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Aṭyab al-bayān fi tafsīr al-Qurʾān. 2nd edition. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Islām, 1378 Sh.