Encyclopedia of Islam

mansukh). Commentators (known as mufassirun) 

in the early centuries included narratives, called 

Israiliyyat, drawn from a wider body of lore circu-

lating among different communities in the Middle 

East to expand upon quranic narratives, such as 

those concerning a

dam

 

and

 e

ve

, a

braham

, m

oses

,

and other biblical figures. Likewise, this was done 

with regard to stories about events in the life of 

m

Uhammad

, such as accounts of his first revela-

tions and his n

ight

 J

oUrney

 

and

 a

scent

. Through 

the centuries, commentators also discussed the 

benefits and blessings to be accrued from reciting 

certain chapters and verses. A special subgroup 

of commentaries focused only on the small num-

ber of verses that concern legal matters (ahkam), 

such as worship, family, business, and warfare. 

There were also commentaries written by Sufis, 

the mystics of Islam, that focused on select verses 

considered to be of import for their spiritual 

teachings and insights. The Shia, for their part, 

K  652  

tafsir

---

also developed their own exegetical traditions, 

based on the authority of their Imams. Shii com-

mentaries pointed out hidden and allegorical 

references to the Imams, while identifying Sunnis 

with the disbelievers and evildoers mentioned in 

the Quran.

Muslims traditionally have distinguished 

between two types of commentary. The one rec-

ognized by the more traditionally minded is based 

on authoritative lines of transmission from earlier 

generations, starting with that of the Muhammad 

and his Companions, as conveyed in the 

hadith

.

Some include the Quran’s self-commentaries as 

an authority in this tradition. This is known as 

al-tafsir bi’l-mathur, or al-tafsir bi’l-riwaya. The 

second major type of commentary is al-tafsir bi’l-

ray, or commentary that has been guided more by 

individual opinion than by traditional authority. 

This type is regarded with suspicion by those who 

prefer to abide by prophetic tradition, and reflects 

differences between parties like the Hanbalis 

and the Hanafis, or the people of hadith and the 

m

Utazili

 s

chool

. In order to better accommodate 

commentaries of this nature, some scholars drew 

a further distinction between “praiseworthy” 

works written by scholars who had a solid grasp 

of the traditional Islamic sciences and the Ara-

bic language and “objectionable” works written 

primarily on the basis of personal opinion by 

scholars who were considered to be unqualified. 

In any case, even the most tradition-bound of 

commentators still exercised his own reasoned 

judgment in interpreting the Quran, and was 

subjectively influenced by his personal circum-

stances, social milieu, and events of his time. A 

third type of commentary identified by scholars 

of the Islamic commentary tradition is al-tafsir 

bi’l-ishara (commentary based on allegorical allu-

sion), which is concerned with the deeper, hid-

den meanings of the Quran. It is a kind of tawil,

as explained above.

Leading Medieval Commentaries. The historical 

formation of the quranic commentary tradition is a 

subject of some disagreement among scholars. Abd 

Allah ibn Abbas (d. 688), Muhammad’s paternal 

cousin, is remembered by Muslims as the father of 

tafsir, but Sunni tradition credits 10 of the Com-

panions and 10 of their Successors as establishing 

this area of Islamic learning. The Companions 

identified in this regard include, aside from Ibn 

Abbas, the first four Sunni caliphs (especially a

li

ibn

  a

bi

  t

alib

 [D. 661]), Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr 

(d. 692), Anas ibn Malik (d. ca. 709), and the 

famed warrior Amr ibn al-As (d. ca. 663). Nearly 

all of the Successors are said to have been students 

of Ibn Abbas, and they included Ikrima (d. 723), 

al-Hasan al-b

asri

 (d. 728), and Ali ibn Abi Talha 

(d. 737). Some modern Islamic studies scholars, 

however, maintain that this genealogy of tafsir

was a pious fiction, and that the tradition did not 

develop until the early 9th century.

The foremost scholar of quranic exegesis dur-

ing the medieval period was Ibn Jarir al-Tabari 

(d. 923), a Persian who achieved renown during 

the era of the a

bbasid

  c

aliphate

 for the breadth 

of his knowledge in the areas of hadith, history, 

fiqh

, and the quranic sciences. His tafsir, the Jami 

al-bayan an tawil ay al-Quran (The Compendium 

of Clarity Concerning the Exegesis of the Verses 

of the Quran), is an encyclopedic work that gath-

ers a substantial body of comments and opinions 

about the meanings of quranic verses that were 

known up to his time. Modern print editions of 

this commentary number as many as 30 volumes. 

Al-Tabari’s commentary is considered to be foun-

dational for succeeding generations of mufassirun

and is part of the tafsir bi’l-mathur tradition of 

exegesis. Other major commentaries in this group 

include those of Abu 1-Layth al-Samarqandi (d. 

983), Abu Ishaq al-Thaalabi (d. 1035), Abu 

Muhammad al-Baghawi (d. 1122, an abridgment 

of al-Thaalabi’s commentary), i

bn

  k

athir

 (d. 

1373, an abridgment of al-Tabari’s commentary); 

Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 1505), and the Zaydi Shii 

jurist Muhammad bin Au al-Shawkani (d. 1834) 

of Yemen.

One of the foremost commentaries in the 

tafsir bi ’i-ray tradition is Mahmud ibn Umar