Abū l-Ḥajjāj Mujāhid ibn Jabr al-Qāriʾ () (642–722 CE) was a Tabi' and one of the major early

Islamic scholars In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

.Mujahid
/ref> According to some sources, Mujahid wrote a tafsīr of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

(exegesis/commentary), although it is likely that a written work from his time never existed. The text that is called ''Tafsir Mujahid'' today was first compiled by Ādam ibn Abī Iyās (d. 836–837 CE), and Adam transmits traditions to Mujahid through the intermediary chain of transmission Warqāʾ — Ibn Abī Najīḥ. Adam's collection also does not survive, but rather, Ibn Shādhān's (d. after 1033 CE) recension of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān's recension of Ibrāhīm's recension of Adam’s collection is what survives. Up to seven other versions of traditions attributed to Mujahid survive, some of which vary substantially with the ''Tafsir Mujahid''.

Biography

His full nickname is often written as "Mujahid bin Jabir, Maula As-Saib bin Abi As-Saib, Al-Makhzumi, Al-

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

". The Nisba of al-Makhzumi were because he was a servant ( mawla) of someone from the

Banu Makhzum The Banu Makhzum () was one of the wealthy clans of the Quraysh (tribe), Quraysh. They are regarded as being among the three most powerful and influential clans in Mecca before the advent of Islam, the other two being the Banu Hashim (the tribe of ...

tribe. Mujahid is said to have studied under

Amir al-Mu'minin () or Commander of the Faithful is a Muslims, Muslim title designating the supreme leader of an Ummah, Islamic community. Name Although etymology, etymologically () is equivalent to English "commander", the wide variety of its historical an ...

'Ali ibn Abi Talib until his martyrdom. At that point, he began to study under

Ibn Abbas ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās (; c. 619 – 687 CE), also known as Ibn ʿAbbās, was one of the cousins of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, prophet Muhammad. He is considered to be the greatest Tafsir#Conditions, mufassir of the Quran, Qur'an. ...

, a companion of Muhammad known as the father of Qur'anic exegesis. Mujahid ibn Jabr was known to be willing to go to great lengths to discover the true meaning of a verse in the Qur'an, and was considered to be a well-travelled man.The Tafsir of Mujahid – The Earliest of Qur'anic Commentaries
However, there is no evidence he ever journeyed outside of the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

Works

It is related by

Ibn Sa'd Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Sa‘d ibn Manī‘ al-Baṣrī al-Hāshimī or simply Ibn Sa'd () and nicknamed ''Scribe of Waqidi'' (''Katib al-Waqidi''), was a scholar and Arabian biographer. Ibn Sa'd was born in 784/785 CE (168 AH) and di ...

in the Tabaqat (6:9) and elsewhere that he went over the explanation of the Qur'an together with Ibn 'Abbas thirty times. Mujahid ibn Jabr is said to be relied upon in terms of

tafsir Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...

according to

Sufyan al-Thawri Abū ʿAbd Allāh Sufyān ibn Saʿīd ibn Masrūq ibn Ḥamza al-Thawrī al-Muḍarī al-Kūfī (; 716–778 CE / 97–161 AH), commonly known as Sufyān al-Thawrī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, jurist, ascetic, traditionist, and eponymous ...

, who said: "If you get Mujahid's tafsir, it is enough for you." His exegesis in general followed these four principles: # That the Qur'an can be explained by other parts of the Qur'an. For example, in his interpretation of Q 29:13, he refers to Q 16:25, # Interpretation according to traditions, # Reason, # Literary comments.

Al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

's '' Jami' al-bayan'' attributes a significant amount of exegetical material to Mujahid.

Legacy

The view of Islamic Scholarship

He has been classed as a '' Thiqah'' (i.e. very reliable) hadith narrator. Al-A'mash said: :''Mujahid was like someone who carried a treasure: whenever he spoke, pearls came out of his mouth.'' After praising him in similar terms al-Dhahabi said: "The Ummah is unanimous on Mujahid being an Imam who is worthy in Ihtijaj.

References

Citations

Sources

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External links

Mujaahid ibn Jabr (مُجَاهِدْ بِنْ جَبْر) – Siyar A`laamin Nubalaa of Imaam adh-Dhahabee , Dawud Burbank

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mujahid Ibn Jabr 642 births 720s deaths 7th-century Arab people 8th-century Arab people People from Mecca Scholars from the Umayyad Caliphate Quranic exegesis scholars Quran reciters Tabi‘un