Al-Muharrar al-Wajiz fi Tafsir al-Kitāb al-'Aziz () or shortly named al-Muharrar al-Wajiz (), better known as Tafsir Ibn 'Atiyya (), is a classical

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

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 ...

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 ...

, authored by the

Maliki The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...

Ash'ari Ash'arism (; ) is a school of theology in Sunni Islam named after Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, a Shāfiʿī jurist, reformer (''mujaddid''), and scholastic theologian, in the 9th–10th century. It established an orthodox guideline, based on ...

scholar

Ibn 'Atiyya Abu Muhammad Abd Al-Haqq ibn Ghalib ibn Abd Al-Rahman, who was better known as Ibn 'Atiyya () was a Sunni Andalusian scholar of the 5th Islamic century. He was a prominent Maliki jurist, traditionist, grammarian, linguist, poet, litterateur, an ...

(d. 541/1147). It can be identified as the exegesis that amalgamates Tafsir bi al-Ma'thur (tradition-based interpretation) with Tafsir bi al-Ra'y (reason-based interpretation). But, generally, it is considered as Tafsir bi al-Ma'thur (interpretation based on traditions or reports).

Methodology

Ibn 'Atiyya explains his methodology stating: “I move in this commentary according to the word order of every verse, explaining its ruling,

grammatical In linguistics, grammaticality is determined by the conformity to language usage as derived by the grammar of a particular speech variety. The notion of grammaticality rose alongside the theory of generative grammar, the goal of which is to formu ...

position,

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

function, meaning and pronunciation in different methods of recitation.” In the opening pages Ibn 'Atiyya sets forth his purpose in coming out with a new commentary: to produce a comprehensive, yet concise work, dedicated to God, which would affirm the statements made by earlier scholars, as well as those made by al-Salaf al-Salih, and which would serve as a defense against the mulhidin (

atheists Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

agnostics Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer to ...

heretics Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

, the disbelievers in God), those who reject the Islamic message, and the adherents of esoteric doctrines (ahl al-'ilm al-batin). The introduction to his Qur'an commentary was published by

Arthur Jeffery Arthur Jeffery (18 October 1892 in Melbourne, Australia – 2 August 1959 in South Milford, Canada) was a Protestant Australian professor of Semitic languages from 1921 at the School of Oriental Studies in Cairo, and from 1938 until his death ...

(1954).

Background

Ibn 'Atiyya relied on several earlier sources for his interpretation, including the following: * '' Jami' al-Bayan fi Ta'wil al-Qur'an'' by Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 310/923). * ''Shifa' al-Sudur'' by Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Naqqash (d. 351/962 ). * ''Al-Hidaya ila Bulugh al-Nihaya'' by Makki ibn Abi Talib al-Qaysi (d. 437/1045). * ''Al-Tahsil li-Fawa'id al-Tafsil'' by Abu al-'Abbas Ahmad b. 'Ammar al-Mahdawi (d. 430/1038).

Reception

Ibn 'Atiyya's commentary was very influential on Qur'anic commentators in later generations. His influence is clearly evident in the works of

al-Qurtubi Abū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Anṣārī al-Qurṭubī () (121429 April 1273) was an Andalusian Sunni Muslim polymath, Maliki jurisconsult, mufassir, muhaddith and an expert in the Arabic language. Prominent scholar ...

(d. 671/1272–3),

Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati Abū Ḥayyān Athīr ad-Dīn al-Gharnāṭī (, November 1256 – July 1344 CE / 654 - 745 AH), whose full name is Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf bin ‘Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Hayyān (), better known as Abū Ḥayyān al-Gharnati (, was an Andalusian Sunni ...

(d. 745/1344), and 'Abd al-Rahman al-Tha'alibi (d. 875/1470). Al-Muharrar al-Wajiz was highly acclaimed both in and outside of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The book has been highly praised by Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati (d. 745/1344) and

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and cons ...

(d. 808/1406). The Qur'anic commentary by Ibn Atiyya is regarded as one of the greatest. It has received unambiguous appreciation from scholars of all stripes.

Ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...

states: “Ibn Atiyya’s commentary is far better than that of Zamakhshari, and more accurate in its research and quotation. It is perhaps the most reliable of Qur’anic commentaries.”

characterises Ibn Atiyya's work as follows: "He compiled all Qur'anic commentary and made an effort to incorporate only the most precise."

deems his commentary equal to that of

al-Zamakhshari Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Umar al-Zamakhshari (; 1074 –1143) was a medieval Muslim scholar of Iranian descent. He travelled to Mecca and settled there for five years and has been known since then as 'Jar Allah' (God's Neighbor). He was a Mu'tazi ...

, the author of

Al-Kashshaaf ''Al-Kashshaaf 'an Haqa'iq at-Tanzil'', popularly known as ''Al-Kashshaaf'' () is a seminal tafsir (commentary on the Qur'an) by Al-Zamakhshari written in the 12th century. Considered a primary source by major scholars, it is famous for its d ...

while declaring Ibn 'Attiya's commentary to be more comprehensive. Recent

historians A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

writing in the

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, especially those from the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

, have often chosen Ibn Atiyya's exegesis as representative of what may be called the “typical” Andalusian tafsir, and regard its somewhat contradictory title as a useful illustration of the major contribution made by its genre to the field of 'ilm al-Qur'an (Knowledge of the Qur'an with its meanings). According to this view each major Andalusian exegesis can be said to be muharrar, in that the approach used in discussing Qur'anic verses is comprehensive and not exclusively tied to a single method. Claude Gilliot characterizes al-Muharrar as an abridgement of previous works.

About the author

Ibn 'Atiyya was the major Qur'an commentator of the generation of al-Wahidi al-Nisaburi (d. 468/1075) and his tafsir work was a turning point in the history of the genre in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. He was a scholar of

and

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

from

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

(present-day

). He studied also

Hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. He was appointed as the

Qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

(judge) of Almeria during the reign of the

Almoravid empire The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almoh ...

References

External links