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Shi’ite commentators (Mufassirin) and their commentaries (Tafsirs)
By: A. Toussi
The Sacred Text has been subject to interpretations (tafsir), hermeneutics (ta’wil) and mystical exegesis throughout Islamic history. The Shi’ite understanding of the Qur’an is founded on the doctrinal belief that the Shi’ite Imams possess the hidden, esoteric (batin) knowledge of the verses of the Qur’an.
2-1 The principles of Shi’i tafsir and the relation between the Imams and the Qur’an
Tafsir means “interpretation” in general but not always of the Qur’an. “The most significant usage of the word is its reference to the branch of Islamic learning concerned with the Qur’an.
A tafsir of the Qur’an is a work which provides an interpretation of the Arabic text of the scripture. In most cases, a work entitled tafsir will follow the text of the Qur’an from the beginning to the end and will provide an interpretation (tafsir) of segments of the text (word-by-word, phrase-by- phrase or verse-by-verse) as a running commentary.
The major exceptions to this fundamental characteristic are to be found in the formative and the contemporary periods of Islam. In the formative period, one finds works of tafsir, which cover only isolated segments of the text, and in the contemporary period, thematic tafasir (mawdu’i) have become quite popular.
Different mufassirun have different concerns and goals and this is reflected in the relative weight they put upon elements such as history, grammar, law, theology...”1 The commentaries of the Qur’an are useful for deciphering the message of the Qur’an. Many people who read the Sacred Book receive no more from it than the literal message.
It is in the commentaries, based on the clarification afforded by the hadith and written by those who are qualified in the true sense, that man comes to understand explicitly and in more extended form what is contained often implicitly and in a contracted form in the Qur’an.2
a) The principles of Shi’i tafsir
• The exoteric and esoteric aspects of the Qur’an
Among the principles of the Shi’i tafsir is that the Qur’an has an outer dimension (zahir) and an inner dimension (batin) and the simple surface text of a verse unfolds multiple meanings and exemplifies a feature to be found throughout the Qur’an.3
Indeed the Qur’an is meant for men and women of any level of intellect and from any social background, and “since the expounding of subtle knowledge is not without danger of misinterpretation, the Qur’an directs its teachings primarily at the level of the common man.
The Qur’an reveals itself in a way suitable for different levels of comprehension so that each benefits according to his own capacity.” Also certain verses contain metaphors which indicate divine gnosis far beyond the common man’s understanding but which nevertheless become comprehensible through their metaphorical form.4
These exoteric and esoteric aspects of the Qur’an have also been identified with the principles of tafsir and ta’wil respectively, Tafsir being the explanation of the external aspect and the literal exegesis of the Qur’an using different fields like Arabic grammar, poetry, linguistic, jurisprudence or history as references to elucidate the difficulties of the literal text, and Ta’wil signifying “to take back or reconduct something to its origin and archetype (asl)”.5
The basis in any case remains the corpus of teachings and hadith of the Imams who expounded the rules of the plurality of meanings in the Qur’an.6 In other words, Ta’wil or symbolic and hermeneutic interpretation enables penetration into the inner meaning of the Sacred Text, which in fact entails a reaching back to its Origin.
The idea of penetrating into the inner meaning of things can be seen everywhere in Islam. But it is particularly in the case of the Qur’an that ta’wil is applied, especially by the Sufis and the Shi’as7.8
There is considerable disagreement as to the meaning of ta’wil, and it is possible to count more than ten different views. Tabatabai explains that ta’wil is not in opposition to the actual text but is used to extend the idea expressed to include a further meaning.9
Also, sufficient deliberation upon the Qur’anic verses and the hadith of the Imams will show that the Qur’an never uses enigmatic methods of explanation. “What has been rightly called ta’wil or hermeneutic interpretation of the Holy Qur’an is not concerned with certain truths and realities that transcend the comprehension of the common run of men”.
In fact, “the whole of the Qur’an possesses the sense of ta’wil, of esoteric meaning, which cannot be comprehended directly through human thought alone.” Only the Prophet and the pure among the saints can contemplate these meanings in this world. “On the Day of Resurrection, the ta’wil of the Qur’an will be revealed to everyone.”10
• The abrogating (nasikh) and the abrogated (mansukh) verses
Abrogating verses are those which are applicable and relevant at all times and abrogated verses are not relevant and have already been fulfilled.11
• The explicit (muhkam) and the implicit (mutashabih) verses
The verse 7 in the sura 3 of the Qur’an divides the Qur’an into two parts: the explicit and the implicit, the clear and the allegorical, or the muhkam and the mutashabih. The verses, which are explicit and immediate in their message, are incapable of being misinterpreted.
The implicit verses are not of this nature, but seem to express a meaning containing a further truer meaning whose interpretation is known only to God. This view is accepted by both the Sunnite and the Shi’ite scholars; however, the Shi’ites believe that the Prophet and the Imams of his family also understood the hidden meanings and maintain that the ordinary man must seek knowledge of the implicit verses from them (the Prophet and his family).12
Tabatabai relates from the Imams that each verse, even if its meaning is not apparent or explicit, can be explained by reference to other verses. Thus, the real meaning of the implicit verses can be found in relation to the explicit verses and the assertion that no means exist for understanding the implicit verses is fallacious.
He also reports a prophetic hadith (reported by al-‘Amili, in al-Durr al-Manthur, vol.2, p.8): “In truth, the Qur’an was not revealed so that one part may contradict the other, but rather was revealed so that one part may verify the other. You understand what you can of it, then, act accordingly; and that which is unclear for you, simply believe in it.”13
b) The Imams and the Ahl al-Bayt in relation to the Qur’an
The Shi’ites have agreed that God revealed to Muhammad both the Qur’an and its exegesis and appointed him as the teacher of the Book,14 while the Prophet appointed his progeny to carry on this work after him. In two places of the Qur’an, (33:33) and (56: 77-79), God has confirmed the Prophet's declaration that his progeny held real knowledge of the Book.15
In a long and well-known tradition (hadith al-Thaqalayn) related by both Shi’i and Sunni traditionists, the Qur’an is presented as the ‘greater weight’ (al-thaqal al-akbar) and the Imams as the ‘lesser weight’ (al-thaqal al-asghar).
In the presence of many of his Companions, the Prophet declared: “I am soon about to be received..... I am telling you before I am taken up that I shall leave with you, as representatives after me, the Book of my Lord, and my progeny, the people of my household, the ahl al-bayt that the All-Gracious, All-Knowing, told me that they shall not be separated until they meet me on the day of Resurrection..... Do not precede them, for you would go astray, and do not fall behind them, for you would perish. Do not teach them, for they are of greater knowledge than you.”16
Numerous traditions in several chapters describe the knowledge of the Imams, especially in the hadith collection of Kulayni. The Shi’ites consider the Imams as associates of the Qur’an. The Prophet and Imams are distinguished by the inheritance of divine knowledge and they alone know the full meaning of the Qur’an, since it was to them that it was primarily addressed and through them to the rest of humankind.
Also they possess all the revealed Books of the previous Prophets and knew their tafsir and ta’wil despite the number of languages in which they were written. Thus, the Imams have a unique relation to the Qur’an that gives Shi’i tafsir its unique character.
It is also believed that the Qur’an, which Ali wrote down from the dictation of Muhammad with its true exegesis (ta’wil), was passed down from one Imam to the next and is now with the hidden Imam who will disclose it and judge by it when he returns as the expected Mahdi.17
2-2 The historical development and method of Shi’i tafsir
The interpretation of the Qur’an (tafsir) began right at the time of its revelation and is one of the earliest activities in Islamic sciences. The first exegetes among the Companions of the Prophet were Ibn ‘Abbas, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, Ubay ibn Ka’b and others.18 People used to ask the Prophet all sorts of questions as to the meaning of certain statements in the verses and the Prophet undertook the teaching and explanation of the Qur’an.
The Prophet’s answers were stored up in the memory of his Companions. After the Prophet's death, a group of his Companions were occupied with the science of commentary and its transmission. Just as they had heard the Prophet explaining the meaning of the verses, they would transmit it orally to other trustworthy persons.19
Exegesis in those days was confined to the explanation of literary aspects of the verse, the background of its revelation, and occasionally interpretation of one verse with the help of another. Sometimes a few of the Prophet's traditions were narrated.
Followers of these first Companions (Tabi’un), who lived in the first two centuries of hijra, used the same exegetic style. However, they relied more on traditions, and even Jewish sayings and dictums to explain the verses containing details of the previous nations present in Genesis20 because the tafsir transmission from the Prophet through the Companions and the Tabi’un did not cover all the verses in the Qur’an.
Some scholars relied on their knowledge of the language and historical facts of the Prophet's epoch.21 During the time of the Companions and the Tabi’un, the science of tafsir was part of the hadith and there was hardly any difference between mufassirun and muhaddithun (traditionists or narrators of hadith) until the complete separation of the two in the early third century,22 when exegesis became an independent, autonomous science.23
The activity of tafsir during the first two centuries is reflected by the tafsir of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari. His collections are said to have contained materials from various earlier works and his work is evidence of the general recognition of tafsir in early third century AH. It was the first attempt to comment on the whole of the Qur’an verse by verse.24
During the second century A.H., Muslim society split into four groups: the theologians, the philosophers, the Sufis, and the people of tradition. This divergence showed itself later in exegesis of the Qur’an.25 Indeed, after Tabari, the development of tafsir came to be associated with different fields of knowledge, doctrines and thought, and scholars attempted to make their field of knowledge a basis for their commentary in order to support their views from the Qur’an.
Scholars working in the field of philosophy considered philosophy a basis for their commentaries while scholars in the legal field employ the tafsir to project the doctrine of their particular school of thought, and so on.26
For Tabatabai, all these ways of exegesis are defective because they superimpose their conclusions on the Qur’anic meanings, making the Qur’an conform with their ideas. Thus, explanation turns into adaptation.27 Tabatabai stated that the only correct method of exegesis is that the exegete explains the verse with the help of other relevant verses, meditating on them together. The Prophet and the Imams descended from his progeny always used this method for explaining the Qur’an.28
Similarly Mutahhari explains that the Qur’an constitutes a coherent unified structure and some verses need to be explained with the help of other verses in order to prevent any misunderstanding about certain problems. If a solitary verse is studied without placing it in its proper context, it will give a different meaning from when it is compared with other verses dealing with a similar subject.29
Also, while Sunni commentators in the early period of tafsir relied primarily on prophetic traditions and those of the Companions and their successors, the Shi’ite commentators, in studying a verse of the Qur’an, viewed the explanation given by the Prophet as proof of the meaning of the verse, and did not accept the sayings of the Companions or their followers as indisputable proof that the tradition came from the Prophet.
The Shi’ite commentators only recognized as valid an unbroken chain of narration from the Prophet through members of his family. Accordingly, in using and transmitting the verses concerning Qur’anic commentary, they restricted themselves to the use of traditions transmitted by the Prophet and by the Imams belonging to the Prophet’s family.30
The first generation of Shi’ite commentators and authorities on tafsir were disciples of the Imams and others close to the disciples, who learned the traditions directly from the Prophet and the Imams of the Prophet’s family.
Among them were such scholars as Zurarah ibn A’yun and Muhammad ibn Muslim, Ma’ruf ibn Kharbudh and Jarir, who were Companions of the fifth and sixth Imams, or Abu Hamzah al- Thumali (a special Companion of the fourth and fifth Imams)31. Their traditions have been preserved in the works of the second generation of commentators and compilers of commentaries. These were consecutively:
• Furat Ibn Ibrahim al-Kufi, who lived during the Imamate of the ninth Imam, Muhammad al-Jawad, and might have lived until the first years of the tenth century A.D. He was one of the foremost authorities in Shi’ite traditions and one of the teachers of the famous traditionist al-Qummi.
• Muhammad al-‘Ayyashi, a contemporary of Furat Ibn Ibrahim al-Kufi, was a Sunni scholar who accepted Shi’ism, and became a great Shi’a scholar.
• Ali Ibn Ibrahim al-Qummi (d. 307 AH/919-20 AD), who related traditions received from his father who had, in turn, learned them from many of the Imams' disciples.
• Muhammad al-Nu’mani, who survived into the tenth century AD. Al-Nu’mani (d.360 AH/971 AD) was one of al-Kulayni's students. He left an important tafsir that he related on the authority of the sixth Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq. These two generations represent the pre-classical period of Shi’ite tafsir.32 They avoided any kind of ijtihad or passing of judgement. The Imams were indeed living among Muslims and availabl for questioning for a period of almost three hundred years.
The third generation of Shi’ite commentators extended over a very long period, well into the sixteenth century AD. They included: al-Sharif al-Radhiy (d.405 AH/1015 AD) and his well-known brother al-Sayyed al-Murtadha (d.436 AH/1044 AD); Abu Ja’far al-Tusi (d.460AH/1067AD) who was a student of al-Murtadha and whose commentary, al-Tybian fi tafsir al Qur’an, represents an important approach in Shi’i tafsir; and his disciple Abu al-Fadl Ibn al-Hasan Ibn al-Fadl al-Tabarsi (d.548 AH/1153 AD).
They represent what may be considered as the classical period of Shi’i tafsir. These commentators took a broad approach to tafsir using Shi’i as well as Sunni traditions and also rejected Shi’i popular claims regarding the inauthenticity of the ‘Uthmanic recension of the Qur’an.33
Included, too, were later commentators such as al-Maybudi al-Gunabadi (sixth century A.H) and his gnostic commentary, Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi (d.1050 AH/1640 AD), Hashim al-Bahrani (d.1107 AH/1695 AD) who composed al- Burhan, ‘Abd Ali al-Huwayzi (d.1112 AH/1700 AD) who composed the Nur al-Thaqalayn, and Mulla Muhsin Fayd al- Kashani (d.1191 AH/1777 AD) who compiled the work known as al-Safi.34
Other works of Shi’ite gnostics, such as the 8th AH/14th AD century figure Haydar Amuli, were also included.
The Qur’anic commentaries of Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi, known as Mulla Sadra “are the most important by an Islamic philosopher or theosopher (hakim) and also the most voluminous by a representative of the Islamic philosophical tradition” until Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i (d.1983) wrote the tafsir al-Mizan. “In the same way that Mulla Sadra’s “Transcendent Theosophy” marks the synthesis of the various schools of gnosis, theosophy, philosophy and theology within a Shi’ite intellectual climate, his Qur’anic commentaries mark the meeting point of four different traditions of Qur’anic commentary before him, the Sufi, the Shi’ite, the theological and the philosophical.”35
The final stage of the development of Shi’i tafsir is the contemporary one. Among modern works, the most important are al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Qur’an by Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i, al-Bayan fi tafsir al-Qur’an by al-Sayyed Abul- Qasim al-Khui, and Tafsir-e Nemune by Nasser Makarem Shirazi, this last being oriented more towards youth readership.
Notes:
1. A. Rippin, “Tafsir”, EIH, p.83-84
2. H. Nasr, Ideals and Realities in Islam, p.58
3. Tabataba’i, The Qur’an in Islam, p.29
4. Ibid, p.31-32
5. H. Corbin, En Islam Iranien, vol.1, p.212
6. Ibid, vol.1, p.214
7. H. Nasr, Ideals and Realities in Islam, p.58-59
8. In the tafsir of the Qur'an, the Sunni have mainly depended on the apparent meaning of the Qur'anic verses, whereas the Shia have depended on the apparent meaning and the inner meaning of the verses understood from other verses (for the Qur'anic verses explain each other) and from the traditions of the Prophet (s.a) and the infallible Imams (a.s) that explained the qur'an. But as for the Sufis, they have depended on their personal understanding of the Qur'an, and therefore, most of their tafsirs (interpretations) are not accepted by other Muslims, especially the Shia.
9. Tabataba’i, The Qur’an in Islam, p.41
10. Tabataba’i in H. Nasr, Shi'ism: Doctrines, Thought, and Spirituality, p.24
11. M. Ayoub, “The speaking Qur’an and the Silent Qur’an”, p.189
12. Tabataba’i, The Qur’an in Islam, p. 33-34
13. Ibid, p. 36
14. Qur’an : 62 :2
15. Tabataba’i, al-Mizan, p.12
16. Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, Bab 7, vol.23, p.108
17. Majlisi, Kitab Fadl al-Qur’an, Bab al-Nawadir, vol. 6 , p.474
18. Tabataba’i, al-Mizan, p.3
19. Tabataba’i, The Qur’an in Islam, p.47
20. Al-Mizan, p.4
21. M. Abdul, The Qur’an: Shaykh Tabarsi’s commentary, p.47
22. Ahmad Amin, Duha al-Islam, II, p.140
23. Ibid, p.137
24. M. Abdul, The Qur’an: Shaykh Tabarsi’s commentary, p. 52-53
25. Al-Mizan, p.5
26. M. Abdul, The Qur’an: Shaykh Tabarsi’s commentary, p.55
27. Tabataba’i, al-Mizan, p.9
28. Ibid, p.12
29. Mutahhari, in H. Nasr, Shi'ism : Doctrines, Thought, and Spirituality, p. 27
30. Tabataba’i, The Qur’an in Islam, p.50
31. Ibid, p.50
32. M. Ayoub, “The speaking Qur’an and the Silent Qur’an”, p. 184
33. M. Ayoub, “The speaking Qur’an and the Silent Qur’an”, p. 185
34. Tabataba’i, The Qur’an in Islam, p.51
35. H. Nasr, “The Quranic Commentaries of Mulla Sadra”, p.45
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