Tafseer Programmes

Here are samples that explain the method behind what you might encounter in my 'Tafseer' programme at http://www.ahlulbayt.tv/ on Sunday afternoons at 16.10 (UK time). The first two lectures are to introduce myself and some of the basic methodologies that I use in addition to traditional and time proven techniques for my reading of the Qur'an. As such I do not attempt to arrive at the 'TRUTH' but attempt, ala Cantwell Smith, to synthesise more accurate approximations of truth(s?) from conflicting and complementary claims.

Programme One

Introduction

Since many of you viewing this lecture will not know me and we may never have the opportunity to drink tea together perhaps I should introduce something about my self and my feelings towards the Holy Qur’an. I first read a few verses of the Qur’an in my early twenties. I had already read and studied many Holy books from many religious traditions and I clearly remember my reaction, that the Qur’an was a message from God and that therefore, despite what the notes and popular western opinion said Muhammad was a prophet. Of course not being a Muslim then, although I was very much a monotheist, I didn’t use a capital ‘P’ or recite a salawāt. A decade or two later circumstances drew me back to read the whole of the Qur’an and embrace an old friend together with Islam.

May I compare the verses to the stars which illuminate the night sky and served to guide mankind on voyages across land and across water.[1] Through the use of optical, radio and radiographic telescopes, and with the use of forms of mathematics once undreamt of we now see and understand them in ways that were once hidden from our thoughts. The stars are the same wondrous creations that they always were, Man remains the creature seeking knowledge but available knowledge has increased and Man is better equipped to realise his duty to Allah (swt) as Caliph on Earth; better equipped to realise the enormity of the gift.

The Commander of the Faithful, ‘Ali (as) said that the Prophet (saw) taught him a 1000 key notes to the inner meanings of the Qur’an and each note lead to another 1000 and so on.[2] He was given a daunting amount of knowledge but we must remember that Allah (swt) revealed His message not to be an insurmountable puzzle but as an accessible guidance for ordinary men and says,

We sent not a messenger except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people, in order to make (things) clear to them. Now Allah leaves straying those whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases: and He is Exalted in power, full of Wisdom.[3]

The purpose of these programs is to discuss methods of reading and interpreting the Holy Qur’an in order to gain spiritual, moral and emotional knowledge. Of course, traditional mutafasīr have sought to do this but faced three obstacles that will be mentioned from time to time in these lectures.

One problem was that they were largely mono-cultural. They grew in societies that accepted certain behaviour or social roles as ‘natural’. Thus the roles of men, women and children in agrarian pre-modern cities may be different to the roles of men, women and children in modern cities because they have responded to their living conditions. This is truly natural and a development that affects the way modern readers of the Qur’an interpret its verses. We have the hadith of the Prophet (saw) that instructed the Muslims to seek knowledge even in China;[4] seek knowledge not facts. The subject of knowledge, the fact, remains the same but in interacting with a different culture the ways in which that object is seen and understood increase; available knowledge has increased.

The second obstacle they faced was that their lexical and philogical knowledge was restricted to the languages that were extant at the time they wrote. Thus by the time the great Arabic lexicons were assembled there was no knowledge of cuneiform, Petran, Egyptian, many of the Punic languages used in north Africa and probably Ancient Arabic. Some of the events that the Qur’anic narrative refers to were recorded in those languages or their words may have formed the roots of later Arabic usage. Today’s lexicologists do not have to rely solely upon what words have come to mean but with the aid of systematic archaeology and computer analysis may understand language as it formed. They and we can look at Qur’anic language as it might have been understood by those who first heard it recited by the Prophet (saw).

The third obstacle occurred because the most immediate need for the results of Tafsīr were and are in the development of the Shari’ah and in particular the rulings of Fiqh. At every encounter between cultures, each new environment and with every increase in knowledge there is a need to reconsider or increase the rulings of law and this, quite rightly, demands a consistent methodology that relies upon the clearest and most apparent understanding of a word or verse. Put simply law cannot be considered just unless it is consistent. However, stopping the enquiry into a verse at its most apparent meaning may also stop the appreciation of its spiritual and moral subtleties which can hamper the reader’s spiritual journey or even conceal the moral mercy that permeates Allah’s (swt) justice.

In the course of the lectures I will, inshallah, draw your attention to verses that demonstrate these three occurrences but I must stress that it is not my intention to negate the body of the Tafsīr that we all know and rely upon. Rather I am seeking to build upon that tradition and present a way of reading the Qur’an in a way that its eternal message may become an even greater and more dynamic force in the daily lives of Muslims.

Yet before proceeding further there are, one or two, terms that should also be introduced and discussed.

Abrogation. In discussions of Qur’anic interpretation the objection will often be raised that a verse has been abrogated or superseded. This can raise several questions- if the verse’s legal authority is cancelled has it lost its spiritual or moral value? Is it abrogated for a specific time or place? Is it perpetually superseded or only in a specific context? So for instance the Qur’an is clear that a life for a life is legitimate.[5] Yet the Qur’an also clearly states that it is better for believers to be merciful. So equitable punishment, as specified, may be abrogated by the injured party’s desire for spiritual reward and, where more than one verse is involved, there is no need to know which verse was revealed first.

Taḥrīf, From the earliest period of the revelation of the Qur’an copies were made that included explanatory notes and comments that some writers have confused with the verses. There were also claims that verses had been omitted. This practice of confusing what we think is written in the Qur’an continues today and we must be careful of assumptions, memory and good intentions. However, there is what lies within the two covers of the Qur’an i.e the Qur’an that was revealed to the Prophet (saw) and the guidance that it directs the reader to outside of the covers.[6] Aristotle, the Greek philosopher also categorised phenomena and knowledge by using terms derived from the study of plants and animals. He applied the order that is found in nature and we still use the terms species and genus in philosophical discourse.

Thahīri. The apparent verses of the Qur’an are usually taken at face value yet other meanings lie within them.

Bātini, Some verses are obscure and a very small number remain completely obscure. Perhaps they were once understood or maybe they are waiting for people who will need them and understand.

As you have seen the approach to tafsīr which I am presenting starts within the Qur’an and is directed by its verses. In the next lecture I will introduce some of the methodologies that I use when reading into the verses of the Qur’an, some of the scholars who have developed these methodologies into academic disciplines and illustrate how they relate to the Qur’anic injunctions to use and seek intellect.

[1] Q. 6:97

[2] Mahdi Pooya, 23

[3] Q.14:4 Yusuf Ali

[4] No one seems to have thought this hadith weak until late in the 5^th C Hijri.

[5] Q5:45

YUSUFALI: We ordained therein for them: "Life for life, eye for eye, nose or nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and wounds equal for equal." But if any one remits the retaliation by way of charity, it is an act of atonement for himself. And if any fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (No better than) wrong-doers.

[6] Q6:99

YUSUFALI: It is He Who sendeth down rain from the skies: with it We produce vegetation of all kinds: from some We produce green (crops), out of which We produce grain, heaped up (at harvest); out of the date-palm and its sheaths (or spathes) (come) clusters of dates hanging low and near: and (then there are) gardens of grapes, and olives, and pomegranates, each similar (in kind) yet different (in variety): when they begin to bear fruit, feast your eyes with the fruit and the ripeness thereof. Behold! in these things there are signs for people who believe.