Al-Tafsir bi al-Ma'thur: The Qur'anic exegeses of the prophet Muhammad, his companions, and successors.

Abstract

This dissertation primarily concerns the belief held by a majority of traditional scholars that al-Tafsir bi al-Ma'thur is hujja (a binding proof). This type of al-Tafsir (Qur'anic exegegis) is based upon the traditions of the Prophet, his Companions, and the immediate Successors of the Companions. This thesis argues the viewpoint of al-Ghazali and others that only the exegesis of the Prophet of Islam Muhammad is d hujja. Hence, only his tafsir should be called al-Tafsir bi al-Ma'thur. Al-Tafsir bi al-Ma'thur is one of the two major types of tafsir. The second type is al-Tafsir bi al-Ra'y, which is exegesis based on independent opinion. The focus of this study consists of the concepts of al-Tafsir bi al-Ma'thur its various definitions, the reasons for these variations, and their implications. The clash of classical Muslim scholars over the definition and understanding of hujja led to four varying definitions of al-Tafsir bi al-Ma'thur. It is the contention of this thesis that since Islamic dogma and Qur'anic text give the exegesis of the Prophet divine authentication, it is qualitatively different from a Muslim point of view, from all other exegeses including that of the d Sahaba 'Companions' and the Tabi'un 'immediate Successors of the Companions'. Hence, tafsir by the Prophet is in a separate category. Our proposal is that al-Tafsir bi al-Ma'thur should designate only the Prophetic explanations of the Qur'an. This satisfies the notion that al-Tafsir bi al-Ma'thur should consist only of text that is d hujja.