Page 12 - Tafsir of surat at tawba repentance

© Islamic Online University Usool at-Tafseer

It should be noted that some compilation of tafseer took place during the era
of the taabi‘oon. The most noteworthy example is that of Mujaahid ibn Jabr (642-
722 CE/40-103 AH), a student of Ibn ‘Abbaas. Mujaahid compiled the earliest
known tafseer; however, no copy of his work has reached us. The significance of
Mujaahid’s tafseer can be appreciated from his following statement, “I read the
whole Qur’aan to Ibn ‘Abbaas three times. During each reading, I stopped at the
39
end of every verse and asked him about whom and why it was revealed.”
Towards the end of the Umayyad dynasty, 40 the systematic compilation of
tafseer began. The scholars of hadeeth began compiling the sayings and actions of
the Prophet (r) in chapters according to their subject matter, and the chapter on
tafseer was one of them. Some of these scholars paid special attention to the
narration of tafseer attributed to the Prophet (r), the sahaabah and the taabi‘oon.
The foremost among them were Yazeed ibn Haaroon as-Salamee (d. 737 CE/118
AH), Shu‘bah ibn al-Hajjaaj (d. 777 CE/160 AH), Sufyaan ibn ‘Uyaynah (d. 814
CE/198AH), ‘Abdur-Razzaaq ibn Hammaam (d. 827 CE/211 AH), and ‘Abd ibn
Humayd (d. 864 CE/250 AH). 41 However, no tafseer of the complete Qur’aan
42
took place at this time.
Near the end of the ninth century CE, the field of tafseer evolved into an
independent Islaamic science. This generation of scholars was the first to compile
tafseers of the Qur’aan according to the order of the written text. The earliest
tafseer to reach us was authored by Ibn Jareer at-Tabaree (839-923 CE/225-310
AH), who comes from this era. Other tafseers were written by Ibn Maajah (d. 886
CE/272 AH), Ibn Abee Haatim (d. 939 CE/327 AH), Ibn Hibbaan (d. 980 CE/369
AH), al-Haakim (d. 1014 CE/404 AH), and Ibn Mardawayh (d. 1020 CE/410
43
AH). All of these scholars were also famous for compilations of hadeeth, most
of which have reached us intact. Occasionally, tafseers were attributed to scholars
of the previous generation, known as atbaa‘ at-taabi‘een (the students of the
taabi‘oon). These tafseers also mentioned the legal rulings deduced from the
verses and the breakdown of grammatical constructions where necessary.
Although the next generation of scholars followed the same general format as
their predecessors, many of them deleted the chains of narration from their

39
Collected by Ibn Nu‘aym in Hilyah al-Awliyaa’ and by Ibn ‘Asaakir. See Siyar al-A‘laam an-
Nubalaa’, vol. 4, p. 450.
40
The Umayyads were overthrown in 132 AH (750 CE).
41
The most accessible hadeeth collection on tafseer for the English-speaking reader is volume six
of Sahih Al-Bukhari.
42
Mabaahith fee ‘Uloom al-Qur’aan, pp.340-1.
43
Ibid., p.341.

http://www.islamiconlineuniversity.com 12