Page 15 - Tafsir of surat at tawba repentance

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thought. Thus, it should not be surprising to find that the most highly acclaimed
tafseer of all times was produced by a scholar of this time, Tafseer al-Qur’aan al-
‘Atheem by al-Haafith ibn Katheer (d. 1373 CE/774 AH).

In this century, a new form of tafseer has evolved in which the authors have
tried to apply the passages of the Qur’aan to the needs of the twentieth century.
For example, tafseers like Tafseer al-Manaar, started by Muhammad ‘Abduh (d.
1905 CE) and completed up to Soorah Yoosuf by his student Muhammad Rasheed
Ridaa, 48 or Fee Thilaal al-Qur’aan by Syed Qutb point out the Qur’aanic
foundations for human society, legislation, and scientific theories.

Both these tafseers have their critics. ‘Abduh was interested in reforming
Muslim societies to meet the challenge of the west, and he called for the
abandonment of taqleed as the starting point for that reform. He stressed the need
for approaching the Qur’aan fresh, unencumbered by past inter-pretations of it.
Neither he nor Ridaa would look at anyone else’s tafseer until they had finished
writing their own tafseers of a particular passage. 49 In his zeal to accommodate
scientific theories, ‘Abduh interpreted angels as being synonymous with natural
forces, which led him to a symbolic interpretation of the story of Aadam and
Iblees. 50 His student denied that the Prophet (r) performed any miracles other
than conveying the Qur’aan. Both he and his student rejected a number of
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hadeeths reported by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim, claiming that they were weak.
Ridaa was, however, more learned in hadeeth than ‘Abduh and relied on hadeeths
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more than him. Both of them gave their intellects great freedom to interpret as
they saw fit.

Syed Qutb lived at a time when the Islaamic caliphate had just been
abolished. The Islaamic world had been divided into small countries with legal
systems that were the product of European colonialism. He felt a deep outrage at
Islaamic societies’ abandonment of the Sharee‘ah in ruling their affairs. His
interpretations of the meaning of tawheed focused on Allaah’s sole right to
formulate the laws for the rule of human society. His stress of this point led to the

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Muhammad Rasheed (dtook notes from ‘Abduh’s tafseer lectures, then wrote them up in his
own words, and published them with his approval in his magazine al-Manaar. ‘Abduh died after
having completed from Soorah al-Faatihah until verse 126 of Soorah an-Nisaa’, then his student
continued until his own death in 1935. (Lamahaat fee ‘Uloom al-Qur’aan, p. 321.)
49
Lamahaat fee ‘Uloom al-Qur’aan, p. 322, and at-Tafseer wa al-Mufassiroon, vol. 2, 598-9.
50
Tafseer al-Manaar, vol. 1, p. 167, quoted in at-Tafseer wa al-Mufassiroon, vol. 2, p. 611.
51
At-Tafseer wa al-Mufassiroon, vol. 2, pp. 615-7, 628.
52
Lamahaat fee ‘Uloom al-Qur’aan, pp. 321-2.

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