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Tafseer Through the SunnahSubmitted by admin on Thu, 27/07/2006 - 07:15. Tafseer Abu Ammaar Yasir al-Qadhi

Taken from the Book, 'Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur'ân', published by al-Hidaayah Ltd

After the Tafseer of the Qur'aan by the Qur'aan itself the second source of Tafseer isTafseer by the Sunnah. It must be mentioned that even though the Sunnah is taken to bethe 'second' source of Tafseer, it is in fact of equal importance to the Qur'aan. In otherwords, a person wishing to understand the Qur'aan must turn to the Sunnah in order tounderstand it correctly.

The Qur'aan and Sunnah must be taken together to arrive at a proper understanding of averse. In fact, one of the primary roles of the Prophet (r) was to explain the meanings of the Qur'aan to mankind. Allâh says, "And We have sent down to you (O Muhammad (r) theRemembrance, so that you may clearly explain to mankind what has been revealed tothem, and so that they may give thought" [16:44]

Therefore, not only was the job of the Prophet (r) to convey the literal text of the Qur'aan,he also had to convey its explanation as well.[1]

How Much of the Qur'aan was Explained?

The question arises, then, as to how much of the Qur'aan was actually explained by theProphet (r) ? In other words, do there exist narrations from the Prophet (r) concerning theinterpretation of every single verse, and if not, then how is the previous quoted verse of the Qur'aan understood? The scholars of Islaam were divided into two opinions withregards to this issue.

Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 A.H.) was of the view that the Prophet (r)

explained all of the Qur'aan, whereas Jalâl ad-Dîn as-Suyûtî (d. 911 AH.) claimed that theProphet (r) only explained a small portion of it.[2] In fact, both of these opinions arecorrect once the intent of both sides is understood. Those who claimed that the Prophet (r)

only explained a small portion of the Qur'aan meant that there do not exist very manyverbal narrations from the Prophet (r) concerning the detailed explanation of every singleverse in the Qur'aan. On the contrary, as-Suyûtî only managed to find a few hundrednarrations from the Prophet (r) (including weak and fabricated ones) in which he (r)

explicitly interpreted a verse.[3]

On the other hand, what Ibn Taymiyyah meant was that the Prophet (r) left us all thenecessary knowledge needed in order to properly understand the Qur'aan. As 'Aa'ishahreported, the Prophet's (r) character embodied the Qur'aan.[4] Therefore, even thoughthere might not exist many explicit statements from the Prophet (r) concerning Tafseer, theProphet (r) did leave us with the information and methodology necessary for understandingthe Qur'aan. Therefore, it is essential to understand the Qur'aan not only in light of theexplicit narrations of the Prophet (r) on the Qur'aan, but also in light of all of the hadeethof the Prophet (r), whether they are concerning beliefs or laws, and in light of the actions

of the Prophet (r), since his sayings and actions can be considered to be embodying thelaws of the Qur'aan. This opinion is supported by numerous statements from theCompanions.

Abû 'Abd ar-Rahmân as-Sulamî (d. 75 A.H.), the famous Successor, narrated, "Those whotaught us the Qur'aan, such as 'Uthmân ibn 'Affân, 'Abdullâh ibn Mas'ûd, and others, toldus that they would not memorise more than ten verses until they had understood whatknowledge it contained, and implemented it. They used to say, 'So we learnt the Qur'aan,(its) knowledge and (its) implementation at the same time."[5] It is apparent, then, thatthe Companions made sure that they understood the meaning of the Qur'aan, and thenimplemented it. 'Umar narrated, "Amongst the last verses to be revealed were the versespertaining to interest, and the Prophet (r) passed away before explaining them to us." [6]This narration explicitly shows that the Prophet (r) used to make sure that the Companionsunderstood the Qur'aan, since the only reason that the verses of interest were not

explained in great detail was due to the sudden death of the Prophet (r).

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As was mentioned earlier, there are only a small percentage of verses for which explicitnarrations exist from the Prophet (r). The verse concerning the interpretation of 'wrongdoing' (6:82) as shirk has already been given above. This example illustrates thenecessity of the interpretation of the Prophet (r), for even the Companions, despite theirknowledge of Arabic, could not understand the correct interpretation of this verse untilthey had asked the Prophet (r). Another example is the hadeeth of the Prophet (r) in which

he explained '...those whom You are angry with,' and '...those who are astray,' (1:7) asthe Jews and Christians.[7] He also explained the 'middle prayer' (2:238) as the Asrprayer,[8] the 'additional (reward)' (10:26) as the seeing of Allâh by the believers inParadise,[9] and that al-Kawthar (108:1) was "...a river that my Lord has given me inParadise."[10]

In addition to such explicit examples of Tafseer, there exist numerous examples from thelife and sayings of the Prophet (r) which explain certain verses of Qur'aan, but are notrecorded as explicit statements of Tafseer. For example, the Prophet (r) stated, "Hell will bebrought forth on that Day (i.e., Day of Judgement). It will have seventy thousand ropes(attached to it), and on each rope, there will be seventy thousand angels dragging it."[11]Although this hadeeth does not mention any verse in the Qur'aan, it can be used tointerpret verse 90:23, "And Hell will be brought that Day." The hadeeth describes how itwill be brought.

In another example, the penalty prescribed for theft is, "As for the thief male or female,cut off his/her hand" (5:38). The Sunnah of the Prophet (r) explains that the thief's hand isonly to be cut off if he steals above a certain monetary value, and that in such a case theright hand is to be cut off from the wrist joint.[12] These additional details needed forunderstanding this verse are not present in the Qur'aan itself.

In another verse, the Qur'aan proclaims, "Say, I do not find in that which has beenrevealed to me anything which is forbidden to eat by anyone who wishes to eat it except adead animal, or blood poured forth, or the flesh of swine..." [6:145] However, this verse isnot exhaustive, as the Sunnah adds to this list all animals with fangs or claws, andexcludes from the general ruling of dead animals seafood and locusts.[13]

From these and other examples, it is possible to say that the Prophet (r) explained theQur'aan in the following manners:[14]

1) By his implementation of general or vague commands. For example, the Qur'aan ordersthe believers to pray and perform Hajj. The Prophet (r), by his actions and statements,showed the believers the exact procedure and timings of prayer, and the specific rites of Hajj.

2) By explaining unclear concepts in verses. For example, the verse commanding thebelievers to begin their fasts, "...when the white thread becomes clear from the blackthread" [2:187] was explained by the Prophet (r) as being the streaks of light in the skyafter dawn.

3) By specifying the exact connotation of a word or phrase. The example in which theProphet (r) specified that the "injustice" referred to in 6:82 was shirk falls in this category.

4) By constraining a general ruling or verse. The example of the specification of  'thief' and'hand' by the Prophet (r) was given above.

5) By generalising a specific ruling or verse. An example of this is when some Companionscame to the Prophet (r) and asked him concerning the verse, "And if you travel through theland, there is no sin upon you if you shorten your prayers, if you fear that those whodisbelieve may harm you" [4:101] The Companions could not understand why the Prophet(r) and the Muslims were still shortening their prayers during travel, despite the fact thatthere was no longer any fear from enemy attacks. The Prophet (r) responded, "(Theconcession to shorten prayers even in a state of security) is a charity which Allâh has givenyou, therefore accept the charity."[15]

6) By explaining the intent of a verse. The example in which the Prophet (r) explained"...those whom You are angry with, and those who are astray" [1:7] as the Jews andChristians falls under this category.

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7) By adding extra commands or prohibitions to the verse. An example of this is theProphet's (r) prohibition of joining a woman with her maternal or paternal aunt in marriage(i.e., as co-wives), whereas the Qur'aan only prohibits combining a woman with her sister(4:23).

8) By emphasising the meaning of the verse. In other words, by practicing and affirmingthe laws in the Qur'aan. For example, all hadeeth stressing good treatment to wives

merely affirm the verse, "And live with them on good terms (and kindness)" [4:19]

9) By showing that the verse was abrogated. This category has already beendiscussed.[16] These few examples should be sufficient to illustrate that the Sunnah is of equal importance to the Qur'aan in deriving laws and understanding the Qur'aan.

The Qur'aan can never be understood properly without the Sunnah. Even the Companions,whose knowledge of the Arabic language was unparalleled, had difficulty understandingmany verses until the Prophet (r) cleared up the exact meaning for them. These twosources of Tafseer, Tafseer of the Qur'aan by the Qur'aan, and Tafseer of the Qur'aan bythe Sunnah, are the two ultimate sources for understanding the Qur'aan. Neither isallowed to contradict itself or the other, and both sources must be taken simultaneously inorder to arrive at a correct understanding. These two sources are also the final authorityon the interpretation of the Qur'aan - no interpretation is allowed to contradict or

supersede the interpretation of the Qur'aan by the Qur'aan and the Sunnah.

Footnotes

1 al-Albânî, Muhammad Nâsir ad-Dîn, Manzilat as-Sunnah ft al-Islaam (Dar al-Hayah al-Islaamiyah, Egypt, n.d.), p.5.

2 adh-Dhahabî, v. 1, p. 54. Actually, as-Suyûtî clarifies his point of view later on in hisItqân, which agrees in principle with Ibn Taymiyyah's view. c£ Itqân, v. 2, p. 264.

3 cf. Itqân, v. 2, pps. 244-264.

4 Reported by al-Bukhârî.

5 Ibn Taymiyyah, p. 12.

6 Reported by Ahmad and Ibn Mâjah.7 Reported by at-Tirmidhî.

8 Reported by at-Tirmidhî, and referred to in al-Bukhârî and Muslim.

9 Reported by Muslim.

10 Reported by al-Bukhârî and Muslim.

11 Reported by at-Tirmidhî.

12 c£ al-Albânî, Manzilat, p. 6.

13 ibid, p. 7.

14 Based on adh-Dhahabî, pps. 60-62, and others.

15 Reported by Muslim.

16 See, 'The Categories of Naskh,' in Chapter 13.