Tafseer Quran
The Quran, being a book revealed in Arabic, should be recited in Arabic, and in its purest form, Arabic. Al Qirat Online Quran Academy has experienced Quran teachers to teach Muslims all across the USA. The word Tafseer Quran relates to ‘’learning the meanings of words’’. It develops a better.
What is Tafseer?
Tafseer refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a tafsir is a mufassir. A Quranic tafsir attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding and conviction of God’s will.
History?
The first examples of tafseer can be traced back to Prophet Muhammad PBUH. According to Islamic belief, as the Quran was revealed to him, he recited the verses to his companions, usually explaining their meanings to teach them, as it was one of Muhammad’s responsibilities. Elements of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) explanations including clarifying verses whose intents are not understood, the indication of names, places, times etc. which have not been mentioned in the verse, restriction of meanings which have been given as absolute and reconciliation of expressions which seem contradictory. Although scholars including ibn Taymiyyah claim that Muhammad has commented on the whole of the Quran, others including Ghazali cite the limited amount of narratives (hadith), thus indicating that he has commented only on a portion of the Quran. After the death of Prophet Muhammad PBUH, his companions (sahabah) undertook the task of interpretation, thus starting a new age in tafseer. Most of the sahabah, including Abu Bakr R.Z, refrained from commenting based on their personal views, and only narrated comments by Muhammad. Others including ibn Abbas R.Z used their own knowledge from the Arabic language to interpret the Quran. At this stage, tafseer was selective and concise regarding its coverage, and only certain words, phrases and verses were explained. The Quran was still not fully interpreted, and commentaries were not separated from the hadith collection nor written separately, mainly due to other occupations such as the collection of the Quran.
Why is it important?
Allah says in the Quran: “Verily this Quran leads to the path that is most right” [Quran 17:9], and thus everybody can find the Straight Path through this Book. The Quran is a complete source of guidance in and of itself, as it says; “And we have sent down the Book to you as an explanation for everything, a guidance, a mercy and glad tidings for Muslims” [Quran 16:89] A person specialized in the Quran Tafseer will be better able to understand the intended meanings of a verse, and derive rulings from it, as compared to the average believer, who is not qualified to determine sovereign from the Quran. So we can say that for a better understanding of Quran we have to do Tafseer of Quran then we can implement it in our daily life. Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, in his book An Introduction to the Sciences of the Quran, gives a beautiful lesson on the relationship between Quran and Tafseer. He says, “The Quran is like a treasure trapped in a glass receptacle; mankind can view and benefit from this treasure, but they are in need of Tafseer, for tafseer acts like the key that unlocks the treasure, so that mankind can benefit from it to the greatest possible extent.” Types of Tafseer There are three basic kinds of Tafseer:
- Tafsir Bi-l-Riwaya: By transmission, it includes the interpretation of the Quran by Quranic verses and use of the explanations of the Prophet and his companions.
- Tafsir Bi-l-Ra’y: By sound opinion or by knowledge, is not based directly on the transmission of knowledge from the past, but on reason.
- Tafsir Bi-l-Ishara: By indication or from signs, it goes into the detail of the concepts and ideas associated with the words and verses of the Quran.
There are many reasons that the Tafseer is of great importance but the main reason is that Allah has sent the Quran as a book of guidance to mankind. Man’s purpose is to worship Allah. He can do so within the framework of the guidance that Allah has revealed regarding this, but he can do so only if he properly understands its meanings, implication, and interpretation. The Tafseer of Quran is of dignified importance if a person wishes to understand the Quran with its true essence and meaning. Thus the understanding of Quran is greater than a simple reading of translation.